International Recap: USWNT Beats Paraguay 9-0 in Cleveland

The No. 1 ranked United States women’s national team defeated the No. 50 ranked Paraguay women’s national team at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio yesterday evening. This was the first ever meeting between the two sides. 

The U.S. was dominant from the first whistle, completely controlling the game. They managed to take the lead in third minute of the match, when Mallory Pugh put in a corner kick and Carli Lloyd got her head on the end of it. The U.S. did not wait long to double lead. In the sixth minute of the match, Crystal Dunn put a ball into the box. Rose Lavelle attempted to get on the end of it, but couldn’t quite connect, so the ball was shielded across to Lloyd in the center of the box. Lloyd tapped the ball into the left corner of the net to earn a brace just six minutes into the match. 

The score continued to rise for the Americans. In the 26th minute, Andi Sullivan netted her first international goal. Lynn Williams got her head on the end of a corner kick and nodded the ball down towards goal. Sullivan, who made a brilliant run, tapped the ball beyond the Paraguay defense to put the U.S. up 3-0. 

The United States team was hungry for more goals and continued to press on. The fourth goal came just four minutes later, in the 30th minute. This time, Williams scored a goal of her own. She got in position to hit a rocket of a shot from distance. 

The United States scored two more goals before halftime, both thanks to Carli Lloyd, who made a habit of finding open space in the Paraguayan box. Assisted by Sullivan, she secured a hattrick in the 34th minute, but did not stop there. She added another goal in the 38th minute, this time assisted by Williams. The U.S. went into halftime with a six-goal advantage. 

After the break, the United States started back up right where they left off, getting on the board in the 49th minute of the match. It was Sullivan again, this time getting on the end of a free kick put into the box by Pugh. Pugh earned her third assist of the night and Sullivan her second goal. 

The 59th minute brought a slew of subs for the United States, including Catarina Macario, an Olympique Lyonnais player, coming on for OL Reign’s Rose Lavelle. Macario was quick to get involved in the game and earned an assist on the United States’ next goal, in the 61st minute of the match. Lloyd scored her fifth of the match to become the ninth player in USWNT history to score five goals in a game and moves into third of all-time USWNT goal scoring list.

In the 86th minute, Tobin Heath scored the ninth and final goal for U.S. Tierna Davidson played a long ball to Heath on the right side of the field. Heath took a couple of touches before confidently slotting the ball past Cristina Recalde in goal. 

The United States and Paraguay face off again on Tuesday, September 21 in Rose Lavelle’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m. PT.