Trinity Rodman has brought the smile back to the faces of her ardent fans. After voluntarily stepping away from action on April 12 to finally fix her back injury, the USWNT superstar made her long-awaited return for the Washington Spirit last week in an NWSL regular-season clash against the Portland Thorns. Coming off the bench after such a long layoff, she even helped her side secure a 2-1 win by scoring a late, crucial golazo. Quite the enigma—and for such heroics, Trinity surely deserves to be called the Spirit’s lone “X-factor.”
Sure, her team might have gone a bit off track, as Adrian Gonzales and Co. are struggling with some inconsistent results. More recently, it was a stalemate against Gotham FC, despite the rival side going 10-player down early. Rodman herself was introduced late again, around the hour mark, and wasn’t able to grasp another winner like the previous one.
Then again, in the eyes of retired American soccer star Darian Jenkins, Trin still remains the moon and the stars. “I love seeing her come on last week against Gotham,” began the former Orlando Pride forward on the Attacking Third show with ex-Irish international Jen Beattie, and renowned analyst Christine Cupo.
“I thought she just elevated the team and offered something different. She brings in a spiciness, a fearlessness, a boldness going 1v1. She’s clearly hungry to score again,” Jenkins continued, singling out Rodman with praise. The 30-year-old termed the Gotham stalemate as “boring”, slamming them for not being able to turn things in their favor despite having a player down advantage against their opponents.
The former player turned pundit believes there were so many chances that the Spirit could have capitalized on with or without the presence of Trinity Rodman. Yet, the DC metropolitan side failed to do so, insisting that the players on both sides seemed like they froze in time. Darian Jenkins even recalled one moment where the Spirit could have turned something good out of a moment when they hit the post.
Though everybody failed to follow it up, Jenkins believes Rodman would have been the one to deliver it when needed. No wonder the retired forward sees the 23-year-old as the crucial chess piece for the upcoming weekend clash against seventh-placed Racing Louisville.
“She’s the pain reliever of a boring game for me coming into this weekend. Washington Spirit play Louisville. I think she’s the X factor, and I just want to see her do the trends bin ball out and get back into the form we saw her in before this back injury plagued her,” concluded Jenkins.
Looks like someone is truly in awe of Rodman, as the 2024 Paris Olympian has clearly been showered with unconditional support. And if you have second thoughts about whether the Spirit No. 2 even deserves such praise, your outlook might just change once you hear about her painful journey of rising from the ashes!
Coming back was no cake walk for Trinity Rodman!
You must have noticed Trinity Rodman quickly wiping away tears after scoring on her return last week. Even in the post-match presser, the Newport Beach native struggled to hold back her emotions, saying, “Yeah, I just think… damn. Holy cow… that was just the hardest thing I had to go through,” she admitted while recalling the painful process of working her way back to action and finally savoring the moment of scoring a goal after such a long time.
The 23-year-old truly went above and beyond—flying all the way to London to consult the Washington Spirit’s doctor and enduring grueling training sessions that pushed her to the point of throwing up. And mind you, handling all of this was no piece of cake, as Rodman revealed she was in pain the entire time. In fact, even her decision to voluntarily step away from action was pretty scary for her.
“There were just a lot of hard decisions and a lot of pain and emotions throughout the entire year of dealing with it since it happened,” remarked the Spirit forward. In that regard, Trinity Rodman certainly deserves some slack, right? Even if the Washington Spirit haven’t been up to their usual standards, here’s hoping things turn around for both!
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