Lavelle's return, Coffey's top-tier goalscoring, plus youngsters showing out propelled the USWNT past Ireland
It was a homecoming for U.S. women's national team head coach Emma Hayes on Thursday night, as DICK's Sporting Goods Park in Denver is where she coached her first game after taking charge of the program last year.
Now, a year and then some change later, her squad won again, having no issues is dispatching Ireland, 4-0. Although the USWNT struggled to finish some clear first-half opportunities, they did manage to roll to a 2-0 first-half lead en route to the victory, kicking off the first of three friendlies in the course of seven days.
Once again, Hayes experimented with some new faces in the lineup, and gave three players their first senior USWNT caps – goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and defender Lilly Reale, and then Jordyn Bugg as a late second-half sub.
The biggest roster highlight, though, was the return to the starting XI for Rose Lavelle. After a long six months battling back from injury, Lavelle was on the pitch as the most-capped player in the XI. She picked up right where she left off – which was last December – scoring and chipping in an assist for the USWNT. The goal was her first for the USWNT since January 2023.
Her presence in the midfield was clearly missed, but she jumped back in with a newfound leadership ability and eye for the goal. On average, this squad had an average of 31.9 caps.
Alyssa Thompson, Ally Sentnor and Michelle Cooper were the front three on Thursday, the first time all of them have started alongside each other. Sentnor, the reigning U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year, was slotted into the No. 9 spot for the first time and found herself in some promising spots in front of goal.
Ireland had a tough time containing the USWNT on all sides of the ball, and led by the return of Lavelle, the USWNT won easily, with goals from Avery Patterson, Sam Coffey, Lavelle and Alyssa Thompson.
Until the second half, the USWNT's attacking three were struggling to finish their opportunities. Portland Thorns midfielder Coffey took matters into her own hands, and scored in 49th minute to give her side momentum – it was her third international goal.
GOAL looks at the winners and losers from the USWNT's 4-0 win over Ireland.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Rose Lavelle
One goal and one assist? That's a huge welcome back for Lavelle. She fit in seamlessly in the midfield and led her new teammates on all sides of the ball. She played 60 minutes before being subbed out, and managed to serve a beautiful set piece to the far post to assist Patterson for the first U.S. goal.
In the second half, she scored one of her own, finishing one-time off a slot ball from Ally Sentnor. Apart from helping her team get on the board, her movement and distribution in the midfield was elite and she found herself in great spots up the field – and filled in defensively when Coffey and Claire Hutton got pulled up high.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Courtney Brosnan
Ireland goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan's night could have been much worse, believe it or not. Brosnan did manage to make some key saves to keep the USWNT from absolutely destroying her side. Despite making several saves, Brosnan couldn't answer on the four USWNT's finishes.
Brosnan struggled to get her defensive line to mark up on set pieces, and the team was caught on transition. While she made a good effort to stop Lavelle's goal, she was slightly out of position and couldn't react fast enough to correct.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Avery Patterson
Patterson has been lights out for the USWNT, and on Thursday earned her fifth cap for the senior team – and her third start. Patterson is encouraged to play up high in her outside back role, and takes it on without any hesitation. Patterson has a natural attacking mentality and has scored three goals this season for the Houston Dash in NWSL.
To kick off the USWNT goals against Ireland, Patterson headed in a picture-perfect finish off of a service from Lavelle in the 18th minute, marking her first international goal.
“I need to watch it again because I kind of blacked out. That is a power header,” Patterson told TNT after the match. “I mean, I before it even touched the back of the net, I was already off to run… I think my natural instincts are to go into the attack more. So I think it's a little bit of that. And also the backing of my coaches to say, hey, listen, if you see a pocket, then take it. We encourage you to go forward.”
Getty ImagesLOSER: The USWNT defense
The only reason? The USWNT defense simply didn't have much to do.
Granted, a clean sheet is a clean sheet, but each of these games are an opportunity for Emma Hayes to think about who she wants in this roster for the 2027 World Cup. So challenging moments, shots on goals, and stressful situations are actually helpful parts of the process.
Unfortunately – or fortunately – for goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, getting her first cap, she didn't have a lot to do in goal. She had one challenging save, distributed the ball fine, but wasn't under a lot of pressure.
Naomi Girma and Emily Sonnett are the clear starting duo and did their jobs. They also weren't pressed at all, but managed to push up the field and make more runs than usual with all of the space.
Gotham FC defender Lilly Reale made her USWNT debut and started out back. She took care of the ball, and added to the attack when it made sense. Patterson also contributed more offensively than defensively. The defenders played fine, they just weren't necessarily challenge or tasked with any real, you know, defending.
