Netherlands snaps U.S. win streak in Women's World Cup draw

July 27 (UPI) -- Veteran midfielder Lindsey Horan netted a header in the 62nd minute to help the U.S. women salvage a draw with the Netherlands in a physical World Cup group stage match in Wellington, New Zealand.

The 1-1 draw Wednesday at Wellington Regional Stadium snapped the U.S. women's streak of 13-consecutive World Cup victories.

"It was against a very competitive team that we saw do such good things at the last World Cup," Horan said on the Fox broadcast. "I think the biggest thing was going down a goal, coming up to get the tie and the chances we got on goal. We gotta finish a few of those, but we will keep moving forward."

The Americans outshot the Netherlands 18-4 and held an 11-1 advantage in corner kicks, but could not convert throughout the match. They often failed to possess the ball while stalked by an aggressive Netherlands defense.

Netherlands midfielder Jill Roord opened the scoring in the 17th minute of the Group E match. That sequence started when striker Lieke Martens carried her dribble across midfield and raced toward the box in the 16th minute.

Martens then sent a pass to midfielder Victoria Pelova on her right. Pelova fired in an initial pass, which was pushed back out by the U.S. defense. She then recovered the loose ball and sent another feed to the top of the box, finding Roord.

The midfielder used her first touch to rip an 18-yard shot into the left side of the net, beating diving U.S. goalie Alyssa Naeher for first blood.

The Americans lurked in the Netherlands box several more times, but didn't convert until Horan's header. Fellow midfielder Rose Lavelle started that play with a corner kick from the right side. Lavelle curled the aired pass from right to left, before it dropped into a crowd about five yards from the net.

Horan then out-jumped several Netherlands defenders and used her head to flick a shot just inside the right post, beating goalie Daphne van Domselaar.

The Americans nearly went ahead in the 67th minute, when striker Alex Morgan buried a shot past van Domselaar in transition, but she was called offside on the play. The Netherlands defense denied several more go-ahead chances from the Americans through stoppage time to secure the draw.

The No. 9 Netherlands and top-ranked U.S. women now own equal 1-0-1 records atop Group E. No. 21 Portugal beat No. 32 Vietnam 2-0 early Thursday to improve to 1-1-0 and is in third place in the group stage standings. Vietnam (0-2-0) sits in last place in Group E.

The U.S. women will face Portugal in their Group E finale at 3 a.m. EDT Tuesday in Auckland, New Zealand. The game will air on Fox.

The Netherlands will face Vietnam at the same time Tuesday in Dunedin, New Zealand. That Group E finale will air on FS1.