Alex Morgan and Rose Lavelle shine as USWNT routs Paraguay 8-0

CINCINNATI – Midfielder Rose Lavelle and forward Alex Morgan sparked the U.S. Women’s National Team to a dominating 8-0 win over Paraguay at TQL Stadium in the first U.S. Soccer event at the world class venue. A goal and three assists from Cincinnati-native Lavelle and a hat trick from Morgan sent the crowd of 22,515 fans home happy.

Lavelle wasted no time making an impact in front of an electric crowd as she opened the scoring in just the fourth minute, heading home a cross from defender Casey Krueger. The USWNT doubled the lead just two minutes later as Lavelle found forward Sophia Smith near the top of the box with a through-ball and Smith slotted the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper and into the net for her first international goal.

Only two more minutes went by before Morgan took over the spotlight, scoring a header goal of her own off a perfect cross from Lavelle in the eighth minute. Morgan tallied her second of the night in the 14th minute after crushing a volley off a poor clearance from a Paraguayan defender. The USWNT struck yet again just one minute later as Lavelle stole the ball soon after Paraguay’s kick-off and midfielder Catarina Macario finished off a pass from Lavelle near the top of the penalty box for her second career international goal and first of the year.

Morgan struck again in the 53rd minute after Smith received the ball high up the right flank and sent in a cross which she finished near-post to record her fifth career international hat trick and 114th career goal. With her three goals on the night, Morgan has now scored seven goals since becoming a mother and ranks second in that category behind only Joy Fawcett, who scored 13 goals for the USA as a mom.

After coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute, midfielder Carli Lloyd – playing in her third to last match for the USA — continued to add to her prolific career total after scoring off a rebound following a set piece in the 78th minute. Lloyd has now scored 134 career goals, including eight in the team’s last three matches. Lloyd will play her final two games with the USWNT against South Korea, on Oct. 21 in Kansas City, Kansas and on Oct. 26 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Macario then added the final goal of the night in the 82nd minute getting on the end of a punched clearance from the goalkeeper at the top of the box and burying it from distance with a volley. It was her second goal of the night and her first career multi-goal game.

The USWNT will return to action as they face South Korea at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast on ESPN2 and TUDN.

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:

USA – Rose Lavelle (Casey Krueger), 4th minute: Krueger played a cross into the box from the left flank which the 5-foot-4 Lavelle powerfully headed past goalkeeper Alicia Bobadilla for her 16th international goal, third of the year, and first when playing in her hometown of Cincinnati. USA 1, PAR 0

USA – Sophia Smith (Rose Lavelle), 6th minute: After driving up the middle, Lavelle found Smith with a through-ball near the top of the box which the forward touched to create space around the goalkeeper and slotted into the net for her first international goal. USA 2, PAR 0

USA – Alex Morgan (Rose Lavelle), 8th minute: Following a run of pressure in the attacking third, Lavelle lobbed a cross in from the right flank into the box which Morgan headed down and into the net at the far post for her fifth goal of the year and 112th of her career. USA 3, PAR 0

USA – Alex Morgan, 14th minute: A cross into Paraguay’s box rebounded off a couple of players before a poor clearance fell to Morgan, who crushed her full volley into the left side of the net to notch her second goal on the night. USA 4, PAR 0

USA – Catarina Macario (Rose Lavelle), 15th minute: After receiving the ball near the middle of the field, Lavelle drove to goal and broke the line with a pass to Macario, which she finessed past the goalkeeper for her second career goal and first of the year. USA 5, PAR 0

USA – Alex Morgan (Sophia Smith), 53rd minute: Sophia Smith received the ball high up the right flank, dribbled past her defender and sent in a cross to Morgan, who finished near-post to score her third goal of the night and complete her fifth career hat trick with her 114th career goal. USA 6, PAR 0

USA – Carli Lloyd, 78th minute: A save off rebound following a set piece for the USWNT saw Carli Lloyd find the ball at point-blank range. She rolled the ball into the net from right on the goal line to tally her 134th career goal and eighth in her last three games. USA 7, PAR 0

USA – Catarina Macario, 82nd minute: After finding the end of a punch clearance by the Paraguayan goalkeeper at the top of the box, Macario finished with a volley to record her second goal of the night, marking her first multigoal game with the USWNT. USA 8, PAR 0

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

With the win, the USWNT extend their home unbeaten streak to 60 consecutive matches and their home winning streak to 22 consecutive matches. The team is now one win away from tying the longest home winning streak in USWNT history
The youngest player on this roster at 21-years-old, Sophia Smith made her first career start for the USWNT and scored her first international goal as she earned her eighth career cap. Smith made her international debut on November 27, 2020, against the Netherlands, becoming the first player born in the 2000’s to earn a senior cap for the USWNT. In addition to her goal tonight, Smith added her second career assist, with her other coming after setting up Alex Morgan’s goal against Argentina in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup.
Morgan now has 28 multi-goal games in her career, sitting behind only Abby Wambach (45) and Mia Hamm (38).
The average age for tonight’s Starting XI was 26.2 years, making it the youngest starting lineup to take the field for the USA since April 5, 2018.
With the result, head coach Vlatko Andonovski has now posted a 26-2-3 record in his first 31 games.
Andonovski used all six of his allowed substitutes in the second half, sending on four in the 61st minute and two in the 71st.

-U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-

Match: United States Women’s National Team vs. Paraguay
Date: September 21, 2021
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: TQL Stadium; Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 22,515
Kickoff: 7:45 p.m. ET
Weather: 73 degrees, light rain

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 5 3 8
PAR 0 0 0

USA – Rose Lavelle (Casey Krueger) 4th minute
USA – Sophia Smith (Rose Lavelle) 6
USA – Alex Morgan (Rose Lavelle) 8
USA – Alex Morgan 14
USA – Catarina Macario (Rose Lavelle) 15
USA – Alex Morgan (Sophia Smith) 53
USA – Carli Lloyd 78
USA – Catarina Macario 82

Lineups:

USA: 21-Jane Campbell; 14-Emily Sonnett, 2-Abby Dahlkemper, 12-Tierna Davidson (4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 61), 20-Casey Krueger (5-Kelley O’Hara, 61); 25-Andi Sullivan, 16-Rose Lavelle (22-Kristie Mewis, 71), 17-Catarina Macario; 27-Sophia Smith (7-Tobin Heath, 71), 13-Alex Morgan (Capt.) (10-Carli Lloyd, 61), 11-Mallory Pugh (6-Lynn Williams, 61)

Substitutes not used: 18-Adrianna Franch, 19-Crystal Dunn

Head coach: Vlatko Andonovski

PAR: 12-Alicia Bobadilla; 2-María Martínez, 5-Tania Riso, 14-Deisy Ojeda (17-Yanina Servin, 88), 3-Limpia Fretes (15-Sofia Almirón, 90+3); 7-Celsa Sandoval, 8-Lorena Alonso, 6-Fany Gauto (16-Cynthia Ayala, 74), 4-Daysy Bareiro (13-Fiorella Martinez, 89); 10-Fanny Godoy (Capt.), 9-Liz Peña (18-Ramona Martinez, 66)

Substitutes not used: 1-Cristina Recalde, 11-Mirta Pico

Head coach: Epifanía Benítez

Stats Summary: USA / PAR
Shots: 29 / 2
Shots on Goal: 15 / 1
Saves: 1 / 7
Corner Kicks: 17 / 0
Fouls: 9 / 5
Offside: 3 / 0

Misconduct Summary: None

Officials:
Referee: Danielle Chesky (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Felisha Mariscal (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alicia Messer (USA)
4th Official: Katja Koroleva (USA)

Woman of the Match: Rose Lavelle