USA Women Golden; Richland’s Solo gets second Olympic gold medal

It was not the best the United States women’s national team has played, but the standout performance of Carli Lloyd with two goals and a few quality timely saves from Richland’s Hope Solo along with a little fortune from the decisions of the referee guided the United States to a third consecutive gold medal and fourth overall in five tournaments.

The United States took command of the scoreboard early with a good series of play from Shannon Boxx, Kelley O’Hara and Tobin Heath that got the ball to Alex Morgan (Seattle Sounders Women) in the box. Morgan took the ball to the end line before cutting a cross back into the six where Lloyd got her head on it in a crowd. It was Morgan's team-leading fifth assist of the Olympics.

Cascadia stars as USA Women survive 4-3 OT thriller after trailing three times to Canada

Richland’s Hope Solo made a couple nice stops, but was outshined on the day by her Northwest counterparts who dominated the scoring summary and stole the spotlight in a wild back-and-forth Olympic Semifinal affair that saw the Canadians take the lead three times before going to overtime, where the United States eventually prevailed, 4-3, on a stoppage time header from Seattle Sounders Women striker Alex Morgan.

Seattle Sounders goalkeeper and University of Washington product Hope Solo was one of the focal points heading into the tournament, but despite her lengthy shutout streak coming into the contest most of the eyes were on the star duo Abby Wambach of the United States and Christine Sinclair. Instead, the match ended up being a showdown of University of Portland products as Sinclair and fellow former Pilot Megan Rapinoe exchanged goals, making the match an all-Cascadia affair.

USA Women, Richland's Hope Solo start real Olympic test Friday in Quarters

The United States women’s national team and Richland, Wash. native Hope Solo begin the knockout phase of the Olympics Friday in the Quarterfinals against New Zealand at 6:30 am PT on NBC Sports Network.

When it comes to major tournaments, more often than not the group phase is a mere formality for the US Women’s National Team, barring any unusual draw. After rallying from two down to top France, 4-2, in the opening game, the team has had little trouble, blanking Colombia 3-0 and edging North Korea 1-0 in a game in which they rested players having already advanced.

After withstanding the slow start, the usual tournament performance has been pushed out of the spotlight by the atypical storylines that have emerged.

Hope Solo accepts warning for accidental use of banned substance

It was announced Monday that United States national team goalkeeper Hope Solo of Richland, Wash. and the Seattle Sounders Women W-League team accepted a public warning from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for testing positive for a banned substance.