(John Glennon, The Tennessean, 02.14.13)

NASHVILLE — There were a couple of natural story lines to follow when the U.S. women’s soccer team took on Scotland on Wednesday night at LP Field.

One involved veteran forward Abby Wambach, who on Wednesday became just the eighth player to participate in 200 games for the U.S. team.

The other involved Sydney Leroux, who after coming off the bench for her first 29 games for the United States, finally earned her first start. She took the place of high-scoring forward Alex Morgan, who sat out with a slight ankle injury.

Fittingly enough, the two tales intertwined during a decisive moment in the Americans’ 3-1 victory, when Leroux sent a perfect pass across the penalty box, allowing Wambach to head in the second goal of the match for the United States.

“You only get so many opportunities to play for your country, and you only get so many opportunities to score in front of the net,” said Wambach, 32. “I’ve been given the gift for scoring goals, and I hope I can continue to do the same thing for as long as I possibly can. It was a nice night.”

Added the 22-year old Leroux: “I’m glad I got the chance to set Abby up. Me and Abby have been roommates since the (2012) Olympics, so it was great to get the assist for her.”

That moment alone might have been enough to satisfy the crowd of 14,224, which braved a kickoff temperature of 43 degrees to set a U.S. women’s team attendance record for the state of Tennessee.

But the United States, the top-ranked women’s team in the world, provided plenty of other highlights as well.

There was midfielder Megan Rapinoe, normally known more for her creative playmaking, curling a beautifully struck ball to put the Americans ahead in the first half. There was 24-year-old Christen Press, a promising young forward who scored the third goal of her two-game American career.

And there was the U.S. defense, which appeared on its way to a shutout before surrendering an 81st-minute goal to trim the home team’s three-goal lead.

Still, the Americans extended their unbeaten streak to 25 games (22-0-3), defeating Scotland for the second time in five days to begin their 2013 season.

“You can tell there are some things we need to work on,” U.S. coach Tom Sermanni said after his second game in charge of the team. “We need to work a little better at keeping possession.

“But you can tell the ability they have to really, if things aren’t going well, to step up a gear and turn the game around. That’s the sign of a very good team.”

The Americans scored first in the 21st minute when Rapinoe outbattled Scottish defender Rachael Small for possession of Heather O’Reilly’s cross and sliced her shot past goalie Gemma Fay.

Leroux and Wambach combined for what would be the game-winning goal four minutes into the second half, as the Americans opened up a two-goal advantage. It was the 153rd career goal for Wambach, who is now just five goals behind Mia Hamm’s world goal-scoring record.

“You think about these kinds of (milestone) games and I don’t personally like to hype them up for the sole reason that it’s a team game, and as many games as I’ve played for this team, you need your teammates,” Wambach said. “I’ve watched (Leroux) kind of grow up on this team, so I thought it was really fitting for her to give me that assist. I think it might have been a little offsides, but I’m not complaining.”