U.S. reaches World Cup finals

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United States’ Carli Lloyd (10) celebrates with teammates Ali Krieger (11) and Morgan Brian after scoring on a penalty kick against Germany during the second half Tuesday in Montreal, Canada.

MONTREAL (AP) — Carli Lloyd buried a penalty kick, Hope Solo got another shutout and the United States beat top-ranked Germany 2-0 on Tuesday night to advance to the title match at the Women’s World Cup.

Lloyd’s penalty kick in the 69th minute went into the right side of the goal less than 10 minutes after Celia Sasic shot wide on a penalty kick for Germany.

Solo has posted five straight shutouts for the United States in the tournament. Kelley O’Hara came in off the bench and scored in the 85th minute, delighting the pro-American crowd.

The second-ranked United States will play the winner of Wednesday night’s match in Edmonton between defending champion Japan, ranked No. 4, and sixth-ranked England. The final is set for Sunday at Vancouver’s BC Place.

Meanwhile, Celia Sasic picked a pretty bad time for Germany’s first missed penalty kick in the women’s World Cup.

The Germany forward shanked the ball to the left — even as U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo dove the other way — on her penalty kick after a foul in the box in the 59th minute. The Americans went on to win 2-0 and advance to the final.

The top-ranked Germans had been 17 for 17 on World Cup penalty kicks, including all five in a tiebreaker to beat France in the quarterfinal.

Sasic is the leading scorer in the tournament, with six goals in Germany’s first five games. That’s why coach Silvia Neid picked her to take the shot after Julie Johnston pulled Alexandra Popp down from behind in the penalty box.

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