SEATTLE (AP) — Maika Hamano scored and Japan beat the U.S. women's national team 1-0 in a friendly on Tuesday night to snap the Americans' 10-game winning streak.
The loss was the first for the U.S. since Oct. 23, 2025, a 2-1 setback to Portugal, and marked the first time the Americans lost in a shutout in 42 games. The U.S. had won 10 straight matches for the first time since 2023 after its 2-1 victory against Japan on Saturday.
Coach Emma Hayes did not regret the team scheduling a three-game series with Japan.
“If we would have picked a lesser opponent and I would have sat here and said, ‘What a great night, we won by multiple scorelines,'" Hayes said, "I’m sure I’d feel good and fill your columns with lots of things that further enhance the reputation of the team. But, I don’t believe in it.”
Before Saturday, Japan had won the last meeting with the United States 2-1 in the 2025 SheBelieves Cup final.
Hamano fooled Lilly Reale, and then booted a left-footed shot over goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce’s outstretched left hand in the 27th minute.
“Tough one," Tullis-Joyce said. “Japan’s very technical.”
Hayes made sweeping changes to the lineup she had used on Saturday in San Jose, resting players including Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman, who started in the previous game. Hayes defended her decision to deploy a younger lineup on Tuesday.
“I think if I play solely to win, we maybe don’t change a lot in these games," Hayes said. "We play the vast majority of seniors, whether it’s sprinkle in a few more seniors, sprinkle in a few. But, that’s not where I’m at. And, I don’t regret those decisions.”
Wilson and Rodman entered as substitutes in the 65th minute, as did Tierna Davidson and Gisele Thompson. Davidson had not played for the United States since February 2025, after tearing her ACL in a match with Gotham FC last March.
Wilson played for the second straight match after the birth of her daughter. She had not played for the U.S. since October 2024.
Tuesday marked the first time the U.S. women’s national team played on the new grass that has been installed at Lumen Field for this summer’s World Cup. The women’s team had not been to Lumen since 2017 because of the stadium’s artificial turf.
“I didn’t notice it at all,” said Lindsey Heaps, “so that means it was a good thing.”
The announced crowd was 36,128 for the game, which broke the record for a standalone women’s match in Seattle. Megan Rapinoe’s retirement match with the Seattle Reign in 2023 drew 34,130 fans.
The finale of the three-game series between the U.S. and Japan is slated for Friday in Commerce City, Colorado.
“They’re a world-class team,” Hayes said. “I think when you win the first one, inevitably, the second one becomes that challenge. They are a top side, so we have to give them a lot of credit. So, game on for the third game.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
United States midfielder Jaedyn Shaw (8) goes up for the ball against Japan midfielder Honoka Hayashi (18) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Japan goalkeeper Akane Okuma collects the ball against United States midfielder Jaedyn Shaw during the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
United States goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce can't make the save against a goal from Japan midfielder Maika Hamano as midfielder Fuka Nagano (10) looks on with United States' Emily Sams (6) during the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, April 14, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigned on Tuesday moments before a hearing was to begin to consider what punishment to recommend after a House ethics panel found she had committed numerous campaign finance and reporting violations.
The congresswoman was facing the possible threat of expulsion, something that has only occurred six times in the history of the House. Support from her own party was increasingly in doubt.
In a statement, Cherfilus-McCormick said her resignation was “effective immediately.”
“But let me say this plainly: we should be very careful about the precedent we are setting in this country, we do not punish people before due process is complete," she said. "We do not allow allegations alone to override the will of the people. That is a dangerous patch, and one that should concern every American, regardless of party.”
The committee had previously determined she committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards, including breaking campaign finance laws.
She is also facing federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using the money to buy items such as a 3-carat yellow diamond ring.
Cherfilus-McCormick has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and says she is not guilty of ethics violations, either.
The allegations against the congresswoman center on how she received millions of dollars from her family’s health care business after Florida mistakenly overpaid the business by roughly $5 million with COVID-19 disaster relief funds. She is accused of using that money to fund her 2022 congressional campaign through a network of businesses and family members.
Cherfilus-McCormick declined to testify during a previous Ethics Committee hearing, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her attorney, William Barzee, sparred with some of the lawmakers and argued that they should have allowed a thorough ethics trial, at which he could present witnesses and evidence to counter the conclusions of House investigators.
A group of supporters in Cherfilus-McCormick's congressional district had weighed in on her behalf with the lawmakers who lead the Ethics Committee, urging committee leaders to proceed with caution.
“Our communities deserve stability. Our voices deserve to be heard. And our right to representation must be protected,” said one of the letters sent to the committee signed by about a dozen local faith leaders, union officials and others.
In all, the panel's two-year investigation led to the issuance of 59 subpoenas, 28 witness interviews and a review of more than 33,000 pages of documents.
Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, had said he would move to expel Cherfilus-McCormick once the Ethics Committee made a determination on what punishment it would recommend.
That move could in turn have prompted Democrats to seek the expulsion of Rep. Cory Mills, a Florida Republican who is the subject of a wide-ranging investigation by the Ethics Committee that includes whether he violated campaign finance laws, misused congressional resources and engaged in sexual misconduct or dating violence. That investigation is ongoing. Mills has denied any wrongdoing.
The focus on lawmaker wrongdoing comes just one week after two lawmakers resigned during ethics investigations into alleged sexual misconduct. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas headed off possible expulsion votes with their resignations.
House Democratic leaders had declined to condemn Cherfilus-McCormick, saying they wanted to see the ethics process play out. Potential punishments included a reprimand or a censure, which serve as forms of public rebuke. The committee could also have recommended a fine. The most severe form of punishment was expulsion, but the House has historically been reluctant to serve as the final arbiter of a lawmaker’s career, preferring to give that final say to the voters.
Only six members of the House have been expelled. The first three fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and were expelled for disloyalty. The next two had been convicted of crimes. The final one was George Santos, the scandal-plagued freshman who was the subject of a blistering ethics report on his conduct as well as federal indictment. Santos, a New York Republican, served time in prison for ripping off his campaign donors before President Donald Trump granted him clemency, and he has apologized to his former constituents.
Under the Constitution, at least two-thirds of the House has to vote for expulsion for it to occur, a high threshold that requires enormous bipartisan support.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters last week he believed the House would move to expel Cherfilus-McCormick.
“The facts are indisputable at this point, and so I believe it’ll be the consensus of this body that she should be expelled,” Johnson said.
FILE - Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., condemns hate speech and misinformation about Haitian immigrants, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
