This week in US Soccer: Mallory Pugh is going pro

Mallory Pugh is about to get paid, Brooks Lennon says “all aboard” and a pair of brilliant assists.

Mal Pugh isn’t waiting any longer to get that money

Mallory Pugh is 18 years old. She enrolled at UCLA in January to begin her college soccer career. Four months later she has decided to heck with college and turned pro.

UCLA released a statement on Tuesday announcing the departure of the USWNT regular. Pugh played all of three preseason games for the Bruins before deciding it was time to make the jump to the professional ranks.

Each and every NWSL club would love to have her: the Washington Spirit are technically the front-runners to sign Pugh as they are at the top of the allocation order, but she has stated she wants to play for the Portland Thorns. The speedy winger may also elect to play overseas. Clubs in France, for instance, have the ability to offer her a substantial contract.

A few factors apparently were involved in Pugh’s decision. Most were money-related. Playing in college for four years would have made her ineligible to receive salary and bonuses from U.S. Soccer for her involvement with the national team. So the recent approval of the new CBA, which offered hefty increases in pay to women’s players, certainly had something to do with it.

Playing for UCLA would have also prevented Pugh from cashing in on any endorsements. Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl pointed out that the likes of Adidas and Nike are practically foaming at the mouth to bring her into the fold.

All the indicators point to Pugh being the next great U.S. women’s soccer player. She has become an almost automatic selection to the USWNT lineup for head coach Jill Ellis. On top of her blistering pace and dribbling ability, she’s equally adept at creating chances and finishing them.

In 2016, as a gosh dang 17-year-old, Pugh scored seven goals and added seven assists in 17 games (12 starts) and played in the Olympics for the USWNT. She already has three assists in just five games this year.

That the option to leave college and turn pro was financially feasible for Pugh is another great sign for women’s soccer in this country. It is another step towards men’s and women’s sides becoming more equal. The most talented American WoSo players have always deserved the chance to make enough money solely from playing soccer. That is becoming the new reality.

Get that cheddar, Mal.

Related Story: 25 best club soccer teams of all time

Extras

As the Christian Pulisic hype train nears full capacity, another one is picking up steam. 19-year-old Brooks Lennon, on loan from freaking Liverpool to Real Salt Lake, scored a late game-winner against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, handing the home side their first home loss since October 2015. Make sure to check out the Dybala-Ronaldo combo celebration in the video below.

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Choo choo indeed.

Two other USMNT youngins made an impact for their club teams on the weekend. One, naturally, was Pulisic. He blew by a few Frankfurt defenders to chase down a ball in the box before providing an inch-perfect pass to Marco Reus for Dortmund’s opener on Saturday.

Not to be outdone, Emerson Hyndman provided a helper of his own in Rangers 2-0 win over Patrick Thistle on Saturday. After some very fancy footwork, Emo put the ball on a platter for Jon Toral to slot home.

https://twitter.com/spfl/status/853978898463248385

See y’all next week.