Mallory Pugh is back and made sure her presence was felt with the United States women’s national team on Thursday night.

Carli Lloyd scored a whopping five goals and Andi Sullivan buried the first two goals of her international career, but quietly making an impact in the team’s 9-0 win over Paraguay was Pugh.

The 23-year-old recorded a career-high three assists in her first appearance with the USWNT since March 2020. She began the night in the starting lineup and finished second in fan voting for Woman of the Match, just behind Lloyd’s 75.3 percent. Pugh’s three assists were the most by a USWNT player since Alex Morgan had three against Thailand at the 2019 World Cup.

Pugh accomplished all of that in just 58 minutes of play, before substitute Sophia Smith relieved her. USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski was impressed with Pugh’s runs and positioning.

“Very happy with her performance,” he said. “This is just one of those games to get her back in, to refresh the principles, and hopefully it’s just the beginning of getting her back to her best.”

2nd goal of the night for @sunshine_sully ⚽️⚽️
3rd assist for @MalPugh 🅰️🅰️🅰️ pic.twitter.com/wzBPjuCoFK

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) September 17, 2021

Pugh has been focusing on playing more freely this year. When she made her first appearance with the national team as a 17-year-old in 2016, Pugh benefited from a just-have-fun-with-it attitude. She says she’s rediscovered that mindset in the NWSL these past few months and is taking this USWNT camp as an opportunity to build on the momentum.

It also helps that she’s around her friends again.

“I literally haven’t seen Tobin [Heath] in like a year and a half,” she said. “Every camp I was in, she was out, and vice versa. So I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re here in real life.’ It was awesome.”

Pugh was left off of the USWNT roster for the first time in her career when Andonovski named the team for the Olympic qualifiers in January 2020. Since then, she’s had an impressive first season with the Chicago Red Stars and has found her way back onto the coach’s radar.

“When Mallory is performing well, staying healthy and she’s performing well on a consistent basis, she’s going to be a very important piece of this puzzle,” Andonovski said. “She’s going to be a very important player for this team. I’m excited for her and we’re looking forward to having Mal in good form.”

Pugh has three goals and three assists in 17 starts (and 18 games) with the Red Stars. With five games left before the NWSL playoffs, the forward ranks fifth in the league with 37 shots.

Before joining Chicago this season, Pugh hadn’t scored a goal since 2019. The Highlands Ranch, Colo. native also hadn’t found much stability in the league until this year. After three seasons with the Washington Spirit, she was traded to Sky Blue FC (now Gotham FC) in January 2020 but barely saw the field because of a hip injury. In December, the Red Stars acquired Pugh from Sky Blue in a package deal.

Coming off of the injury, Pugh needed to find her form again. Besides having to get used to the cold, Chicago was the place to do that.

“I think over my club career, it’s been a little uneasy and I think I’ve finally found Chicago to be a place where I can express how I want to play,” Pugh said. “So far, I love the club. I wanted to be surrounded by players who could push me, and for me that was being at Chicago. My agent was able to get that to work out. It’s just been a really good fit for me.”

Next up for Pugh is another USWNT friendly against Paraguay on Tuesday in Cincinnati. She’ll resume club play with the Red Stars on Sept. 25 against top-ranked Portland Thorns.

Two key upsets headlined Thursday's WNBA bill, sending the Phoenix Mercury soaring into third place in the league standings while the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries continued to outwit opponents.

The red-hot Mercury snagged their fourth straight win by taking down the No. 2 New York Liberty 89-81 on Thursday night, overcoming an 35-point performance from two-time MVP Breanna Stewart with five double-digit Phoenix scorers.

Meanwhile out West, the Valkyries stifled a surging No. 7 Fever, downing Indiana 88-77 in part by holding star guard Caitlin Clark to just 3-for-14 from the field — and 0-for-7 from behind the arc.

"We were being disruptive, we know that she doesn't like physicality, we know that she wants to get to that left step-back," Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said about the Valkyries' strategy to effectively contain Clark.

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Though the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and 2024 WNBA champions New York still hold court atop the table, Thursday's actions proves that other squads are making some unexpected in-roads.

Putting together an impressive road record are the Mercury, who will ride a 4-2 away record into their Saturday matchup against the No. 11 Chicago Sky — the last stop on a four-game road trip that's been perfect for Phoenix thus far.

Already flipping the script on expectations is Golden State, with the 2025 expansion team rising despite relying on a hodgepodge roster as several players compete at EuroBasket 2025. The Valkyries will aim to keep their winning momentum in their Sunday clash with the No. 12 Connecticut Sun.

How to watch the Mercury, Valkyries this weekend

Both of Thursday's victors will be back in action this weekend, with Phoenix facing Chicago at 1 PM ET on Saturday, airing live on ABC.

Then on Sunday, Golden State will host Connecticut at 8:30 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

In another weekend full of WNBA action, all eyes are on Las Vegas, as the No. 8 Aces will try to curb a two-game losing streak against two formidable opponents.

A successful weekend for Las Vegas could hinge on three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson's potential return from injury, with the star forward recently upgraded to "questionable" after landing in concussion protocol last week.

Overall, the margin for error has narrowed in the middle of the WNBA pack, as talented teams continue to translate quality performances into consistency.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Aces will try to end their free fall in Friday's head-to-head battle with a Seattle side that can beat anybody at their best.

• No. 7 Indiana Fever vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Sunday at 3 PM ET (ESPN): Las Vegas next faces a Fever team still smarting from Thursday's away loss to the Golden State Valkyries, with both teams narrowly clinging to positions above the playoff line.

• No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm, Sunday at 7 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Liberty have a comfortable hold on second place, but with two losses in their last three games, New York is flirting with danger entering their Sunday game with Seattle — particularly if star big Jonquel Jones is out after suffering a knock to the ankle on Thursday.

Ultimately, there's no rest for the weary in the WNBA, as a series of difficult matchups can see a single error quickly slide into a losing streak.

The final NWSL weekend heading into the league's six-week summer break has arrived, giving teams one more chance to prove themselves before regular-season play pauses to make way for major international tournaments.

With a five-point gap separating No. 1 Kansas City from No. 2 Orlando in the NWSL standings, the Current will enter the break as the 2025 Shield frontrunners regardless of this weekend's results.

Despite Kansas City's grip atop the table, there's still plenty of room for movement both above and below the postseason cutoff line, as clubs across the NWSL look to wrap their midseason finales on a high note:

• No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 10 Angel City FC, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): Angel City has a shot at launching themselves above the cutoff line on Friday, but they'll have to snap the Current's five-game winning streak to make it happen.

• No. 8 Gotham FC vs. No. 9 Bay FC, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Gotham and Bay FC enter the weekend tied on points while staring at each other from on opposite sides of the playoff line — meaning a Saturday win for either club could set the tone for the rest of the 2025 season.

• No. 3 San Diego Wave FC vs. No. 4 Washington Spirit, Sunday at 10 PM ET (CBS Sports): The weekend's only top-table clash could see San Diego sprint back into second place — unless Washington leapfrogs the upstart Wave to claim the third-place spot.

The LPGA Tour has turned its attention to Texas, with the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship — the third major of the pro golf season — teeing off in Frisco to a flurry of first-round action on Thursday.

All of the sport's Top 100 athletes are participating in this week's event, including No. 1 Nelly Korda, who sits in a 14th-place tie with an even-par first-round performance, and surging US dark horse No. 50 Lexi Thompson, who tied for 10th in her Thursday return from a brief retirement.

However, leading the pack heading into Friday's second round is Thailand's world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who finished the first day of competition atop the leaderboard with a score of 4-under-par.

Australia's No. 24 Minjee Lee also posted a strong start, capping Thursday at 3-under to sit in second place.

While the sport's best chase victory on the links, the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship is already making history off the green.

Not only is it the first-ever women's major to tee off at Frisco's Fields Ranch East, the tournament also increased its purse to $12 million on Tuesday — nearly tripling the $4.5 million prize pool from just four years ago and tying the US Women's Open for the LPGA Tour's highest payout in the process.

How to watch the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

The third LPGA Grand Slam of 2025 continues through Sunday.

Friday's second round will air live on the Golf Channel, while coverage of Saturday and Sunday's final rounds will air across NBC and Peacock.