Tag: Rose Lavelle

Lavelle provides injury update as USWNT star awaits Gotham FC debut

The USWNT star has now been sidelined more than a month with a leg injury

Rose Lavelle was one of several U.S. women’s national team stars who joined Gotham FC as marquee offseason additions.

But unlike Tierna Davidson, Emily Sonnett and Crystal Dunn, the playmaker has not yet stepped on the field wearing the Gotham crest.

Lavelle hasn’t played since the W Gold Cup, where she featured in all six of the USWNT’s matches as it lifted the regional title.

The 28-year-old has been sidelined with what the NWSL availability report calls a lower leg injury, missing the Challenge Cup and all three of Gotham’s regular season games thus far.

As her absence stretches past a month, Lavelle gave an update on her progress during a media event in New York marking 100 days until the Olympics begin.

“I’m doing good — I’m hoping I’ll be back in the next couple weeks,” Lavelle said in quotes published on the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“It’s frustrating to start the year off with an injury, just because I feel like you come off preseason and you’re revving to go, so it’s so annoying.”

Last month, interim USWNT coach Twila Kilgore called Lavelle’s absence from the SheBelieves Cup roster “mostly a preventative measure in terms of taking care of her health.”

Kilgore has coached her final game for the USWNT, as she moves back to an assistant role ahead of Emma Hayes’ arrival next month.

With the Olympics kicking off soon and Hayes facing some tough decisions to cut her roster down to just 18 players, Lavelle knows time is of the essence.

“The strength of our team is there in so much depth, so unfortunately that means really good players are going to get left off too,” she said.  “And I think for all of us, it’s just about being ready for whatever role is given to us, embracing that, and looking to put it into a collective picture so that we can go into the Olympics ready to go.”

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Injured Lavelle misses USWNT roster for SheBelieves Cup

The playmaker returned from the W Gold Cup carrying a leg injury

Rose Lavelle was omitted from the U.S. women’s national team SheBelieves Cup roster due to injury, interim head coach Twila Kilgore said.

Lavelle appeared in all six of the USWNT’s games at the W Gold Cup, starting three times. The playmaker returned from the competition with an injury, however, and has missed out on the Challenge Cup and the first regular season game with NJ/NY Gotham FC.

The NWSL’s availability report lists Lavelle as suffering from a lower leg injury.

In a call with the media after the roster was released on Tuesday, Kilgore indicated that the injury was minor and Lavelle’s absence is precautionary.

“Rose was left off the roster due to injury, she’s not available,” Kilgore said. “Rose is somebody that has played a major role with the team in the past and is capable of continuing to play a major role for us in the future.

“Her minutes were limited at Gold Cup due to health and safety concerns for her and the team — most players being in preseason and things like that. We just hope that she has a speedy recovery, which I’m sure she will. This is mostly a preventative measure in terms of taking care of her health, which is exciting because we do anticipate that she would be available later for selections.”

Lavelle struggled with injury for most of 2023, as she played just four regular season games with OL Reign and eight times for the USWNT. She did recover in time to be fit for the 2023 World Cup as well as the 2023 NWSL playoffs, where she helped OL Reign reach the final.

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USWNT roster: Lavelle and O’Hara out, Purce and Vignola in

Angel City left back Vignola becomes the third uncapped player on the USWNT roster

The U.S. women’s national team has announced two roster changes ahead of next week’s friendlies against South Africa.

NY/NJ Gotham FC forward Midge Purce and Angel City FC defender M.A. Vignola have been called into the USWNT, replacing Rose Lavelle and Kelley O’Hara.

Per U.S. Soccer, Lavelle is “still recovering” from a knock suffered playing for OL Reign, but will come to Cincinnati for what the federation says will be “evaluation.” While O’Hara is similarly not fully fit, the federation says she will “remain with her club to continue her progression to full fitness.”

Coming in will be one player with plenty of USWNT experience, and one with absolutely none. Purce has 23 caps, and while she missed out on a World Cup place, she did participate in the SheBelieves Cup this spring. As a wide forward Purce is not an obvious replacement for Lavelle, but interim coach Twila Kilgore’s squad has two other No. 10s in Savannah DeMelo and Ashley Sanchez.

Potential debut for Angel City’s Vignola

Vignola, on the other hand, hasn’t represented her country since playing at the Under-17 level. The 25-year-old, a Cincinnati native, has broken through as Angel City’s starting left back this season after injuries largely kept her off the field in 2022.

She is more or less a like-for-like replacement for O’Hara, but pushing into the mix for playing time will still be difficult. Kilgore has four other fullbacks (Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox, Sofia Huerta, and Casey Krueger) in camp, and three of them can play left back.

Vignola is not the only uncapped player to get a call for this international window. She’s joined by forwards Mia Fishel and Jaedyn Shaw, with the USWNT looking towards the future after a World Cup that ended in disappointing fashion.

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Why Rose Lavelle was suspended for USWNT – Sweden in World Cup Round of 16

Here’s the answer.

If you’re here, you might be looking for an answer for the reason why Rose Lavelle — the USWNT star who came into the World Cup recovering from a knee injury — isn’t playing against Sweden in a win-or-go-home game in the 2023 World Cup.

No, it’s not injury or discipline related. Here’s the answer: She was suspended.

It’s because of the tournament’s yellow card rules: A player who gets two yellows in two different games will automatically be suspended for the next game.

Lavelle got a yellow against the Netherlands and then one against Portugal, so she’ll miss the game on Sunday.

That’s it!

USWNT player ratings: Lack of ideas as U.S. barely survives Portugal

Lots of not-great, and some quite bad!

The U.S. women’s national team, by a margin of about three inches, survived a feisty Portugal side to get through to the knockout round of the World Cup.

That’s about all the good news there is to discuss. The USWNT were totally unable to solve the Portuguese midfield diamond throughout a troubling 0-0 draw, struggling for possession and also lacking chances to break out in transition.

The stats may show the USWNT holding a 17-6 shot advantage, and this is another game in which a U.S. opponent were held without a shot on goal. However, anyone that watched the match would be able to tell you that the Portuguese troubled the U.S. from start to finish, seeing the game’s best chance end with Ana Capeta hitting the post deep in stoppage time.

It was a dispiriting and disappointing showing in which no player really looked like they’d been given a platform to be their best. If the USWNT is to go on and make history as the first team to win three consecutive World Cups, this has to be by far their worst performance of the tournament.

Here’s a breakdown from a game in which no one looked particularly good.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

USWNT lineup vs. Portugal: Rose Lavelle, Lynn Williams in for high-pressure Group E clash

Not many changes, but both likely popular ones for the USWNT

The U.S. women’s national team has made two changes for a decisive World Cup group stage match against Portugal.

Rose Lavelle and Lynn Williams represent all of the changes Vlatko Andonovski has made to the USWNT starting 11 that drew 1-1 with the Netherlands last week (a selection that was unchanged from the team’s opening 3-0 win over Vietnam). Lavelle will replace Savannah DeMelo in the U.S. midfield, while Williams replaces Trinity Rodman on the front line.

Lavelle has performed well in two substitute appearances, but has not started a game for club or country since doing so for OL Reign on April 1 in NWSL regular season play. It is unclear how long she can play after getting 27 minutes off the bench against Vietnam, and then entering at halftime against the Dutch.

Sophia Smith has, after spending most of the last two years on the right wing, been playing on the left with Rodman more comfortable on the opposite side. It wasn’t clear until kickoff, but Andonovski has simply replaced Rodman with Williams, keeping Smith on the left for a third straight game.

For the USWNT, this match against Portugal has huge importance. A win may or may not be enough to secure the top spot in Group E: the Netherlands could overtake them if they can beat Vietnam by three more goals than the U.S. margin of victory at Eden Park.

A shock loss would — barring an even more monumental upset win for Vietnam in the other game — end the USWNT’s World Cup far earlier than expected.

All 23 players in the U.S. squad are, per U.S. Soccer’s game notes, listed as available and in uniform.

USWNT lineup vs. Portugal

(4-3-3): Naeher; Fox, Ertz, Girma, Dunn; Lavelle, Sullivan, Horan; Williams, Morgan, Smith

Portugal lineup (4-3-1-2): Inês Pereira; Ana Borges, Carole Costa, Diana Gomes, Catarina Amado; Andreia Norton, Tatiana Pinto, Dolores Silva; Kika Nazareth; Jéssica Silva, Diana Silva

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WATCH: Get to know Badger soccer star’s dog

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup got underway on July 20 and the USWNT roster includes former Badger midfielder Rose Lavelle.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup got underway on July 20 and the USWNT roster includes former Badger midfielder Rose Lavelle for a second straight time. As a part of a promo coming out of the commercial break, the audience was introduced to the soccer star’s adorable dog Wilma.

Lavelle and the US squad have gotten off to a solid start in the group stage, defeating Vietnam 3-0 on July 21 and drawing with the Netherlands 1-1 on July 26.

Their next match is set for Tuesday (Aug. 1) against Portugal, a team that lost to the Netherlands and beat Vietnam in their two contests so far.

USWNT player ratings: Disappointing showing vs. Netherlands ends in draw

A good start and finish sandwiched some worrying stuff for the USWNT

The U.S. women’s national team was far from its best against the Netherlands, struggling for a long spell in the middle of the match before recovering for a 1-1 draw.

Jill Roord’s goal on the first shot conceded all tournament by the USWNT deflated the group, and until Dutch star Daniëlle van de Donk clattered into club teammate Lindsey Horan, it was starting to get hard to see a way back in for the favored Americans.

However, Horan — after a fairly heated argument with van de Donk in the seconds that followed — powered home a header, and the U.S. took the game over for the final half-hour.

The good news? Those final minutes were the “real” USWNT. The bad news? They arrived for a reason the team can’t control, and since a winner didn’t arrive (nor did any substitutions after Rose Lavelle’s entry at halftime), the flaws on the day aren’t going to be papered over by three points.

With all that in mind, let’s dig into who delivered, and who didn’t.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.

Why Rose Lavelle wasn’t starting for the USWNT’s World Cup match against Netherlands

Fans desperately wanted Rose Lavelle in the game.

The U.S. women’s national team hadn’t trailed in a World Cup match since 2011, but that quickly changed in Wednesday’s Group E matchup against the Netherlands.

In a rematch of the 2019 final, the USWNT fell behind after allowing a 17th-minute goal to Jill Roord. Yet, the hero from that 2019 final — Rose Lavelle — wasn’t even on the field at the time.

As the USWNT went down a goal in the match, fans desperately called for Lavelle to get subbed into the game. Lavelle was available for the match and made appearance in the Group E opener against Vietnam. But head coach Vlatko Andonovski had been skeptical about Lavelle’s readiness to play 90 minutes.

The reason: Lavelle injured her knee in the April 8 friendly against Ireland. And though the injury wasn’t seen as a longterm issue (unlike Mallory Swanson’s patella tear in the same game), Lavelle went three months without appearing for the USWNT. She trained with the squad and was able to make the World Cup roster, but as Andonovski said earlier, she’s not a 90-minute player yet.

Via The Athletic:

“We’re not going to force a lot of minutes from the very beginning but we’ll ease everything up as we move on.”

At halftime, Andonovski clearly thought that the team needed a spark, and he made the decision to sub Lavelle in to start the second half.

In the 62nd minute, Lindsey Horan evened the score on a corner delivered in from Lavelle.

USWNT lineup vs. Netherlands: Unchanged 11 sees Rose Lavelle start on bench

Fans hoping to see Lavelle will have to wait

The U.S. women’s national team has named an unchanged lineup for its attention-grabbing World Cup clash with the Netherlands.

The pairing, a rematch of the 2019 final, had been eagerly anticipated since the draw placed both sides in Group E, and Vlatko Andonovski has decided to make no alterations to a side that opened the 2023 edition with a 3-0 win over Vietnam.

That means no starting role for Rose Lavelle, despite speculation ramping up that the star attacking midfielder would get the nod after she appeared in the team’s pre-game press conference. Lavelle scored a triumphant goal against the Dutch in the 2019 final, and has been working her way back from a knee injury for months. The OL Reign playmaker played 27 minutes in the USWNT’s opener.

Per U.S. Soccer, all 23 players in the squad remain available, meaning that the USWNT has not picked up any knocks in training or that may have materialized during a physical battle with Vietnam.  Striker and co-captain Alex Morgan acknowledged that the U.S. was not “always clicking” in that match, but Andonovski apparently saw enough positives to retain the exact same starting lineup to take on the Oranje.

USWNT lineup vs. Netherlands

(4-3-3): Naeher; Fox, Ertz, Girma, Dunn; DeMelo, Sullivan, Horan; Rodman, Morgan, Smith

Netherlands lineup (3-5-2): Daphne van Domselaar; Sherida Spitse, Stefanie van der Gragt, Dominique Janssen; Victoria Pelova, Daniëlle van de Donk, Jackie Groenen, Jill Roord, Esmee Brugts; Katja Snoeijs, Lieke Martens

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