You know how it goes by now.
Ally Sentnor gets the ball at her feet, then cuts inside, beating one, two, three defenders, before she finds herself 20-25 yards from goal. Keep dribbling? Nah. Look for the open pass? Waste of time. Uncork a screamer toward the top corner? Now that’s the stuff.
The 21-year-old winger did it again last month in the SheBelieves Cup, a signature long-range torpedo against Colombia that put Sentnor’s reputation on its biggest stage yet. The 2024 National Women’s Soccer League Rookie of the Year finalist — and the league’s final No. 1 draft pick ever — had brought her calling card to the U.S. women’s national team, and was rewarded in the process.
Sentnor’s performances across her two starts were bright spots for head coach Emma Hayes during SheBelieves. “She’s got qualities that can decide a game,” Hayes noted after the U.S. loss to Japan. “She certainly finishes the minimal chances she might get. That’s what top players possess, and I think she’s got that.”
Such a vote of confidence from Hayes caps a year of gradually increasing notoriety for Sentnor, who scored three goals and garnered a hefty number of downballot Rookie of the Year votes with the Utah Royals in her inaugural professional campaign.
