COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Emma Hayes’ tenure as U.S. women’s soccer team manager got off to a roaring start on Saturday, as Mallory Swanson and Tierna Davidson each scored twice to power a 4-0 win over South Korea.

Swanson scored with sharp finishes in the 34th and 74th minutes, and Davidson got her head to a pair of corner kicks in the 38th and 48th. The U.S. outshot South Korea 15-4 overall, including 9-1 in shots on target.

Surprises right away

With the Olympics starting next month, Hayes doesn’t have much time to change how the U.S. plays, or who’s a part of the team’s core. This was the first of just two games before she selects her Olympic roster with the second game coming Tuesday against South Korea in St. Paul, Minn. (8 p.m., truTV, Universo, Max, Peacock).

But Hayes made two small tweaks in her first starting lineup that got plenty of attention. The first was moving Catarina Macario back to an attacking midfield role, instead of the forward job she’s traditionally had.

That freed up a spot on the front line, and Hayes used it to start Sophia Smith at striker instead of at right wing where she’d been for a while. Smith is naturally a striker, but how the U.S. has played over time gave her plenty of opportunities to cut in from the right and shoot.

Starting Smith centrally also allowed Swanson and Trinity Rodman to start as the wingers, a big-time combination of attacking thrust — and the first time those two and Smith all started together.

Perhaps that might have happened sooner had Smith and Swanson not endured injuries last year. But it rightly got attention, with an extra dose because of who it left out: Jaedyn Shaw and, most significantly, Alex Morgan. Shaw was a second-half substitute, but Morgan did not play at all.

Hayes said Morgan didn’t play because of some pelvic pain she felt in the days before the game, and said she expects Morgan to play on Tuesday.

Colorado connection

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