USA‑Japan women's friendly highlights

The United States beat Japan 2-1 on April 11 in San Jose, and the match’s full highlight package is now pulling a wider audience online. (ussoccer.com) (youtube.com) Rose Lavelle scored in the ninth minute and set up Lindsey Heaps for the second United States goal in the 50th minute at PayPal Park. Riko Ueki scored for Japan, which cut the lead to 2-1 in the second half. (ussoccer.com) (abcnews.com) The game was the first of a three-match April series between the teams, with the opener played on Saturday, April 11, at 2:30 p.m. local time in San Jose. The next matches are scheduled for April 14 in Seattle and April 17 in Commerce City, Colorado. (ussoccer.com) (jfa.jp) The highlights are circulating after a meeting between two of the highest-ranked women’s national teams in the world. United States Soccer said before the series that the United States was ranked second and Japan fifth in the FIFA women’s rankings. (ussoccer.com) Japan arrived in the United States after winning the 2026 Asian Football Confederation Women’s Asian Cup, and the April series was billed by United States Soccer as a test against a recent continental champion. That gave the opener more weight than a routine exhibition. (jfa.jp) (ussoccer.com) Lavelle’s performance carried extra significance for the United States because it came in her 100th start for the national team, according to United States Soccer. Her goal was her 28th international goal, and Heaps’ finish was her 40th. (ussoccer.com 1) (ussoccer.com 2) The result also extended the United States to 10 straight wins, its first run of that length since 2023, according to the Associated Press report carried by ESPN and ABC News. Japan’s goal ended a United States shutout stretch that had reached 866 minutes. (espn.com) (abcnews.com) The online clip itself is coming from House of Highlights, not directly from a team or federation account, and it had more than 123,000 views about 15 hours after posting. That helps explain why the match is moving beyond the usual national-team audience and into broader sports feeds. (youtube.com) The thread running through the video is simple: an early Lavelle goal, a Heaps finish after halftime, and a late push from Japan that kept the final minutes live. With two matches left in the series, the highlights now double as a preview of what both teams bring into Seattle. (ussoccer.com 1) (ussoccer.com 2)