The early going of 2019 hasn't been all that pretty for the U.S. women's national team, but Sunday's win over Belgium offered a glimpse of the side at its absolute best.
Jill Ellis' outfit entered Sunday's friendly with Belgium having stumbled through much of the early going in 2019 after a historically good year in 2018, having won just three of six outings while suffering through two draws and a loss.
Wins over Brazil to close the SheBelieves Cup, and Australia in a friendly last Thursday failed to inspire much confidence either, but Sunday's win was a different matter.
Carli Lloyd struck twice inside the opening 20 minutes to get the match off to a flying start, with Lindsey Horan and Sam Mewis both netting before the break.
Lloyd's opener came in the 14th minute from a set piece with the midfielder beating her defender to the ball and finding the corner with a fine header.
Her second, just six minutes later, was another excellent piece of heading. The USA broke in down the left, Crystal Dunn beat a defender before whipping in a cross for Lloyd to nod across goal and in.
And the USWNT's dominance in the air would continue throughout the first half.
Horan beat her marker from a corner to nod home the third of the night, while Mewis made use of her head on another set piece to make it 4-0.
The first non-headed goal of the night came from Alex Morgan, who joined the 100-goal club with her strike against Australia.
Lloyd set the table, cutting in from the left and playing a clever heel pass to the overlapping Morgan who slammed home from a narrow angle.
Jessica McDonald added a bit more gloss to the scoreline with a sixth for the USA, once again a headed effort, in stoppage time, with Belgium never causing the USWNT the trouble that other sides have managed to throughout 2019.
