Americans topple Korea Republic in friendly

Nov 9, 2008 - 4:14 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Heather O'Reilly scored in the 72nd minute to lift the United States women's soccer team to a 1-0 triumph over Korea Republic on Saturday in a friendly at Raymond James Stadium.

The Americans, who claimed the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing, improved to 31-1-2 this year - and 5-0-1 on their post-Olympic tour. They will finish the tour with matches against China on December 13 and 17, respectively.

"Of these three games, I think this was the best one," said United States head coach Pia Sundhage, referring to the Americans' 2-0-1 record against Korea Republic. "They are a very good team. Tonight though we were back to a wide field that really helped us a lot and it helped us score a great goal."

In the 72nd minute, O'Reilly accepted a cross from Natasha Kai and tapped the ball with her left foot for the game's only tally.

"I think we just fought for the whole game," O'Reilly said. "We were a bit frustrated on Wednesday (0-0 draw) to not have gotten a goal, but we fought all the way tonight.

"Natasha Kai has been doing an excellent job getting to the endline and putting great balls into the box. For me it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time and being able to finish a great service from Kai."

Nicole Barnhart finished with two saves to earn her eighth career shutout and fifth of 2008.