U.S. Women's Team's Summer of Success: Three Wins, Rose's Return, New Faces

The U.S. women’s national team won three games in seven days – two 4-0 victories over the Republic of Ireland, and one 3-0 defeat of rival Canada – to close out its final camp for a while. The squad won’t reconvene for four months, and that’s when things will start to get a bit more serious.

Since winning the gold medal at last summer’s Paris Olympics, the USWNT has been in building mode as manager Emma Hayes expands her player pool with the 2027 World Cup and 2028 Olympics in mind. But once November hits, it will be time to dig in as World Cup qualifying begins. That’s when we’ll see Hayes narrow her squad into what she has called a “core group” that will figure into bigger plans moving forward.

Between now and then, Hayes and her staff will pour over their analysis and notes to figure out who belongs in that group. They’ll watch players when they go back to their clubs and see how they continue to progress. It will be a challenge, especially given how many young and inexperienced players have impressed over the last several camps. The U.S. has scored 18 goals in its last five games – all wins – while allowing zero goals against. Three different goalkeepers started across those matches, and 11 different players scored goals. 

Hayes said Wednesday night after the 3-0 romp over Canada that she was pleased with how the team controlled the game “from start to finish, finishing strongly.” It was clear to her, she said, how the team is grasping what she’s teaching.

“All the messaging, all the learnings – especially from Brazil [in April], from Japan [in February] – I felt we dictated and we played the way we wanted to,” Hayes said. “It’s not about the opponent, it’s about what we do. And I felt that was extremely dominant.”

Here are takeaways from the USWNT’s latest international window:

24 Debuts In 24 Games

Since taking over the USWNT just over a year ago, Hayes has proudly given an unprecedented 24 players their senior squad debuts within 24 games. After the Olympics last summer, she dedicated time and effort to call up less experienced players and give them opportunities to showcase themselves in this environment in an effort to broaden the talent pool.

“We are building out what we call a ‘gold print’, which is our actionable framework for building the team in preparation for not just ‘27, but ‘28 and beyond,” Hayes said. “And that will help shape some of the decision making come [next camp]”.

Claire Hutton, one of the rising talents in the USWNT player pool, celebrates with teammates Alyssa Thompson and Ally Sentnor. (Photo by Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

Some players have gone back and forth between the senior and U-23 teams for various reasons; others are growing into USWNT mainstays by consistently performing when called on. Avery Patterson, Tara McKeown, Claire Hutton, Ally Sentnor and Emma Sears are good examples of the latter.

The next roster Hayes calls up will be eye-opening as it will mostly represent a group that the manager believes can help the USWNT win a World Cup in two years’ time. There will still be key players missing – Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson are both pregnant, and Tierna Davidson is recovering from a torn ACL. 

But the whole point of these past few months and inviting fresh faces into camp was to find quality alternatives who can maintain the quality and level of performance Hayes expects from her team.

Rose Lavelle Back Like She Never Left

This past camp was particularly interesting because Hayes left most European-based players off the roster in order for them to get some rest following long seasons. This included veterans like captain Lindsey Heaps and Crystal Dunn, and regular starters like Emily Fox and Catarina Macario. Naomi Girma, who had missed time earlier in the year with an injury, was the lone exception.

While it was a particularly inexperienced group (averaging 24.5 years old with 18.4 caps), other vets were with the team. There was Emily Sonnett, Sam Coffey, Lynn Biyendolo and most notably, Rose Lavelle, who made her return to the USWNT for the first time since December after recovering from ankle surgery. 

Hayes was thrilled to get Lavelle back, and her overall performance during this window did not disappoint. The 30-year-old Gotham FC midfielder officially had one goal and two assists, though her contributions were more widespread. 

In Wednesday’s game vs. Canada, for example, she created the first two scoring opportunities from set pieces – the first was a goal by Coffey off Lavelle’s free kick in the 17th minute, and then another goal by Hutton off Lavelle’s pinpoint corner in the 36th. 

Lavelle also showed how beloved she is to the fan base when the entire stadium in her hometown of Cincinnati chanted, “We want Rose!” before she was subbed on in the 87th minute. (Lavelle was on a minutes restriction during that game.)

Lavelle’s impact, talent and skill can’t be denied. Now she just has to stay healthy.

USWNT coach Emma Hayes was glad to see Rose Lavelle return to action after her ankle surgery. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

Reflecting After A Year On The Job

Before the Canada game, Hayes was asked how she’s adapted to being the USWNT’s head coach for the past year. The last 12 months have been quite a success, which included winning the program’s first gold medal at an Olympics since 2012. 

That aside, the entire experience has been a joy for Hayes.

“I pinch myself every day that I’m in this job,” Hayes said. “This is the biggest honor for me, maybe even more so than I thought it would be. And so often people say, ‘Be careful what you wish for because your dreams don’t necessarily match up with it.’ 

“Yeah, they’re right about that. This one is better.”

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.

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