[ad_1]
It was the 27th minute of Racing Louisville’s home game against league-leaders San Diego Wave FC last month, and Jaelin Howell and Savannah DeMelo were standing over the ball for a free kick about 25 yards from goal. They sized up their options for how to beat Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, arguably the best shot-stopper in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Howell ran over the ball as a decoy, forcing the Wave’s defenders to move slightly from their set positions. DeMelo followed right behind her, striking a shot toward Sheridan, who stared into a vivid Kentucky sunset more fitting of a San Diego summer night. The ball cleared the five-player wall and Sheridan could only get a fingertip on it as it flew into the top corner. The goal was a stunner — it was DeMelo’s first as a professional and the game-winner in a 1-0 finish — but it was more than just a new milestone for a top American prospect who battled injuries throughout college. It was a sequence symbolic of a unique trend playing out in the NWSL this season: Rookies are playing a bigger role in buoying their NWSL teams than ever before.
League expansion, which means more roster spots available, along with temporary NCAA rule changes to account for the COVID-19 pandemic, has created an influx of rookie talent immediately stepping into prominent roles in numbers previously unseen in the NWSL’s previous nine seasons. Howell and DeMelo were the second and fourth picks, respectively, in the NWSL college draft in December, with both quickly becoming starting central midfielders for Racing Louisville.
“I think the rookie year is a hard year, and I just want to take as much as I can learn from the older players, whether that be playing the No. 6, the No. 8, the No. 10 or out on the wing,” DeMelo said after making May’s NWSL Team of the Month. “I’m just trying to do all I can to help this team, and I wouldn’t be getting the accolades without the rest of my team. So as much as it’s an accolade for me,…
[ad_2]
Source : espn
