“How Could She?”- Casey Murphy Makes Shocking Revelation About Saving Alex Morgan’s Final Career Penalty

Alex Morgan might not have had the dreamiest retirement game of her illustrious soccer career. As planned, the USWNT forward was set to be subbed off within 13 minutes of the 2024 NWSL regular season game between the San Diego Wave and North Carolina Courage, as a tribute. Yet, in that brief but special window, quite a lot happened—Morgan went down early and even missed her chance to get on the scoresheet one last time after failing to convert a penalty that could have leveled the game. And the woman who denied the icon her final career moment, you ask? None other than Casey Murphy. And guess what? The NC Courage goalkeeper has now made a surprising revelation almost a year after the incident!

Given how much time it has been since that game, it’s obvious that Morgan won’t be having any kind of hard feelings. In fact, just days after her final game, the former Tottenham forward admitted that finding the net would have been sweet, “but missing it doesn’t take away from this day.” She also shared that the outcome felt destined, calling it “actually so fitting.”

But what would be Morgan’s reaction if she got to know that to this day, not just Casey Murphy’s teammates, but even she herself discussed it around the locker room as a joke? “My teammates bring it up sometimes but it’s funny,” admitted the 29-year-old during her recent interview with former USWNT midfielder Sam Mewis on The Women’s Game podcast.

“It’s played in, the video, before every game. So I do see it before every home game and the announcer’s like, ‘Oh no, Casey Murphy! How could she?’ And it just makes us giggle. But I got to do what you got to do,” further added the former Montpelier goalie, before heaping praise on the iconic forward.

“Alex Morgan’s enough to take a penalty. I’ve faced a ton of her penalties in practice and stuff. So I was just obviously hoping for the best and it worked out in my favor that time,” concluded Murphy, expressing her gratefulness for being able to save the shot.

As for Morgan’s explanation, she insisted that there was a lot going on in those 13 minutes she played. Yet, she thought that stepping up to take the shot would set her up as an example. “If I step up and take it, there’s a chance I can miss that, but if I don’t step up and take that and bet on myself,” she said earlier.

Technically, even if the former Rutgers University’s Scarlet Knights star wouldn’t have saved the goal, her team still would have won the crucial three points, and the score would have been rather 4-2. Should have read the room eh? But truth be told, Murphy had to do her job.

Casey Murphy and Alex Morgan never discussed the penalty miss

During an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports once, Casey Murphy had closely discussed the incident. “For me, it was just reacting to the shot,” she said before revealing whether the aftermath of the game, they met each other with any kind of awkward feeling. “No, we didn’t speak about it after,” further disclosed the former Seattle Reign star.

And so what if there was any kind of awkwardness or even the fact that Murphy and her NC Courage teammates still giggle about it? The 2024 Paris Olympic medalist holds Morgan in high regard, not just as a tremendous player but even as an advocate for women’s soccer. “What she’s done on and off the field is inspiring, and I’m just so thankful for Alex and what she’s done for the game,” Murphy said to EssentiallySports.

Interestingly, Alex Morgan’s then-San Diego Wave coach Landon Donovan had also come in support of his star forward, insisting how he himself ended up missing a lot of spot kicks. Even fans too sympathized with their iconic forward. No wonder Casey Murphy still watches it to this day, as for her it still means kind of a career highlight.