Kealia Ohai, Andreea Voicu

United States forward Kealia Ohai, left, and Romania midfielder Andreea Voicu battle for the ball during the first half of an exhibition soccer match, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016, in Carson, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

(Mark J. Terrill)

After spending years waiting for her opportunity, 2016 National Women's Soccer League MVP Lynn Williams needed only 49 seconds to set a record for the fastest debut goal in U.S. Women's National Team history.

That record would be broken just four days later.

This time it was a different NWSL standout taking advantage of her first cap. Kealia Ohai, who plays for the Houston Dash and tied Williams for the league-lead in goals this year, bested Williams' mark by one second, scoring just 48 seconds after entering a friendly against Switzerland in October.

Williams and Ohai didn't take the traditional path to the U.S. Women's National Team. In fact, at 23 and 24, respectively, they may never have earned elusive call-ups without their eye-catching performances in the NWSL this season.

"I think some people fall through the cracks and I consider myself one of them," said Williams, who plays for the Western New York Flash in the NWSL. "I just was never seen. I think if the NWSL didn't happen, then I wouldn't have gotten a chance with the national team."

Williams and Ohai are two of 10 players that earned their first call-ups to the USWNT after impressing in the NWSL this season. The slew of call-ups marks an important shift for the USWNT, which appears poised to rely more and more on the fledgling NWSL to generate players as the league continues to grow.

"(The NWSL) is not perfect and I think everyone involved in it would say it's not perfect, but it's evolving, it's growing and it's very, very important to our future," USWNT coach Jill Ellis said.

In the past, the USWNT has mostly been comprised of players that have excelled in the U.S. youth national team system or been scouted out of college by necessity as top-tier, professional women's soccer leagues have struggled to keep afloat in the United States. Two previous iterations of women's pro soccer in America - the WUSA and WPS - both failed after three seasons due to financial hardship and infrastructure problems.

While the USWNT has certainly been successful under these circumstances - the USA won the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and is ranked No. 1 in the world, despite flaming out of the Olympics this summer - the absence of a stable professional league has often meant that late-bloomers, like Williams and Ohai, have been overlooked.

But after four seasons, the NWSL, which U.S. Soccer has financially backed in hopes of creating the first sustainable women's pro soccer league in the USA, is on relatively stable footing and could become an important pipeline to the national team as the USWNT gears up for its next World Cup and Olympic cycle.

"I think without a professional league, a national team is at a disadvantage," Ellis said. "That's why you see now, the teams in the top-tier - Japan, England, France, Germany - they all have professional leagues. I think it almost must go hand-in-hand with a national team's desire to compete for world championships because I think it's such an important platform."

While the best U.S. players compete in the NWSL, up until this year, very few players had earned their way into the national team fold by impressing in the young league. Portland Thorns midfielder Allie Long, who went four years without earning a call-up to the USWNT until finally breaking in with the team and earning a spot on the 2016 Olympic roster, was one of the few NWSL success stories.

But with the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup still more than two years away, Ellis has made a concerted effort this fall to call in a new group of players and has clearly rewarded the top performers in the NWSL - like Ohai and Williams.

Ohai spent her teen years competing in the U.S. youth national team system - the same trajectory that many established national team players have taken - and went on to lead the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team to victory at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, scoring the game-winning goal in the final against Germany. But after briefly featuring with the U-23 team, Ohai failed to earn a call-up to the senior team - until she forced her way back into the picture with her performance in the NWSL this season.

"It has always been my dream to be called into the national team," Ohai said. "It's awesome that they're actually using the NWSL as a platform and watching games and more people are getting a chance."

Unlike Ohai, Williams didn't have an opportunity to compete in the youth national team system during high school. The Fresno, California native was not a member of a big-time youth soccer club and wasn't even heavily recruited heading into college. Still, she went on to become a star at Pepperdine University, though injuries consistently sidetracked her career. Up until her breakout year in the NWSL, Williams' experience with the USWNT program consisted of just three call-ups to the U-23 team.

"The NWSL has been tremendously impactful," Williams said. "Every single week you know you're going up against some of the best players in the world. I think if you can show well during that time, Jill has obviously rewarded the great things that people have done."

While not every NWSL standout will stick in the national team environment - of the 10 NWSL players that saw their first call-ups during October and November, only five earned caps - as the league continues to grow, it could become a critical pipeline to the USWNT and prompt a change in the composition of the player pool heading into the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

"Honestly, it's as it should be," Ellis said. "That's where every other national team in the world is, your performance in your club environment warrants the selection or non-selection to the national team... The reality is it's a professional environment that must now be the arena where we as coaches look to make selections."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg