There’s an adage that a player never forgets her first goal for her country, but Kristie Mewis’ second tally is far more remarkable. It had been 2,722 days since she scored her first goal for the United States women’s national team when, on Friday, she scored her second, in a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands. She hadn’t played for the U.S. in six years.
Mewis’ story has been widely told over the past six months and yet, cannot be retold enough. It remains an incomplete book, with new chapters being added in rapid succession. Whether Friday was the climax of the story or just another twist in the exposition to more will require time to answer and is not a necessary conclusion to draw at this moment. There will be time to worry about where Mewis stands in the depth chart for the Olympic roster. Friday’s goal was the type of special moment to be savored and lived in, a tone Mewis set as she beamed upon entering the field as a second-half substitute.
“I felt oddly comfortable,” she said. “I was definitely a little bit nervous, but I did feel comfortable. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Like, I was trying to be so serious, but I couldn’t. I just saw Sam and she was smiling at me, and I did feel oddly comfortable. I think it was because she was on the field, and obviously I’ve been training with the other players, so I did feel a sense of comfort.”
Sam is Mewis’ younger sister, as many following this story are aware.
What we learned from the USWNT’s 2-0 win over the Netherlands
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