EAST HARTFORD — Alyssa Naeher, who retired from the U.S. women’s national team last year, predicted the fans in her home state would see a “youthful exuberance” in the players she has left behind.
It didn’t take long. Within 44 seconds, Olivia Moultrie scored, and within 10 minutes, she scored again. It may have been a breakthrough performance for one of the next wave of American players, as the U.S. team defeated Portugal, 3-1, Sunday at Rentschler Field.
Moultrie, 20, has been a soccer prodigy, accepting a college scholarship offer, from North Carolina, at the age of 11, turning professional at 13, bringing an anti-trust suit to break down the NWSL’s age limit and take the field for the Portland Thorns at age 15 in 2021.
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“I remember when I got the job (two years ago),” USWNT coach Emma Hayes said, “she sent me an email, ‘Coach, is there a chance we can connect and catch up and I can get your thoughts on what you’re looking for?’ I said, this is someone who is going somewhere, and wants to go somewhere.
“Sometimes she wants it yesterday, but the things I’ve asked her to work on, she’s working on them. I don’t think she’s the finished article, but she’s much better than she was 12 months ago, first because she’s fit and healthy, second because she’s getting more disciplined in her position and finally, she’s able to be a bigger goal threat as a result of those two things.”
Earlier this month, Moultrie became the youngest player to score two goals in a game for Portland. Now, she’s done it for the U.S. national team twice in 10 appearances.
“I’ve been experiencing it for a while, since I was 13, trying to put myself in these situations,” Moultrie said. “My journey to be here has set me up for situations like this, and I’m just extremely grateful for people who believed in me. But there is a lot of work left. I still want to work to get better and all eyes on ’27 (year of the World Cup).”
On a glorious New England fall afternoon, people showed up at Rentschler in a big way, 26,492, as they usually do for international soccer events, and made it into the building and to their seats, filling the lower bowl and more than half-filling the upper tier. The UConn women’s basketball team, after their preseason win at PeoplesBank Arena, made their way to Rentschler and to a fourth-floor suite to take in the action.
“Incredible, it was so loud,” Moultrie said. “The fans were our 12th player, for sure.”
The U.S. team lost to Portugal 2-1 in Pennsylvania on Friday, with about 9,000 fewer in attendance, but responded to the crowd in East Hartford and bounced back impressively.
“We’re going to have things we want to build off of as we get toward the World Cup,” Moultrie said. “It’s normal and natural for us to have things to build on and work on, because we want to be peaking when the World Cup comes, not now.”
Naeher, 37, from Stratford, had four shutouts at the Paris Olympics, leading the U.S. to its first Gold Medal since 2012. She played her last match for USWNT in December. She was joined by 75 friends and family members Sunday, honored before the game with a jersey, and at halftime with a portrait.
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“Alyssa was goalkeeper I got to coach,” Hayes said, “and I saw first hand, her journey to get there, her determination to stay there, her longevity to keep doing it. It was so impressive, the way she carries herself, she’s someone who the team idolized. I wouldn’t even say respected, they idolized her.”
As the curtain was dropping on Naeher’s career, after a decade as a fixture in goal for the U.S., Claudia Dickey, 25, got the start in her place against Portugal. Trinity Rodman, one of the stars of the Olympic Games, was set to return after missing several months with back injuries, but injured her knee last week and was not active for the game. Hayes has been emphasizing players from the under-23 national team with an eye on development for the World Cup in 2027.
So the spotlight found Moultrie, and that is likely to be a common occurrence in the coming decade. Both her goals were left-footed strikes through traffic from just inside the box, loose balls she was able to get to and finish, beating Portugal’s Patricia Moraisto the left side of the net, each score putting the U.S. ahead, 1-0 and 2-1.
“It’s incredible, I get to watch Olivia every day and see her grow,” said Sam Coffey, who sealed the U.S. win with a goal in the 81st minute. “I’m so happy for her. She’s one of the hardest workers around. She plays well beyond her years, and she’s got so much growth and excitement ahead of her.”
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U.S. Men’s Deaf Team gets first win over Germany
It was a sweep day for U.S. soccer. As more and more fans filed in, the U.S. men’s deaf national team beat Germany 3-1, a satisfying win over a team it had never beaten, nor tied, in five previous matches. Germany won 4-0 in a match Friday in Farmington.
“We had a disappointing result against Germany a couple of days ago,” said Chris Bourdon, who created two of the goals with signature moves. “We definitely learned and grew a lot from that and I felt super confident coming into today. This was a massive win for us, we need this momentum going into (the Deaflympics in) Tokyo.”
Bourdon made perfect crossing passes from the right side to set up Samson Abraham and Michael Schmid for first-half goals. “That’s my bread and butter,” he said, “being able to take the ball on the right, take on defenders, push it by ’em and be able to set my teammates up for what I think is a nice, easy tap-in.”
Bourdon, 24, played at Cal State-Los Angeles, then turned pro. He joined the U.S. deaf program two years ago. The players were excited to play in a professional stadium, on TV, and rose to the occasion.
“Man, that was electric,” Bourdon said. “I haven’t been able to experience this, representing my country, to have so many people come out and be able to hear the passion, hear them cheering you on. It was just super-special.”
