The United States women came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Spain on Tuesday with Mallory Swanson leveling the score against the World Cup winners late with a clinical volley -- her first strike for the USWNT since the Olympic gold medal game in 2024.

The U.S. was looking to rebound in Chester, Pennsylvania, from Saturday's 2-0 loss to Spain -- in which the defending world champions scored both goals in the opening 15 minutes -- and manager Emma Hayes urged her side ahead of the second match to come out faster and be more aggressive.

Nonetheless, Spain, the No. 1 team in the world, picked up right where it left off Saturday when London City Lionesses striker Alexia Putellas tapped in at the far post from Clara Serrajordi's cross through the penalty area to give her team another early lead.

The goal for Putellas was her 43rd for Spain and came on her 150th appearance for the national team.

Minutes later, the U.S. went down 2-0.

This time a poor pass out of the back by U.S. keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce was picked up by Spain and found its way to the feet of Salma Paralluelo, who smashed a shot off the crossbar and into the back of the net.

The score at halftime didn't tell the entire story of the first half as the U.S. possessed the ball well at times and had some dangerous moments in the attacking third but, much like in the loss Saturday, could not make it count.

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Hayes' team came roaring out of the break, though, with Ashley Sanchez scoring shortly after the restart for her fourth career goal for the U.S. and first since finding the net against Costa Rica in 2022.

"When I started dribbling at her, I thought she was going to step. And when she didn't, I knew that I could probably hit that shot back post," Sanchez said.

"I feel like I haven't processed it, really yet, but I'm sure I'll feel really good about it in about an hour or something when the adrenaline shuts down a bit."

Swanson came on for Rose Lavelle, and Alyssa Thompson substituted for her sister Gisele in the 60th minute as both teams made a number of changes early in the second half.

Another sub, Lily Yohannes, nearly set up the tying goal with a delicate through ball to Swanson, but the Chicago Stars striker -- who is still working her way back into the national team after an extended absence for maternity leave -- had her shot saved by Spain goalie Misa Rodríguez in the 69th minute.

Swanson made good on her second chance, settling a pass at the top of the box in the 86th minute and lashing home a volley with her next touch to beat Rodríguez and even things up at 2-2.

"I mean, this mentality of this team has always been you stay with it," Swanson said after the game. "That's what this crest means."

The goal -- Swanson's first for the national team in 795 days -- helped the USWNT avoid losing a fourth game of the year after Saturday's loss to Spain and earlier defeats to Japan and Brazil. It marked the first time the U.S. had not lost a game after trailing by two or more goals at halftime in team history.

"Obviously we always want to win, that's the type of team that we are", Sanchez added. "I think if we had 20 more minutes we definitely probably would have won. But it was good just to get a tie against a team like that and come back from 2-nil down."

Spain was dominant at times despite missing some of its biggest players, including Aitana Bonmati, who is still working her way back from a broken leg. Vicky Lopez, Mariona Caldentey and goalkeeper Cata Coll were all also unavailable for the matches because of injuries.

On the U.S. side, key players Naomi Girma and Sam Coffey were sidelined with injuries.

Next up for the Americans is a Concacaf W Championship game against El Salvador on Nov. 27. The quarterfinal match also serves as a World Cup qualifier with the U.S. able to clinch a spot at the 2027 tournament in Brazil with a win.

Information from ESPN Global Research was used in this recap.