Wambach and Mittag trade goals in 1-1 tie

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Oct 21, 2012

[USA-GERMANY] Abby Wambach scored her 147th career goal -- from close range in the 2nd minute -- but Germany's Anja Mittag responded with a wonderful strike in the 14th minute for all the scoring as the USA and Germany tied, 1-1, in front of a sellout crowd of 19,522 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. The tie put at end to the USA's winning streak at 14 games.

"Fantastic crowd and an educated crowd. They never stopped throughout the entire game," Wambach said. "This is what it's about. Since the Olympics we've come home to mostly soldout stadiums. To me, this is what it's about. We want to come and win and show the crowd what we can do, but more importantly it's about the experience and the environment that the crowd creates. ... It proves to me what we've accomplished."

The USA and Germany meet again Tuesday at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET, with a live broadcast on the NBC Sports Network.

Wambach's goal was created when Tobin Heath won the ball and fed to Lauren Cheney, who found Alex Morgan on the left side. The speedy striker sent a ball toward the far post, where Wambach held her run just enough to stay onside before slipping behind the defense to knock home her 22nd goal of 2012.

Mittag, the top scorer in Sweden's Damallsvenskan with 21 goals, responded with a left-footed strike into the far right corner that just sailed over U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo's outstretched glove.

Germany outshot the USA, 12-7, but both teams could put only two shots in goal.

Oct. 20 in Bridgeview, Ill.
USA 1 Germany 1. Goals: Wambach 2, Mittag 14.
USA -- Solo; Mitts (LePeilbet, 46), Rampone, Buehler, O'Hara (Sauerbrunn, 73); Rapinoe (O'Reilly, 46), Boxx (Rodriguez, 83), Cheney (Lloyd, 46), Heath; Morgan, Wambach (Leroux, 83).
Germany -- Angerer; Schmidt (Wensing, 46), Bartusiak, Peter, Krahn; Laudehr, Behringer (Faisst, 46), Bresonik (Huth, 75), Mittag (Popp, 77), Marozsan, Odebrecht (Kulig, 46).
Referee: Margaret Domka (USA).
Att.: 19,522.