Rose Lavelle and Avery Patterson shine as the USWNT destroys Ireland | OneFootball

There were lots of contributors to the United States women's national team's 4-0 friendly romp of the Republic of Ireland on Thursday night, but the obvious standouts were right back Avery Patterson and midfielder Rose Lavelle.

A two-way dynamo

Patterson was absolutely brilliant against Ireland.  Not only did she defend well as the right back on the few occasions the USWNT rearguard was tested, but she was relentless in the attack. And she attacked not only in the conventional wide position often taken up by offensive-minded fullback, but also through the midfield often, adding an element of unpredictability that can be nightmarish for defenses trying to sort out overloads.

More importantly, the Houston Dash regular scored her first international goal.  In the 19th minute, the Stars and Stripes had a corner kick, which was taken short.  Lavelle received the ball and sent the perfect cross into the box.  Like clockwork, the ball met Patterson’s head, who was in the perfect spot, and she directed the ball past Ireland’s goalkeeper, Courtney Brosnan.

Vintage Rose

Meanwhile, Lavelle made her return for the first time since December after missing multiple international windows to recover from offseason ankle surgery.  Her 59 minutes were a longer shift than some may have expected, but with a performance that included her assist to Patterson as well as a goal, you could understand why manager Emma Hayes left her on.

After Lavelle’s perfect cross led to Patterson's goal, she broke through for her own in the 53rd minute, getting on the end of Ally Sentnor's precise cross and, with power and precision, sweeping it into the goal to officially and emphatically declare that she is back.

Her work rate in the midfield and ability to assist the team with moving up the pitch is always a welcoming factor to the roster.  Lavelle truly played like she was never gone or out for multiple months.

A complete performance

More generally, it was hard to find anything to dislike with a 4-0 win over the Irish, a score that mirrored the result in Hayes' USWNT debut in the same venue -- suburban Denver's Dick’s Sporting Goods Park -- against South Korea a bit over a year ago.

With six players available to make their first cap, three made their debut for the USWNT.  Claudia Dickey started for the first time between the sticks while Lilly Reale made her debut in the backline.  Then, Jordyn Bugg came on as a substitute.

Throughout the match, the USWNT was relentless in the attack.  They spent a good portion of the friendly in the final third.  With Ireland’s tough defense, it was a little shocking they put four goals into the back of the net.  Plus, they had 26 shots compared to the opposition’s two.  Nevertheless, Hayes put out a game plan, and the players acted on it.