Rose Lavelle starts, assists in USWNT 9-1 win against Uzbekistan

Even as the Uzbekistan women's national team managed to hold the U.S. women's national team scoreless for 25 minutes, the Americans' breakthrough always seemed imminent.

Rose Lavelle, the Mount Notre Dame High School and Cincinnati United Premier club product, was the first to knock on the Uzbek door, lashing a header off the crossbar in the fourth minute at Lower.com Field in Columbus.

Desperate defending by Uzbekistan narrowly prevented other U.S. opportunities.

Finally, in the 26th minute, the Uzbek resistance broke. The USWNT scored two goals less than a minute apart. At one point in the first half, the Americans scored four goals in an eight-minute span.

Lavelle assisted on the second of those goals, and had two assists by game's

The Americans rolled from there in the international friendly match, eventually winning, 9-1, to mark their largest margin of victory since an 8-0 win against Paraguay Sept. 21 at Cincinnati's TQL Stadium.

More: Rose Lavelle dominates in USWNT's 8-0 win against Paraguay at TQL Stadium

"I love playing anywhere in Ohio," Lavelle said afterward. "It was good, atmosphere was fun. It was a fun game to be a part of and a lot of things that we can still be better at but a step in the right direction, I think.

"I feel so proud to represent Cincinnati."

Andi Sullivan scored the opener for the U.S. before Mallory Pugh doubled the lead less than a minute later off a pass from Lavelle.

From there, Sophia Smith would notch a hat-trick, Catarina Macario tallied once and Jaelin Howell scored her first-ever goals for the Americans.

Ashley Hatch added further insurance 86th minute when her lobbed shot crossed the goal line, and Ashley Sanchez scored her first international goal in the 90th minute.

Saturday's match in Columbus was the first for the USWNT since claiming the SheBelieves Cup title in February, and improved the program's 2022 record to a still-undefeated 3-0-1.

But on a night of decisive victory and milestone moments for his players, USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski said his biggest takeaway was the goal his team allowed.

The Uzbek goal was scored by Aziza Norboeva in the 70th minute, and it was the first allowed by the U.S. in 2022, and just the second in its last 10 matches.

It was also the first goal conceded by USWNT on home soil in more than two years.

The U.S. still had a six-goal lead after Norboeva's score, and they padded that margin in the closing moments of the game, but it still wasn't good enough for Andonovski.

"Obviously, it's a goal that we're gonna have to analyze a lot," Andonovski said. "We gotta see the decision of how we set up the team, if that's something that we did right or not. That's what we're gonna start with. And once we do that, we're gonna go into individual responsibilities and see how the players fulfilled their responsibilities...

"As much as I hate it (the goal), I love it because anytime you get scored on on a set play, I'm glad it happened now. This will give us an opportunity to fix it before we go to (World Cup) qualifieRs.

The USWNT plays Uzbekistan again Tuesday at Subaru Park, a Major League Soccer venue located in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Aubrey Kingsbury

Lavelle wasn't the only native Cincinnatian involved in Saturday's match for the USWNT. Aubrey Kingsbury, the former Greater Cincinnati prep star at St. Ursula Academy, dressed but didn't play in Saturday's match.

After Kingsbury started the National Women's Soccer League final for the Washington Spirit and took home MVP honors in November, she has this season played in four matches and started three times for Washington in the NWSL's season-opening Challenge Cup.

More: Washington Spirit claim NWSL championship, Cincinnati product Aubrey Bledsoe named MVP

Her performances there resulted in the call-up that allowed her to dress for Saturday's match against Uzbekistan, but Kingsbury remains without an official appearance for the U.S. women's senior program.

Her NWSL season to-date has seen her gather six saves and preserve one shutout.

Asked about Kingsbury's inclusion in the dress list for the game, Lavelle said, "I'm always pulling for every Cincinnatian."

"It's so nice to have somebody from Cincinnati here," Lavelle said. "I think there's just like – anybody from Cincinnati, there's just this special bond. It's been fun to have her here."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Rose Lavelle starts, assists in USWNT 9-1 win against Uzbekistan