YOKOHAMA, Japan — No early exit this time.
Just as they did in 2016, the U.S. women needed penalty kicks in their quarterfinal matchup. But unlike in Rio, when the Americans lost to Sweden, Alyssa Naeher made two monster saves to beat the Netherlands. She stopped Vivianne Miedema, who scored both of the Netherlands' goals, on the first shot, and Aniek Nouwen on the fourth.
Rose Lavelle, Alex Morgan, Christen Press and Megan Rapinoe all made theirs to give the Americans the win. They will play Canada in Monday’s semifinals.
The USWNT’s loss to Sweden on PKs in 2016 was the first time they had failed to win a medal at a major tournament.