Mallory Pugh has plenty of reasons to celebrate during the USA’s run in the SheBelieves Cup. (USA TODAY Sports)

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

After scoring the lone goal in the U.S. women’s national team’s 1-0 victory over Japan in the SheBelieves Cup on Sunday, Mallory Swanson’s teammates had a few superlatives for her tally.

“A great goal from Mal, taking her chance,” said Megan Rapinoe, who knows something about scoring goals.

“Mal scored an amazing goal,” forward Lynn Williams said.

Then again, great and amazing also can be said about the 24-year-old’s forward performances this year.

Swanson, who might be better known to the American soccer public as Mallory Pugh before her recent marriage, has tallied six goals this year as the USWNT prepares for the Women’s World Cup this summer (she married Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson on Dec. 10).

Now, that is pretty damn good timing for so many reasons.

“She’s now in a really good space,” USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski said.

Make that really, really, really good, given Swanson’s fantastic this year.

Swanson’s five-game scoring streak, the longest of her international career, is longest by a USWNT player since Christen Press scored in six consecutive games (from November 2019 to February 2020).

Her team-high six goals in four games in 2023 have already matched the second-most goals she has scored in a year with the USWNT, trailing only the career-high seven goals she recorded in 2022.

Swanson has seven career goal at the SheBelieves Cup, moving her into a tie with Rapinoe for the most goals scored by any player in tournament history.

She once was considered one of the USA’s bright young stars.

As an 18-year-old, she was the youngest player to score a goal, at the Olympics, at the 2016 Rio Summer Games. Swanson also was a member of the squad that captured the 2019 Women’s World Cup. But she failed to make the team for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

“One of the toughest conversations that she probably had in her career was with me before that,” Andonovski said after the Japan match on Sunday night. “Whent he Olympic roster was announced, I had a conversation, and we talked a lot where she’s at and the choices are now that she didn’t make the Olympic roster. I think even she says it herself that a little bit of a wake-up call on wanting to decide that she [path she] wants to take.”

Message received as Swanson raised her game and then some.

“I’m glad she took the direction that she did,” Andonovski said. “She’s now in the in really good space. And another reason was she actually leaned a lot on her husband, who has been tremendous in in this in this period of time to help her out get out from the situation or the stages she was at and to help her rebuild herself, rebuild her career, and become one of the best players in the world.”

Pretty heady stuff, but then again, Swanson has been performing heads and shoulders over most players in the SheBelieves Cup. She has scored all three goals in both USA wins, after recording a brace in the 2-0 victory over Canada.

Her latest goal came just prior to halftime of the 1-0 triumph over Japan in Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday.

Alex Morgan sent Swanson behind the defense on counterattack. Swanson bolted past the defense before sliding the ball into the lower left corner of the net.

“It’s not just the speed,” Andonovski said. “She controlled the ball in two touches and a juggling in the air at full speed. That’s technicality. That’s a very skillful player. And then at the end with the pressure on the back, in a 1 v 1 situation she finished that goal. It looked like the game stopped for her so she can finish the final touch. She’s in great, really good form.”

Swanson and Morgan have formed a creative partnership as the veteran has assisted on three of the younger forward’s last six goals.

“She has been able to come into that pocket a little bit more,” Swanson said. “She’s really good with her back to pressure. It’s important that I read what she’s doing and her movement and also reading what like Lindsey [Horan] is doing and just reading everyone’s movement just to make sure that we’re all on the same page and not doing the same thing.”

In describing her goal against Japan, Swanson said that Morgan “made a great touch, played a great ball. There were three times before that that I was offside so that was making sure that I was not going to be offside. Then I just saw the keeper come out and just wanted to slot it by her and just try to stay calm on the ball.”

Which she did.

Now, Swanson will try to add to her SheBelieves when the U.S. meets Brazil in the tournament finale in Frisco, Texas on Wednesday night.

“I feel like Brazil is like a mixture of the two,” she said, referring to the Americans’ first two foes in the tourney. “They’re physical and but they’re also very technical and they have some really top players on their team. They’re just going to present a different style that we haven’t really seen in a while. So it’ll be good for us.”

“We just focus on us and keep grinding and we keep building and paying attention to the details and hopefully we’ll get the win.”

For another SheBelieves Cup title.

“Anytime that you have a chance to play for a championship and to win it all, it’s always special,” Swanson said. “If we keep on focusing on the details of everything, we’ll get a win.”

And perhaps another goal or two from Swanson to continue a memorable start to the year.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.