Emily Sonnett was exactly where she thought she would be on opening day of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League season: at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
She was just playing for a different team.
Sonnett made her official OL Reign debut on Sunday against her former club, the Washington Spirit, and in a different position than fans are used to seeing her. Sonnett wasn’t expecting — or wanting — to leave the Washington Spirit ahead of the 2023 NWSL season, she said, but the club had other plans and traded her to OL Reign on draft day in January. Now that she is in Seattle, she couldn’t be happier about where she ended up.
Sonnett is happy with her new home, but she was also very clear that she did not ask for a trade and that she doesn’t know really why she was traded.