It was a bittersweet season for the Washington Spirit. While they managed to secure a second-place finish in the regular season with a tally of 56 points, they ultimately missed out on the NWSL Shield, which went to Orlando Pride. Though this doesn’t diminish the efforts of the D.C. metropolitan-based club, Trinity Rodman has interestingly highlighted a key element the Spirit lacked this year—one that, if implemented, might have transformed the season into a true success.

That particular element was widely practiced by the Spirits during the 2021 season under former manager Richie Burke. Well, to break the ice, it was the implementation of long balls. Be it to change the tempo of the game or an opportunity to make a counter-attack, the team always made inch-perfect long passes to each other. “One thing about the 2021 Washington Spirit is we loved playing the ball over the top. That was a game plan for us,” Rodman admitted during an exclusive chat with Emily Olsen.

The irony is, that’s exactly how the daughter of Dennis Rodman scored her first goal for the Washington Spirits, that too, on her debut game, which was on April 10, 2021, a crucial NWSL Challenge Cup against North Carolina Courage. The Spirits were 3-1 down within 10 minutes before the hour mark, forcing Richie Burke to use the talented winger.

Interestingly, within 5 minutes after she entered in the 55th minute, Rodman made it 3-2. The goal came exactly the way the Spirits had been playing throughout the season. Natalie Jacobs lobbed a decent ball over the center half of the pitch, which luckily landed on Rodman’s thighs, who had somehow managed to break Carolina’s defensive line. With four or five steps, the youngster neatly tucked the ball into the bottom right corner.

“A focus for me was getting into dangerous areas with my speed and athleticism. That’s all I was thinking going into the game, was to be on the back shoulder, be in between center backs, and find a way to get in behind,” shared Rodman. “But in terms of the actual control and goal, I feel like all I was thinking was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to make this.’ No one expected me to make it.” However, this wasn’t the only thing that Rodman wasn’t expecting to happen on her debut!

Trinity Rodman never imagined making her debut, especially during the NWSL Challenge Cup!

As the youngest player to be drafted in the NWSL at that time, it’s natural for the expectations to remain high for Trinity Rodman. However, she never imagined that one of them would be making a debut at such a crucial stage for her domestic side. “I had no expectation of coming in,” Rodman said. “In preseason, all I was thinking was, ‘I’m a practice player. I’m just going to get better and better.’ Like I’m young. They have no idea what to expect.”

Luckily, not only did she get her first minutes, but she also made a decent impact. Though it was unfortunate for them to lose the very same match where Trin scored her debut goal, she did manage to lift the 2021 NWSL Championship with her teammates, while also being the Spirit’s second-highest scorer with seven goals.

While the current scenario sees her miss out on the 2024 Shield, let’s see if she can emulate the 2021 year’s success in the upcoming playoffs.