ORLANDO, FL – OCTOBER 25: Crystal Dunn #25 of the United States attempts a shot on goal against Tamires #6 of Brazil during a Women’s International Friendly soccer match at Orlando Citrus Bowl on October 25, 2015 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

If there was one player in the United States who was left off last summer’s World Cup roster despite absolutely deserving a spot over, shall-we-say, some aging and far less productive soon-to-be-retired legends, it was Crystal Dunn, the reining MVP of the NWSL and the winner of the 2015 Golden Boot in the American professional league.

Simply put, Dunn can score and her pace and knack for the net should have earned her a spot on the World Cup roster for the United States. Alas, Dunn had to wait her turn with the USWNT, called up during the celebratory friendly tour in September.

Dunn scored in her first game, and in her second and again a month later in a friendly win over Brazil. She scored one of the U.S. team’s two goals in December’s victory over China, had one of the team’s five goals in an Olympic qualifier over Costa Rica and scored five, herself, in the 10-0 Olympic qualifying win over Puerto Rico.

In her first 13 games with the full national team, Dunn scored 10 goals. Now, make that 11.

Dunn’s 72nd-minute strike was the difference in the match between the United States and England in the first game of the #SheBelieves Cup, a horribly named but well contested event featuring the U.S., England, Germany and France.

Dunn’s strike has the U.S. tied atop the table with Germany after one match. Jill Ellis’s squad plays France on March 6th in Nashville before ending the event in Boca Raton against Germany a few days later. As part of three double-headers, Germany and England will play after the U.S. match with France and France will take on England before the U.S. clash with Germany.

The winner of this tournament, if it can be called that, will be decided by the most points in the round-robin, with tie-breakers being goal differential, most goals scored, head-to-head result and, if necessary, FIFA ranking.

For now, thanks to Dunn, the U.S. is on pace to hoist another trophy. Something tells me there may not be a ticker-tape parade for this one. Still, that’s one helluva goal.

About Dan Levy

Dan Levy has written a lot of words in a lot of places, most recently as the National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. He was host of The Morning B/Reakaway on Sirius XM's Bleacher Report Radio for the past year, and previously worked at Sporting News and Rutgers University, with a concentration on sports, media and public relations.