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Her goal in the 2019 final, a stellar
individual effort that built on team mate Megan Rapinoe's
earlier penalty, catapulted the Lavelle into a new level of
stardom in American soccer.
But with a new coach and 14 World Cup newcomers on her team
comes a new mindset against the Netherlands, said Lavelle, in
what will almost surely be the biggest hurdle of the Americans'
group stage.
"I don't think we ever look back and feel we're defending
something," Lavelle told reporters.
"We have the mindset that we're attacking something and that's
how we feel ... (2019 is) a fun memory, but I think we just have
to take it one game at a time and kind of be present - don't
look too far in the past, don't look too far forward."
The OL Reign mainstay had been sidelined with a knee injury in
the run-up to the tournament but got on as a second-half
substitute - to the relief of fans - in the United States' 3-0
win over Vietnam in their Saturday World Cup opener.
Lavelle said she is fit and ready to play, as the team hope to
improve on that effort after they squandered several chances to
score against the tournament debutants.
"When maybe you're not hitting the back of the net, you feel
like you have to like capitalise on every single moment,"
Lavelle said. "The more patient we can be, the more probing we
can be, it's going to stretch them a little more."
The ninth-ranked Netherlands, who kicked off their Group E
campaign with a win over newcomers Portugal, are without their
all-time top scorer Vivianne Miedema after she injured her ACL
last year.
But Lavelle and her team mates expect the stout Dutch squad to
be no less lethal, with plenty of bad blood after the Americans
beat them on penalties in the Tokyo Olympic quarter-finals.
"Every time we play them, it's a very physical, intense match,"
she said. "They're technical, good on set pieces. So I think
it's going to be a tough game, but I think we're really excited
for it."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Wellington; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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