Portland Thorns FC midfielder Olivia Moultrie scored her third and fourth international goals to lead the USWNT to a 3-1 win over Portugal on Sunday night in Connecticut
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – When Emma Hayes joined the staff at U.S. Soccer as head coach of the Women’s National Team in the fall of 2023, she received an immediate surprise in her Inbox: an email from 18-year-old Olivia Moultrie.
The contents of the email showed an earnest, dedicated player wanting to connect with the new U.S. manager and find out what she expects from her players. Moultrie’s initiative to reach out and start a dialogue made a good first impression on her new national team head coach.
“I thought this is someone who’s going somewhere and wants to go somewhere,” Hayes said in her post-match press conference.
Moultrie was certainly going somewhere in the U.S. Women’s National Team 3-1 bounce-back victory over Portugal in Connecticut – the scoresheet. The midfielder earned the start and rewarded her team with two goals in the opening 10 minutes of play, the first arriving a mere 44 seconds into the match.
In just 10 appearances with the U.S. National Team, Moultrie has already scored four goals. And her first and second goals of her international career arrived in similar fashion – a brace in a 5-0 win over Dominican Republic on Feb. 20, 2024.
“From the people who were on the field and started to the people who came in off the bench and the energy, I really felt connected with my teammates tonight in all ways,” Moultrie said Sunday. “That’s what allowed us to finish strong and get the result we wanted.”
The 20-year-old from Santa Clarita, Calif. has always been on a fast track, accomplishing milestones way ahead of her time. She became a professional player at a mere 13 years old and signed with Portland Thorns FC at 15, making contributions immediately. She earned her first USWNT call-up in 2023 and made her international debut on December 2 when she was 18 years old.
Now in her fifth season with the Portland Thorns, she’s been in fantastic form for her NWSL club and most recently helped the club qualify for the NWSL Playoffs. Earlier this year, Moultrie became the highest-scoring teenager in league history, surpassing the USWNT teammate who set up her second goal of the day against Portugal, Jaedyn Shaw.
“I don’t think she’s a finished article, but I think she’s much better than she was 12 months ago,” Hayes said of Moultrie. “Firstly, because she’s fit and healthy. Second, because she’s getting more disciplined in the position. And finally, because she’s able to be a bigger goal threat as a result of those two things.”
Midfielder Sam Coffey, the other goal scorer on the day, has seen a lot of Moultrie goals. As a teammate for both club and country, she was not at all surprised to see Moultrie make a difference on the international stage.
“She’s such a hard worker,” Coffey said. “She’s so professional at such a young age… there’s so much ceiling left and so much more success she’s going to have in the future.”
Moultrie was part of a young group that Hayes started in the second of two games against Portugal. Emily Sonnett, who captained the side in her 112th cap, entered the match with more USWNT appearances than the rest of the starting XI combined. Altogether, the starting lineup for Hayes averaged 21.7 caps and featured three teenagers – Lily Yohannes, Claire Hutton and Jordyn Bugg.
And these young players showed what they are capable of bringing to the pitch. Yohannes was an effective distributor, establishing both pace and control in the U.S. midfield, picking out places all over the pitch to deliver excellent service to teammates. Hutton played a key role as well, providing balance at the No. 6 position, and nearly scored a goal of her own in the 63rd minute. Bugg completed 68 of 69 passes and steadied a backline that allowed only one shot on goal from Portugal.
“It’s such a credit to our younger players because that’s a hard position to be in coming off an uncharacteristic loss that was way below our standard,” Coffey said. “To come out and to take the lessons in two days' time and to reapply it in a way where we come back and can beat them 3-1…they did an amazing job. I’m super proud of the girls.”
Coming off a disappointing performance from the team just three days ago, this young group of players paved the way for a brilliant response, showing not only how resilient this U.S. team can be but also how serious they take the charge of representing the badge with four stars above its crest.
“We’re all extremely competitive,” said Shaw. “We don’t like the feeling of losing. That’s not the legacy that is the DNA of this country. We took that [loss] hard and we wanted to make sure that was not going to be the case today. Ultimately, we came out on top.”
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