It felt storybook, really... almost too good to be true. Playing in front of her hometown crowd in just her fourth U.S. women's national team cap, the ball was always going to fall to Jaedyn Shaw, wasn't it? Well, it did and Shaw made no mistake. A hometown goal for the teenage sensation, and a winning one at that! Who could have written it any better?
That's the thing about Shaw, though: even this early in her career, she isn't shaken by these moments. Her first goal? In San Diego in front of her club's fans. Her second? Just two buildings away from where she grew up. She's just 19 with less than one full year of professional experience under her belt but, with the Olympics looming, Shaw keeps on making her case to be involved next summer.
In the end, it was a 2-1 win for the U.S., who made it two wins from two against China PR this week. Shaw's goal was the headliner, and she was joined by another Olympic hopeful, Sam Coffey, on the scoresheet as both helped their cases, and both proved vital to a USWNT win in their final game of 2023.
GOAL rates USWNT players from Toyota Stadium...