Is there a more iconic duo than Rose Lavelle and heroics against the Netherlands?
After coming on at halftime of the United States women’s national team’s eventual 1-1 draw with the Dutch, Lavelle assisted Lindsey Horan’s equalizing goal to salvage a point in the group stage clash. Lest we forget, this isn’t the first time Lavelle has been a game-changer against the Dutch: she scored an insurance goal against the same team to ice the United States’ 2019 World Cup victory.
Before we dig into Lavelle’s game-changing performance from Wednesday, let’s set the scene.
Early U.S. struggles
The match against the Netherlands felt a bit like a tale of two halves for the United States. They conceded a goal after a rough defensive breakdown early in the game and never really took control in the first half after that moment. The story for the second half was different, though, with the USWNT on the front-foot and controlling the game’s momentum.
Brianna Pinto
At this point, you might be wondering: how does Lavelle play into this? She entered the match at halftime for Savannah DeMelo, and was the only substitute head coach Vlatko Andonovski made in the entire game. The Lavelle-for-DeMelo swap was part of the U.S. gameplan from the jump. Lavelle came in for DeMelo after 63 minutes in the team’s first group stage game against Vietnam and was on a 45-minute restriction in game two while working her way back from injury. DeMelo couldn’t quite find her feet against the strength of the Dutch midfield and spent a lot of time on the ground in the first half.
