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New York Times
03-08-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Trinity Rodman nets a game-winner for the Washington Spirit in her first match since April
Washington Spirit and U.S. women's national team forward Trinity Rodman returned to play from a persistent back injury that kept her off the field nearly four months in unforgettable fashion. She fired a last-minute goal to give her D.C. club a 2-1 home victory over the Portland Thorns in front of the 16,007 fans who descended on Audi Field Sunday afternoon. Advertisement Speaking to ESPN after the final whistle, Rodman, who hadn't played since April 12 and has spent the interim rehabilitating a back injury she is unsure will ever fully heal, was visibly emotional. With tearful eyes and a face buried in her hands, she managed to eke out, 'Holy cow,' when asked about her experience as a substitute in the 75th minute. 'That was just the hardest thing I've had to go through, injury and everything,' she said. 'Being back, and being at the home stadium with the crowd behind me scoring a goal like that — you saw I buried that. I wasn't going to miss it.' Indeed, Rodman's goal appeared to compress the emotional roller coaster of her healing journey into a single extraordinary moment: Spirit forward and Nigerian international Gift Monday, who'd opened the scoring in the first half, held up play near the penalty area before resetting the attack with Courtney Brown, a midfielder who'd been assigned the role of full back when she subbed on. Brown's inswinging cross landed in the box with midfielder Croix Bethune, who, with her back to goal, managed to get a foot on it to redirect the ball and effectively throw Portland's backline off the scent. The ball bounced in front of an unmarked Rodman, who smashed it on a half volley with her right-foot laces to send it sailing over the outstretched arms of Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold. Bethune's arms were also outstretched before Rodman struck the ball, ready to celebrate a goal that felt inevitable. Her assist, like Rodman's goal, was also her first of the season for the Spirit, who claimed the No. 2 spot in the NWSL table with their victory. Speaking in the post-game press conference in a sharp fit (a white halter top and simple black trousers, dainty earrings dangling beneath a high braided bun), Rodman elaborated further on the physical and emotional path back onto the pitch, including how intentional she was about her decision to step away. Advertisement Rather than rehab and train at the Spirit's facility, the 23-year-old Southern California native opted instead for individual workouts in remote locations. She also spent lots of time with her boyfriend, tennis star Ben Shelton, sitting courtside for his competitions at Roland Garros in Paris and Wimbledon in London. 'I don't think that you have to become a robot to be the best player that you can be,' she said on Sunday. 'I think it's very important to be treated like a normal human to have your off the field moments.' Rodman admitted she had to battle her own self consciousness at times about what she 'should' be doing as an athlete in recovery, and her so-called obligation to show fans and critics alike that she took her job seriously. 'I think even me posting (on social media), I caught myself sometimes posting to, like, prove to everybody that I was doing it, and I would take a step back and be like, 'Why? Like, why do I even need to do that?' 'I think a lot of times there's a lot of pressure that if you're doing certain things, it's kind of like, 'Oh why isn't she with the team? Why isn't she watching film instead of watching Ben, and it's just all these comments, it's just kind of like, 'Okay, what are you guys doing? You guys are sitting on the couch hanging out, or you're with your significant others doing that stuff.' And I just feel like it needs to be more normalized with athletes because we're people, too, and we like to enjoy our lives off the field because there's enough pressure on the field.' When she addressed the media on July 29 from the Spirit's training center in Virginia, Rodman offered a sense of the adjustments she's made to her game to accommodate the lessons learned in recovery: more thoughtful, slightly less volatile in her physical sacrifices, but just as sharp, just as daring. Advertisement The team had been practicing back post crosses that week, which was how Rodman knew to float the area. As soon as she saw the ball with Croix, she said: 'I knew she was gonna have some type of cheeky touch.' Spirit head coach Adrian Gonzalez, who marked his debut as full time head coach with the dramatic victory, mentioned after the game that due Rodman's minutes management, she was only ever going to play 15 minutes. 'And we've just seen the impact that she had,' he said. 'I'm really happy for her, and we need to keep building that, but obviously step by step, and to have good communication' with the medical staff, he added. As the NWSL's first weekend back after the long international break drew to a close, the Spirit are primed to make a statement in their second-half campaign with the returns of key players like Rodman and Leicy Santos, who'd been managing an ankle injury before the summer's pause and just competed in the Copa América Femenina final with Colombia, who placed second. Bethune, who was crowned 2024 Rookie and Midfielder of the Year despite a midseason knee injury, is also settling back into her top form, which was on display with her control of the midfield against the Thorns. And while striker Ashley Hatch announced last month that she was pregnant, Italian international and new Spirit signing Sofia Cantore is back from the Euros and, according to Gonzalez, will be set to play soon. The Spirit's next match is an away meeting on Saturday, Aug. 9 against the 2023 NWSL champions Gotham FC, who currently sit eighth in the league table.
Washington Post
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Gift Monday scores her 4th goal this season and Spirit down Courage 3-1
WASHINGTON — Gift Monday scored her fourth goal of the season to cap a 3-1 Washington Spirit victory over the North Carolina Courage in Sunday's lone National Women's Soccer League match. Courtney Brown and Brittany Ratcliffe also scored for the Spirit, who are undefeated in four straight. Brown scored her first goal of the season in the 24th minute for the Sprit (7-3-1). Just moments later, Casey Krueger sent a perfectly placed ball in to Ratcliffe, who headed the ball to the opposite post and into the side netting.
Washington Post
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Kouassi scores and assists in Spirit's 3-2 win over Stars
Rosemonde Kouassi had a goal and an assist and the Washington Spirit beat the Chicago Stars 3-2 in the National Women's Soccer League on Saturday. Gift Monday scored the winning goal when she tapped in Kouassi's pass in the 80th minute. Elsewhere in the NWSL, the Portland Thorns got a late penalty for a 1-1 draw with the San Diego Wave; and the North Carolina Courage tied 1-1 with the Orlando Pride.
Associated Press
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Kouassi scores and assists in Spirit's 3-2 win over Stars
Rosemonde Kouassi had a goal and an assist and the Washington Spirit beat the Chicago Stars 3-2 in the National Women's Soccer League on Saturday. Gift Monday scored the winning goal when she tapped in Kouassi's pass in the 80th minute. Elsewhere in the NWSL, the Portland Thorns got a late penalty for a 1-1 draw with the San Diego Wave; and the North Carolina Courage tied 1-1 with the Orlando Pride. The Spirit took a 1-0 lead at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, when Chicago's Ally Schlegel turned a low cross from Kouassi into her own net in the 31st minute. The Stars answered five minutes later with Julia Grosso's equalizer. The Spirit (5-3-0) regained the lead before halftime. Tara McKeown curled a cross to the back post, and Kouassi was there to score with one touch. It her first goal in the NWSL in her 14th regular-season appearance. Chicago (1-6-1) made it 2-2 when former Spirit player Sam Staab poked home a goal in the 54th minute. Perry scores late penalty for Thorns Jayden Perry converted a penalty kick deep into stoppage time and the visiting Thorns pulled even with the Wave, who were down to 10 players. Kirsten McNabb conceded the penalty for the Wave (4-2-2) when she tripped Sam Coffey in the box in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Perry, a rookie out of UCLA, stepped up to score her third goal of the season, all from the penalty spot. Kimmi Ascanio gave the Wave a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Perle Morroni dinked the ball across the box for Ascanio to glance a header past Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby from five yards out. Wave defender Kennedy Wesley was shown a red card for a foul on Olivia Moultrie in the 41st minute and San Diego was down a player the rest of the way. Despite having a player advantage, the Wave had more possession in the game (55%). However, Portland dominated the number of chances taken, with 21 shots to San Diego's five. Both the Wave and the Thorns (3-2-4) are now undefeated in their past four games. Late Chilufya goal seals 1-1 tie for Orlando Prisca Chilufya scored her first NWSL goal to give the Pride a tie in Cary, North Carolina. Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy misjudged the flight of the ball and failed to punch away Chilufya's looping header in stoppage time. North Carolina (2-3-3) took the early lead on Felicitas Rauch's goal in the 27th minute. After Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse saved a one-on-one with Courage forward Manaka Matsukubo, Rauch put in the rebound. The Pride (5-2-1) had a season-high 63% possession while the Courage recorded their lowest-ever possession share (37%) since head coach Sean Nahas took over in 2022. The Pride also outshot the Courage 15-7. The tie keeps Orlando at the top of the NWSL standings. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kouassi scores and assists in Spirit's 3-2 win over Stars
Rosemonde Kouassi had a goal and an assist and the Washington Spirit beat the Chicago Stars 3-2 in the National Women's Soccer League on Saturday. Gift Monday scored the winning goal when she tapped in Kouassi's pass in the 80th minute. Advertisement Elsewhere in the NWSL, the Portland Thorns got a late penalty for a 1-1 draw with the San Diego Wave; and the North Carolina Courage tied 1-1 with the Orlando Pride. The Spirit took a 1-0 lead at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, when Chicago's Ally Schlegel turned a low cross from Kouassi into her own net in the 31st minute. The Stars answered five minutes later with Julia Grosso's equalizer. The Spirit (5-3-0) regained the lead before halftime. Tara McKeown curled a cross to the back post, and Kouassi was there to score with one touch. It her first goal in the NWSL in her 14th regular-season appearance. Chicago (1-6-1) made it 2-2 when former Spirit player Sam Staab poked home a goal in the 54th minute. Advertisement Perry scores late penalty for Thorns Jayden Perry converted a penalty kick deep into stoppage time and the visiting Thorns pulled even with the Wave, who were down to 10 players. Kirsten McNabb conceded the penalty for the Wave (4-2-2) when she tripped Sam Coffey in the box in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Perry, a rookie out of UCLA, stepped up to score her third goal of the season, all from the penalty spot. Kimmi Ascanio gave the Wave a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Perle Morroni dinked the ball across the box for Ascanio to glance a header past Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby from five yards out. Advertisement Wave defender Kennedy Wesley was shown a red card for a foul on Olivia Moultrie in the 41st minute and San Diego was down a player the rest of the way. Despite having a player advantage, the Wave had more possession in the game (55%). However, Portland dominated the number of chances taken, with 21 shots to San Diego's five. Both the Wave and the Thorns (3-2-4) are now undefeated in their past four games. Late Chilufya goal seals 1-1 tie for Orlando Prisca Chilufya scored her first NWSL goal to give the Pride a tie in Cary, North Carolina. Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy misjudged the flight of the ball and failed to punch away Chilufya's looping header in stoppage time. Advertisement North Carolina (2-3-3) took the early lead on Felicitas Rauch's goal in the 27th minute. After Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse saved a one-on-one with Courage forward Manaka Matsukubo, Rauch put in the rebound. The Pride (5-2-1) had a season-high 63% possession while the Courage recorded their lowest-ever possession share (37%) since head coach Sean Nahas took over in 2022. The Pride also outshot the Courage 15-7. The tie keeps Orlando at the top of the NWSL standings. ___ AP soccer:
