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Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Sophia Smith put her right boot tip on the ball while diving, sending a shot past goalie Ann-Katrin Berger in stoppage time to lead the United States over Germany on Tuesday for a spot in the Paris 2024 gold medal match. The score, which came in the first half of extra time, paired with clutch goalkeeping from Alyssa Naeher, was enough to lead the Americans to the 1-0 triumph at Lyon Stadium.
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They will play Brazil in the women's soccer tournament's gold medal match Saturday in Paris. Brazil beat Spain 4-2 on Tuesday.
The No. 5 ranked Americans outshot the No. 4 Germans 18-9 on Tuesday. Germany totaled 20 fouls, compared to eight for their foes. The Americans held a 55% to 45% edge in possession.
Germany was content with a physical, defense-centric approach for the majority of the match, creating traffic in front of its net to congest a racing American attack.
The strategy resulted in the Germans not attempting a shot in the first half. The Americans placed five of their first six shots on target over the first 45 minutes, but were routinely denied.
Germany threatened early on in the second half, but center back Naomi Girma and the U.S. backline wouldn't budge.
Smith and fellow forwards Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman and midfielder Lindsey Horan pelted several close attempts down the stretch, including one score that was disallowed because of an offside call.
The game then became just the second women's Olympic semifinal history that was scoreless in regulation.
Smith didn't need long to change the narrative, finding the net less than five minutes into the first act of the bonus period. Swanson received a pass just past midfield to spark the sequence
She then dribbled right and laced a pass through defenders and toward the box. Smith initially ran toward the center of the box, but then slowed and raced to the other side of the final German defender.
She then extended her right leg into a tiny space in front of Berger, smacking the decisive shot into the far-post netting.
Neither team formulated many organized attacks in the second half of extra time, as the Americans sat back and drained clock to secure their spot in the finale.
Naeher sealed the victory with a right-footed save on Germany's Laura Freigang in the 119th minute.
The Americans, who won four of the first five gold medals in the history of women's soccer tournaments at the Olympics, are to appear in the final in Paris for the first time since 2012. They won bronze at Tokyo 2020 and were quarterfinalists at Rio 2016.
Swanson, Smith and Rodman are the Americans' top scorers so far at the 2024 Olympics with three goals apiece.
The Paris 2024 women's soccer finale will air at 11 a.m. EDT Saturday on USA Network, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com and NBC's digital platforms. An encore presentation will air at 6 p.m. on USA Network.
