The USWNT will play two matches against the Republic of Ireland on June 26 in Commerce City, Colo., and June 29 at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati before the Allstate Continental Clasico against Canada on July 2 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Cincinnati, I love it so much,” Lavelle said in a Zoom press conference with local media Tuesday ahead of the roster announcement. “Anytime we get to play there, it’s so special. But I think for it to be like my first camp back post-surgery, I think makes it extra special. I always just say it’s like getting to kind of be back in a city that helped raise me, helped make me the player that I am today. So, I think it’s just like, so special and it brings me so much joy getting to bring everyone to Cincinnati and show them around and show how great of a city it is.”
Lavelle, who turned 30 last month, recently returned to competition with National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club Gotham, making the first of her two appearances in 2025 on June 7. That was her first match of any kind since an appearance with the U.S. national team Dec. 3, 2024, shortly after which she underwent ankle surgery.
Although Lavelle remained on track with the original rehab timeline she had been given, the recovery process was much more challenging than anticipated.
“I had been blessed up until that point to not have to get surgery, so yeah, it was my first experience with it, but it was kind of treacherous,” Lavelle said. “I definitely didn’t know what all coming back from surgery entailed. So, it was definitely a harder process than I anticipated, but the med staff at Gotham has been great. …. I think I’m better for it, and I feel really grateful for the support system I had throughout it all.”
Lavelle had time during her recovery process to think of her next goals and reflect on her career to this point – one that began on the professional level when the Boston Breakers selected her No. 1 overall in the 2017 NWSL Draft.
Since then, she’s played for the likes of Manchester City (2020-21), where she was part of an FA Cup championship squad her first season, and she’s played in two Women’s World Cups, winning a title in 2019, and two Olympics, winning gold in 2024 and bronze in 2020. Lavelle has more than 100 international appearances.
So what’s left to accomplish? Plenty, she said.
“I want to win an NWSL championship,” Lavelle said. “Obviously, we have another cycle starting off, so qualify for the World Cup (in 2027) and Olympics and kind of go from there. This the first time I think, in my career that I’ve had a summer off of like no tournament or a year off with no tournament, so it’s a little bit of a downtime period, but I think it’s been kind of nice, because I’ve been able to take a step back and really reflect both on and off the field. So, I feel like there’s not really ever an ideal time to get an injury or have surgery, but I feel like if it was going to happen this year was probably the best time, and I feel like it’s allowed me to really prepare and, like, reflect on the next couple of years ahead.”
The timing couldn’t have worked out better for her return to coincide with a trip to Cincinnati, but Lavelle isn’t ready to go “play maximum minutes.” She’s still not 100 percent full strength on the ankle but said she feels good mentally and physically overall.
For her first camp back in with the USWMNT, she’s going in like everyone else, assuming they have to earn their spot still. However, as a veteran on a young team, which includes six uncapped players and four first-time callups, Lavelle expects to have an important role – even if it’s more from the sidelines.
Lavelle had a chance to embrace more of a leadership role during her recovery process with Gotham because it was one way she could still contribute while not playing. Now, she’s ready to do the same with the U.S., regardless of how much playing time she gets.
“It’s something that, having been in camp and with the national team for so long, it’s a familiar position I’m in, to go back and go into an environment where we really have to compete and push each other,” Lavelle said. “And I think just like that in itself, bringing that mentality for players who maybe it’s their first camp, or the first couple camps or however long they’ve been in, I think that that’s always great to see. I think I learned that from the veteran players my first couple camps in and, like, for the whole duration of my national team experience, coming in and seeing everybody bring that every single day.
“And I knew when that veteran group had, like, retired and moved on that my age cohort and my friends like that, was now our responsibility to show the new younger players, like, what this team is about and what we bring every single day in training. So, I think that that’s kind of at the forefront of my mind, first and foremost, how I can, like, show my experience and help this younger group in their first couple camps.”
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