USWNT beats South Korea 3-0 at Allianz Field in a tuneup for Paris Olympics

Rose Lavelle has scored plenty of important goals in her 100 appearances for the U.S. women’s national team, including the game-clincher in the 2019 Women’s World Cup final. But the goal that will make the midfielder’s 100th appearance — earned Tuesday night in St. Paul — especially memorable wasn’t a goal that she scored.

“I will always remember my 100th cap because it was Lily’s first cap and first goal,” Lavelle said.

Ten minutes after subbing in for her first national team appearance in the United States’ rain-soaked 3-0 victory over South Korea at Allianz Field, 16-year-old midfielder Lily Yohannes waited for a late-game corner kick before calmly slotting home a shot from outside the six-yard box. The U.S. bench cleared as players embraced Yohannes in front of the near-sellout crowd of 19,169.

“That made it so much more special,” Yohannes said. “I just took off to the corner, and I see all of them running at me.”

The victory was new coach Emma Hayes’ second match in charge, having beaten South Korea 4-0 on Saturday in Commerce City, Colo. It also was Hayes’ last match before naming the 18-player roster for the Paris Olympics.

Yohannes became the third-youngest goal scorer and eighth-youngest player in team history with her 82nd-minute goal. However, Yohannes could very easily be making history for another team.

Raised in Virginia before moving to the Netherlands at age 10, Yohannes is eligible for both the Dutch and American teams and is not technically tied to the U.S. program until she appears in a non-friendly international match.

“She’s so mature, and she’s even-keeled,” U.S. teammate Crystal Dunn said. “The way she plays, she plays beyond her years. … That was the smoothest first goal I’ve ever seen.”

Yohannes was 10 the last time Dunn, typically a defender for the team, started at forward for the U.S. in 2017. Since then, the U.S. program has won a World Cup, lost to Sweden in penalties in a major tournament (twice), played in St. Paul (twice) and welcomed a new head coach (twice).

But Hayes, joining the United States after coaching the Chelsea women’s team, called Dunn (a former Chelsea player herself) into camp as a forward and started her up top Tuesday. Her match-opening goal — the 25th of her international career and her first since 2018 — came in the 13th minute as she scrambled into the six-yard box to finish a deflected cross from left fullback Jenna Nighswonger.

Nighswonger’s outside defender position was the 31-year-old Dunn’s touchline territory at the 2019 and 2023 Women’s World Cups and the Tokyo Olympics. She has played farther up the field as an attacking midfielder in the National Women’s Soccer League, too.

“It’s about being versatile and being adaptable,” Dunn said. “It’s an honor to really play on the pitch from so many different angles and help the team be successful.”

And when duty called and the U.S. made substitutions at the hour mark, Dunn noticed none of those subs were for her and shifted onto the backline to make way for the young forward trio of Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith. In the 67th minute, Swanson backheeled a Rodman cross to Smith, who scored from a narrow angle and doubled the U.S. lead.

Hayes, who was announced as the incoming U.S. coach in November 2023 and officially joined the team in May, called in 23 match players and four training players for the two June friendlies. These two matches were chances for Hayes to quickly assess her roster options, implement tactics and experiment before Paris Olympics’ 12-team tournament come July — to get first looks at players such as Yohannes and try players at “new” positions like Dunn.

Hayes made nine starting lineup changes from Saturday’s match near Denver, including a first-ever international start for centerback Sam Staab. In net for the United States, Casey Murphy stepped in for Jane Campbell and made two big saves, one on a first-half free kick and another a close-range parry in the second.

Coming off a bronze-medal finish in Tokyo, the United States’ 2024 Olympic group-stage opponents include Germany, Australia and Zambia.

“I think it’s been a really good coaching week from all of the coaches to deliver that [tactical] information succinctly, but we need time to be able to develop that,” Hayes said. “I understand I don’t always get that luxury, but I couldn’t have asked for any more of anyone’s week. For that reason, I feel happy.

“Between now and next camp, [we’ve] got to analyze all the things we’ve got to get absolutely right leading into the Olympics.”