It had been two decades since the United States lost a women's soccer game to neighboring Canada and five years since the Americans dropped a major tournament, but all of that came to an end with a penalty kick in the 74th minute of the Olympic semifinal in Kashima, Japan on Monday.
After a scoreless first half, Canada went up 1-0 in the 74th minute on Jessie Fleming's penalty against backup US goalkeeper Adrianna Franch, who had replaced injured Alyssa Naeher in the 20th minute.
The controversial foul was whistled by Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul after American defender Tierna Davidson collided Canadian midfielder Deanna Rose's leg as they chased down a loose ball.
The penalty itself may be debated for some time, but Team USA's performance in the 2020 Olympics can only be described as disappointing. The reigning World Cup champions and gold medal favorites began the tournament by snapping their 44-match winning streak with a 3-0 loss to rival Sweden in group play.
Later the US played underdog Australia to a 0-0 draw, but the team appeared to have turned the corner by beating the Netherlands in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.
'Things just didn't fall our way,' US forward Alex Morgan said of the tournament, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. 'We didn't play our best… I don't know why.'
Canada goes on to face the winner of the late semifinal in Yokohama between Sweden and Australia. The gold medal match is set for Friday at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.
The US has been knocked out of gold medal contention, but still has a chance to win a bronze - a medal the team has never played for at the Olympics.
United States' Kelley O'Hara, left, talks to teammate Lindsey Horan after being defeated 1-0 by Canada during a women's semifinal soccer match at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Jessie Fleming of Canada scores their first goal from the penalty spot against Adrianna
