This article was provided by the NSCAA Women's Committee. You can find a recap of Day 1 here. Photos credited to Mirko Kappes.

Things We Learned in Day 2

1. Katie Taylor isn’t the only international soccer player that has boxing talent: The U.S. continued to demonstrate its status as top contender for the gold, making two changes to the lineup that beat France, as Heather O’Reilly and Heather Mitts both came in and produced solid games. Despite great goals by Rapinoe, Wambach and Lloyd, who are all having strong tournaments, the talk of the match was a right hook that Lady Andrade gave to Abby Wambach away from the play. The Colombian claimed that it was accidental, while replays seemed to suggest otherwise. Regardless Wambach kept her cool, the US are now through to the quarterfinals, and Andrade showed that she has potential to follow in the footsteps of 5-time world champion and former Irish international Taylor, who is favored for gold in women’s boxing.

2. Christine Sinclair is a lethal finisher: Oh right, we already knew that. Canadian Sinclair spent a good portion of the match not being very visible, against a South African side that held possession over the Canadians in spells. That being said captain Sinclair did what she does best, managing to still have a two-goal game, propelling the Canadians to a 3-0 victory over South Africa. The Canadians finish the opening round with a showdown with the Swedes who held the world champion Japanese to a scoreless tie.

3. New Zealand can’t catch a break: The Football Ferns, continue to come so close, yet can’t seem to earn points at major events, following up their disappointing 1-0 loss to Great Britain, being on the wrong side of the same score line against the Brazilians. The team looked poised to shock the South American powers, but Cristiane locked up the win with a right-footed lob over the keeper in the 85^th minute, securing her place in the history books as the all-time leading scorer in women’s Olympic history with 12 goals. As a side note, the Brazilians, who usually are noted for being suspect defensively, have now only given up two goals in their last six major tournament games (two goals to the U.S. in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinals)

4. The French can score: Although the U.S. team may be able to attest to that as the French put two goals past them in the first 15 minutes of their opening game, the French team showed why they are a team that is a clear medal favorite, after slotting an incredible five goals past a good North Korean side. Although it wasn’t until the 44^thminute that the French got on the board off of a Laura Georges header, once Elodie Thomis was introduced to the match, she showed the quality that the French have right across their lineup. Thomis ran rampant, as the French scored four goals in the last 20 minutes, with Thomis setting up two goals and potting one herself for good measure.

5. The Home Side Continues to Get it Done: Great Britain continued their winning streak against a Cameroon side that put in a solid effort as the Great Britain women claimed their second shut out, knocking off the African side 3-0 on goals by captain Casey Stoney, Jill Scott, and a goal in the second game in a row for Steph Houghton. The only negative for GB is the ACL injury of starting defender ifeoma Dieke, one of two non-England players on the squad (the other being fellow Scot Kim Little). The 31-year-old has had a tremendous season with her club side Vittsjo (Sweden) and has done a great job in GB’s strong defensive showing thus far. Coach Hope Powell, has brought in Chelsea’s Dunia Susi as a replacement for Dieke.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow, Tuesday, July 31, as the teams are back on the pitch for their third game of the Olympics (schedule can be found here).

Results from Day 2:

1. USA-Colombia: 3-0,
2. Canada-South Africa: 3-0
3. GB-Cameroon: 3-0
4. France-North Korea: 5-0
5. Brazil-New Zealand 1-0

For more stories and scores for women's soccer check out Our Game Magazine: www.ourgamemagazine.com.

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