Trinity Rodman is on pace to become one of the next American stars at the international stage and an unbelievable stat for the USWNT in 2023 explains why.
The 21-year old is here to stay.
When it comes to rookies in the National Women's Soccer League, most of the discussion has centered around No. 1 overall pick Alyssa Thompson. The headlines write themselves when you're talking about an 18-year-old who's already scored some spectacular goals for Angel City and is challenging for the USWNT World Cup squad.
But what about No. 2 overall pick Michelle Cooper, the forward who won the 2022 Hermann Trophy as the nation's best college player with 19 goals and 11 assists in 22 games during her sophomore season at Duke?
Trinity Rodman recorded one goal and one assist to spark the Washington Spirit to a convincing 3-1 victory over the visiting San Diego Wave on Saturday afternoon.
Ashley Sanchez and Paige Metayer also scored goals for the Spirit (3-0-3, 12 points), who notched all their tallies in the second half.
Alex Morgan scored a late goal for San Diego (3-3-0, 9 points), which lost its second straight match.
Opening weekend of the NWSL season continued Sunday with the Washington Spirit welcoming OL Reign to Audi Field, where Trinity Rodman brought the crowd to its feet with some sublime quality on the ball and a solo game-winner in the second half.
We had a scoreless opening 45 in the nation's capital, but Rodman established herself as the standout player with a couple brilliant moments.
One run from deep inside her own half was finished with a backheel pass and half-chance for Ashley Hatch.
High school sophomore Chloe Ricketts became the youngest player in the National Women’s Soccer League history on Thursday when she signed with the Washington Spirit. Ricketts signed a three-year contract with an option to extend for a fourth year in 2026.
The record for youngest NWSL player was previously held by Olivia Moultrie who signed with the Portland Thorns when she was 15 years and 286 days old. At the time of Ricketts’ signing, she was 15 years and 283 days old.
It didn't make much sense when EA Sports announced that women's club soccer was coming to FIFA 23 before launching with only the Women's Super League (England) and Division 1 Féminine (France) while omitting the National Women's Soccer League, but that's reportedly about to be remedied with a free March update ahead of the league's new season.
Before the NWSL and its players signed the league’s first CBA earlier this year, many players had to take side hustles to help support themselves under meager salaries.
When the NWSL players and league agreed to a landmark first-ever Collective Bargaining Agreement in February, most of the focus was on guaranteeing players a living wage, and for good reason. But among the other benefits NWSL players carved out for themselves was a mandatory seven-day break in the middle of the season — an NWSL summer vacation.
What’s better than soccer and beer? How about soccer and free beer.
The Washington Spirit will be offering 1,000 free beers to fans who attend Sunday’s match against the Orlando Pride at Audi Field. It’s part of the club’s introduction of Spiritville, a pregame tailgate with beer, merch, kids games and more.
Cheers to a brew-tiful matchday at @AudiField pic.twitter.com/Rnmyx5kBbt
The USWNT unceremoniously dumped Mexico from 2023 Women’s World Cup contention on Monday night, securing a late 1-0 win in Nuevo León in front of a 2022 Concacaf W Championship-best crowd of 20,522.