Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe score in U.S. win
- Morgan starts things off in the 44th second of the match, scoring on a pass from Boxx
- Morgan is third on U.S. women's all-time list for goals in a year with 28 in 2012
- Game would have been more lopsided if not for great goal tending by Ireland's Byrne
GLENDALE -- A win was inevitable. This much they knew.
So what the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team players wanted to do was just continue to play the kind of game that defines them.
Relentless.
Merciless.
In a 2-0 win Saturday night in front of 11,570 at University of Phoenix Stadium, the U.S. didn't see Ireland.
It saw another victim.
The match was a "friendly," another round of its 10-match Fan Tribute Tour to which the London Olympics gold-medal winners are now 5-0-2.
But the U.S. wanted to prove its dominance.
It started in the 44th second of the match.
Alex Morgan scored, taking a pass from Shannon Boxx and burying the match's first shot on goal into the back of Ireland's net.
It was Morgan's 28th goal of 2012, third on the U.S. women's all-time list for goals in a calendar year.
Abby Wambach scored 31 in 2004 and Michelle Akers totaled 39 in 1991.
Morgan had a foot in the other U.S. goal.
In the 38th minute, Morgan beat her defender down the left touchline, reached the near post and sent a cut-back pass to the middle of the box.
The pass found a wide-open Megan Rapinoe, who one-timed a left-footed shot from 16 yards away for the goal.
Morgan continues to rack up her statistics for the year.
That assist was her 19th, fourth-most in team history for a calendar year.
The U.S. controlled possession and attacked the Ireland goal all game, not allowing the Irish attackers many touches on the ball.
Ireland had zero shots on goal in the first half and managed just one in the second.
Ball control and sharp passing combinations were the order of the day for the U.S.
Midfielder Rapinoe and defender Amy LePeilbet, an Arizona State product, showed off some skills on the ball, stunning Irish players and wooing the crowd.
The U.S. peppered the Irish goal with 12 shots.
The team would have scored more, at least equalizing its 5-0 win over Ireland on Wednesday in Portland, if it wasn't for Irish goalkeeper Emma Byrne's brilliant second-half performance.
She saved three Carli Lloyd screamers.
In the 51st minute, Lloyd blasted a 27-yarder then executed a 1-2 passing combination with Wambach two minutes later for a chance from 12 yards out.
Lloyd's best shot came in the 66th minute from 24 yards.
But Byrne jumped and stretched out her right hand to save it.
The ball hit Byrne's hand then the crossbar and sailed out of the playing field.
The U.S. will finish its exhibition tour, which began in September so the team can celebrate with fans following its gold medal-winning run in the London Olympics, with three games vs. China, Dec. 8 at Detroit; Dec. 12 at Houston; and Dec. 15 at Boca Raton, Fla.
Domingo also writes for The Arizona Republic