Mallory Pugh's 2 Goals Help Lift USA Women's Soccer to 5-1 Win vs. Denmark

The biggest stars came alive for the United States women's national team Sunday, earning a 5-1 win over Denmark in an international friendly.

Mallory Pugh earned her first career brace for USWNT with two second-half goals, while Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz and Crystal Dunn came through with a goal apiece to help pull away on home soil in San Diego.

The match was the Americans' first in 2018, but they remain unbeaten in the last nine games, including eight wins in this stretch.

Denmark provided a scare early in the match, shocking the home team with the opening score in the 14th minute. Nadia Nadim came through with a header off a corner, beating the American defense and finding the back of the net.

However, the United States faced little trouble from there, quickly getting the equalizer and go-ahead goal within just a few minutes:

While Pugh did a lot of the work to set Morgan up with her short kick, Ertz did most of the work herself with a beautiful volley off a Tierna Davidson header.

Teammate Becky Sauerbrunn, who is out because of a foot injury, provided great insight into the team's second score of the match:

The score was part of a big day for the Ertz family, as the midfielder's husband, Zach Ertz, put on a show for the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game as well.

While the game was far from over at halftime with just a 2-1 lead, Pugh took care of business from there with a huge second half.

The 19-year-old had a pair of steals and scores, using an outstanding individual effort to add two goals to the scoresheet:

Both came off mistakes from the Danish defense, but Pugh didn't hesitate to go right at the net and turn a close matchup into a blowout.

Dunn then added to the lead in the 81st minute with a fifth goal, completing the one-sided effort in this matchup.

Although the United States only controlled slightly more possession in the match (53 percent), the true difference came in the final third. The home team took 19 shots compared to six from Denmark, including an 9-1 advantage in shots on goal. This led to what became an easy win in Sunday's friendly.

The United States will now move on to preparing for the SheBelieves Cup in March, featuring matchups against Germany, France and England. After the disappointing last-place finish in last year's event, the Americans will hope to have a better showing this time around.