Have you ever come back from four surgeries in two years to score a goal in your 100th NWSL appearance? Yeah well me neither, but Christen Press did and the soccer world is beaming for her.
On Saturday night, after scoring what was nearly Angel City FC's game-winner in second-half stoppage time, Press was queen of the match.
Everything about her goal screamed Christen Press. Her "it's go time" body language and unwavering confidence in every step, the quick glance to assess the situation before navigating her way to goal with ease and threading the needle between the defender and goalkeeper...it was reminiscent of the days when she had well-oiled, cooperative knees and her age started with the number two.
Christen Press... are you serious?! pic.twitter.com/Sthd3k7GHW
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 13, 2024
Christen Press scores goals...period
Christen Press has always scored goals. 71 history-making goals for Stanford University, 64 goals for the USWNT, and 48 NWSL regular season goals. She's no stranger to watching the ball rattle against the back of the net.
An elite striker craves goals, lives and breathes goals, dreams of goals. And for Press, two years had passed since her last goal on June 11, 2022.
Two years of injury rehab, isolation from the team, training without the reward of a game, constantly having to remind herself to control the controllables and let the rest go.
That's a long physical and mental journey to endure with no guarantee you arrive at the end of it still playing professional soccer much less scoring a goal that looks an awful lot like the one from your dreams.
The journey for Press is finally over and a new one's just beginning. She's back and she's full of joy, thankful to be back where she belongs, and determined to show that not only does she have something left in the tank, but just maybe her best is still to come.