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By now it's reverberating around the WPS that there was a record-setting performance against the U.S. National team's top keeper. First goal was a Tiffeny Milbrett high looping special with a great feed in from Boxx. Most goalies have trouble with that. Second goal was started by a pass that was offside, but the help D also did that thing where they stopped playing to signal the offside rather than getting back in the play. Third goal was awful defending combined with what might have been a foul, with a ball that maybe Hope should have had because she made the correct decision in coming out of goal. But no one picked up the spare player on the rebound off that initial save. Then intermission while Aluko scored her impressive goal. Fourth Pride goal looked like Hope should have had it. But the Pride had gotten a player into isolation again. The line Atlanta's D was playing was unsustainable. Pretty much the same on goal five, a combo of 'where on Earth is the D' and 'that looked like a playable shot.' Awesome dummy by O'Hara. Then O'Hara's goal was kind of problematic. She does have a history of going in hard on goalies and it looked like Hope just bobbled it, but I can't swear there wasn't a foul there. Replay would be nice. So the final tally is probably the score should have been either 4-1 without questionable plays or 3-1 if Hope had played out of her mind.

It's really hard in watching this game to decide whether it, by itself, is evidence of Hope's losing a step. She's been having an uncharacteristically rough year which began while she was still playing with Athletica, but dear God is the Beat defense awful. Then again, sometimes the strength of the U.S. team's defense can mask growing weakness in its keepers. Unfortunately that's something that doesn't come out until they face adversity in world competition, and for now it looks like Solo will continue to have a stranglehold on the top spot until she doesn't.

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