Rose Lavelle added to USA vs China roster

Rose Lavelle has been added to the roster for the United States’ two friendlies against China on on June 7 and June 12.

Lavelle was initially left off the 24-player roster announced on March 29, but after putting together an energetic if sometimes sloppy 30-plus minutes for the Washington Spirit on a rainy Saturday night, Lavelle has been called into camp.

“There’s been a measured process in place to bring Rose back to fitness, and based on her performance in training with her club and her status after her most recent Spirit match, it gives us an opportunity to integrate her back into the team,” said head coach Jill Ellis in a US Soccer press release. Until now, Lavelle has had just a few appearances for the Spirit as they cautiously reintroduce her to the pitch, giving her 15 minutes and working their way up to 30.

Ellis said Spirit head coach Jim Gabarra was “collaborative and communicative” in helping Lavelle get back to the pitch. “After a 30-minute stint on Saturday evening against the Chicago Red Stars, [Lavelle] was deemed fit enough to join U.S. camp,” the press release said, implying that subbing Lavelle in even in horrible conditions that had seen heavy rain for most of the game after a 5-hour lightning delay was part of the plan. Fortunately, Lavelle and her rehabbed hamstring seem to have come through the test whole. Now we’ll see if she’s ready to go at the international level, although hopefully the coaching staff will be willing to bench Lavelle if necessary. These are two random friendlies against China, not worth unnecessarily overloading what has been, by all accounts, a delicate rehab process. Lavelle’s health and potential importance to the midfield outweighs having her in for 30 minutes or a half against China.

Schedule

Game 1
June 7, 9 PM ET
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
FS1, UDN

Game 2
June 12, 7 PM ET
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
ESPN2, UDN