Cheney brace puts USWNT into final

Second-half substitute Lauren Cheney scored twice as the United States beat Sweden 2-0 Monday to claim a place in the women's Algarve Cup final.

Cheney got her second goal of the tournament after 56 minutes when she ran onto a pass from Casey Nogueira, rounded the goalkeeper and slotted the ball home from a tight angle.

With three minutes left to play Cheney fired a powerful shot into the top left corner.

The result gave the Americans three wins from three in Group B and secured a place in their eighth consecutive final in southern Portugal.

In the other group match, Norway overcame Iceland 3-2.

The U.S. will meet the top team from Group A in Wednesday's championship game.

In that group, two-time Algarve champion China was facing two-time world champion Germany and Denmark was taking on Finland in late games.

The U.S. has won the title in southern Portugal six times in the past nine years.

The Americans struggled to get an upper hand against Sweden in the first half but were sharper after Cheney, Carli Lloyd and Casey Nogueira came on at halftime.

Cheney "brought us some fire," U.S. captain Shannon Boxx said. "She took her chances very well."