The 2025 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season has been turbulent for Trinity Rodman.
The Washington Spirit star forward was sidelined for nearly four months as she rehabbed a nagging back injury.
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“It’s been crazy. It’s been different than every other season has looked like for me,” Rodman told 7News Sports Anchor Natalie Spala. “The hardest part was just getting up every day and knowing that I wasn’t going to be playing a game on the weekend. That’s what you look forward to most.”
When Rodman returned to the pitch in early August, she made an immediate impact. Coming off the bench in the second half with Washington and the Portland Thorns knotted up at one goal apiece, Rodman scored the game-winner in stoppage time: a one-timer off the assist of Croix Bethune. With the ball in the back of the net and the game all but won, Rodman visibly looked emotional as her teammates crowded her to celebrate.
“I had like already kind of cried that morning because — I don’t know, there was a lot going on in my head and it had been so long,” Rodman said. “The ball dropped perfectly, and in my head I was like, ‘okay, I’ve been given this golden platter of a goal, I’m not going to miss it.'”
“Every single emotion through the start of my injury when it first happened all the way up until that moment, was just like — oh my gosh, I can’t believe that coming back I was the one who could help the team and just kind of be right back in the swing of things,” she added.
While game-winners and crafty goals are Rodman’s forte, she admits that what she craved most was being on the pitch with her teammates. Now healthy, and as the rest of the team becomes healthier, too, Rodman sees the pieces coming together at the right time.
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“It feels good, and I think really the only missing piece for us right now is just the finishing and getting the final-third goals,” Rodman said. “We’ve created 10, 20, 30 chances in a game; there should be more than one goal. We all know that, and we’ve been working really hard, and hopefully that can all come together down the end and during playoffs.”
The Spirit can become just the second team to clinch a playoff berth this year with a win on Sunday over the Houston Dash. Kickoff at Audi Field is slated for 1 p.m.