The United States Men’s National Team returned to Gold Cup action on Wednesday night in a group stage match against St. Kitts and Nevis. Unlike Saturday’s painful 1-1 draw against Jamaica, the USMNT was able to take the game to St. Kitts and Nevis in a commanding 6-0 win.

Columbus Crew midfielder Aidan started the match on the bench following his 90-minute performance against Jamaica on Saturday. By the time he stepped on the field for this match, the U.S. had a 5-0 lead. 

For the second straight match, the USMNT utilized a 4-3-3 formation that played a bit more like a 4-2-3-1 with former Montreal Impact attacker Djordje Mihailovic starting in place of Alan Sonora and playing in the more advanced role in the midfield three. Venezia FC’s Gianluca Busio started in place of Morris, teaming up with James Sands of New York City FC. Jesus Ferreira once again led the attack in the starting striker spot flanked by Alejandro Zendejas and Cade Cowell, who stepped in for the injured Jordan Morris. 

Mihailovic kicked off the scoring for the Americans in the 12th minute, but the story of the night was Ferreira’s 50-minute hat trick. The FC Dallas Designated Player bagged two goals in the first half and his third in the 50th minute to complete the hat trick and set a USMNT record for the fewest number of appearances (20) to reach 10 goals. 

Morris entered the game in the 56th minute, subbing on for his midfield partner from Saturday, Sands. Following a difficult outing against Jamaica, it was important for Morris to set the tone for himself early and he certainly did. Playing between Sonora, who entered at halftime, and Mihailovic, Morris sat deeper than he did on Saturday, playing a more traditional version of the No. 6 position. This gave Morris the opportunity to connect the backline to the attack, much like Darlington Nagbe does beside him in Columbus. 

St. Kitts and Nevis was thoroughly outmatched by the U.S. but Morris and his teammates did well not to let the play of their opponents lead to sloppy passes. Touches and passes were generally crisp save for a few clumsy touches in the attacking third from players who saw an opportunity to get on the scoresheet against a weak opponent. Overall the USMNT outshot St. Kitts and Nevis 34-2 with 15 of those shots on goal. Goalkeeper Julani Archibald was one of the few bright spots for the Sugar Boyz, making nine saves and keeping the score much closer than it could have been. 

It won’t appear on the scoresheet but Morris did get the secondary assist on Mihailovic’s 79th minute goal. Morris picked up the ball on the right side of the field and lofted a perfect cross right to the foot of Cristian Roldan. Roldan took a touch to collect the ball and slotted a simple pass to Milhailovic who scored his second goal of the match. 

Morris and the USMNT return to the field on Sunday, July 2, for the team’s final match of the group stage against Trinidad and Tobago. The U.S. currently leads the group on goal differential and is tied with Jamaica on four points. A draw will see the Americans clinch a spot in the knockout stage while a win, and finishing with a better goal differential than Jamaica, will see the USMNT clinch the top spot in the group.