A rebound shot in the 40th minute, from 20 yards out — for the lead.

Amy Rodriguez is used to scoring. She scored 31 goals while at USC from 2005-2008 —fourth on the school’s all-time list. She scored 17 goals in 70 appearances on the international circuit.

Almost there · Former USC forward Amy Rodriguez earned a silver medal playing for the U.S. women’s national team during the FIFA World Cup, marking the second time she had medaled for the USWNT. - Photo courtesy of Thomas Eisenhuth/isiphotos.com

But this goal was particularly timely. It didn’t just cushion a lead. It didn’t come in the waning minutes of a blowout. Instead, it put the U.S. women’s national soccer team up 1-0 over Italy in a qualifying match last November, propelling the United States to an eventual 2-0 victory over the Italians and a berth in the 2011 FIFA World Cup.

“The shot was deflected, there was a scramble in the box and I just got a foot on it,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez has had a flair for finding the net — she remains among the best scorers in women’s soccer today.

In the last three years alone, she has become USC’s first soccer medalist, earning a gold medal while playing for the United States in the 2008 Olympic Games, starting four of five games and scoring against New Zealand in group play and going No. 1 overall to the Boston Breakers in the 2009 Women’s Professional Soccer draft.

“That’s expected of her,” said Ali Khosroshahin, who coached Rodriguez for two seasons at USC. “She’s always had a great attitude; a willingness to work and learn.”

Yet, despite her offensive prowess and experience playing for the national team, the 5-foot-4 forward underwent her fair share of growing pains during last month’s World Cup.

Through five tournament games, all of which she started, Rodriguez was held scoreless, failing to connect on any of her nine shots — three of which were on goal.

“I did feel my performance was solid, very consistent,” Rodriguez said. “Yeah, I wish I would have put a goal up on the scoreboard for my team, but we won every game I played in.”

Although failing to score, she still had plenty of opportunities. Her ratio of shots on goal was 33.3 percent, good for third best among the team’s starters.

“Amy created some opportunities for herself and for her teammates,” Khosroshahin said. “She wasn’t able to capitalize on those opportunities for herself, but Amy’s a strong player and gets better as the game goes on.”

She didn’t, however, get that chance.

In the moments prior to the United States’ championship match against Japan on July 17, coach Pia Sundhage announced that Megan Rapinoe — not Rodriguez — would start in the final at forward, marking the first time she had not started all tournament.

“I was so excited to be in the World Cup final that I think it didn’t matter that I was sitting on the bench,” Rodriguez said.  “When the time came and if the coach needed me, I was going to be ready.”

But that time never came.

Although FIFA rules allow teams to make three substitutions per game, Sundhage opted to make just two.

In the 45th minute, Alex Morgan entered the game at forward for an injured Lauren Cheney, and in the 114th, Tobin Heath came in for Rapinoe. Rodriguez, who had scored three goals in the team’s previous three games against Japan, never left the bench.

“I think, when a player has that kind of a streak going on, you give her a few minutes, especially when they got into overtime and had a sub left,” Khosroshahin said. “But then again, I’m not there. It’s not my decision.”

With Rodriguez stuck on the sidelines, the United States squandered its lead not once but twice.

Following a goal from Morgan in the 69th minute, Japan’s Aye Miyama scored from five yards out, tying the game at one, after the United States failed to clear the ball in front of its own goal. Thirteen minutes after an Abby Wambach goal gave the United States a 2-1 lead, Homare Sawa flicked in a corner kick to knot the game at two.

Eventually, Japan won 3-1 on penalty kicks.

“We gave it all that we could,” Rodriguez said. “And on that day, it just wasn’t enough. But credit Japan. They played very well and have excellent P.K. shooters.”

For Rodriguez this is just the beginning. At age 24, she will likely play in at least one, possibly even two more World Cups, plus the 2012 or 2016 Olympics.

“She is only going to get better,” Khosroshahin said. “We haven’t seen the best of her. I think she’s going to be playing for a very long time.”