US women nip Australia

GLENDALE, Ariz — Lynn Biyendolo scored 42 seconds into the match and the United States beat Australia 2-1 on Sunday in the SheBelieves Cup.

Michelle Cooper scored her first international goal in her second appearance for the U.S., which improved to 2-0 in the four-team round-robin tournament.

Biyendolo’s goal was the fastest by a U.S. player since Ashley Hatch scored 24 seconds into a match in November 2021, also against Australia.

Biyendolo, formerly Lynn Williams, was married in the offseason. It was her 22nd international goal.

Michelle Heyman scored in the 80th minute for Australia.

Cooper’s goal in the 68th minute made it 2-0.

“It was absolutely surreal,” Cooper said. “I looked at (teammate Ally Sentnor) and I said, ‘I’m so sorry’ because I basically stole it from her. But she was like, ‘It’s OK, I’m happy for you.’ So it felt great.”

U.S. coach Emma Hayes changed her entire starting lineup following the team’s 2-0 victory over Colombia on Thursday in the tournament opener in Houston.

Elsewhere in sports:

n Alex Ovechkin had so many chances to score in the Washington Capitals’ rout of the Edmonton Oilers that he joked, “I’ll take three.” His 32nd hat trick of his 20-year NHL career put him at 882 goals. He is 13 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record that long seemed unapproachable.

The Associated Press