U.S. women draw Germany 2-2 on a soggy night in Connecticut

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Dzsenifer Marozsan spoiled the already soggy evening for the U.S. on Tuesday at Rentschler Field with her 85^th minute strike to give Germany its second tie in four days with the U.S. women’s soccer team. The U.S. had to settle for a 2-2 result.

Marozsan scored on a laser of a left-footed strike from outside the 18 yard box to beat U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo for the late equalizer. It was Marozsan’s second goal of the game, but the first came with an assist to the field in the 48^th minute.

U.S. captain Christie Rampone – hardly under pressure – went to clear a ball near midfield and whiffed on it, surely due to the slick surface a rainy evening. Marozsan took the gift, dribbled down field and slotted the ball past Solo to level the game at 1-1.

Abby Wambach scored her 148^th international goal in the 44^th minute to pull within 10 goals of Mia Hamm’s record and Tobin Heath added the game-winner in the 67^th minute when she tapped in a low cross from Alex Morgan.

Heath’s goal came just three minutes after the midfielder entered the match for Heather O’Reilly. It came as a result of a solid attack up the wing from the U.S., which enjoyed possession much higher up the field than it did in Saturday’s 1-1 draw, when Germany sat back and forced the U.S. into mistakes.

The U.S. will feel it let this result slip away, but Marozsan was brilliant throughout the match. Had Solo not made several acrobatic saves throughout the match, this could have been Germany’s game easily. Solo couldn’t do anything about either goal, frankly, and the wet conditions make her performance that much more impressive.

More to come…