Have faith in Trinity Rodman to make the comeback of the season! After almost four long months, the NWSL star was back in her natural habitat, as the Washington Spirit took on the Portland Thorns at Audi Field on Sunday. While the match was highly anticipated in itself, most of the attention was largely focused on Rodman as she was seen on the bench for the first time since April 12. And sure enough, she delivered on the excitement. But the emphatic moment didn’t come without hardships.

Rodman didn’t start the Sunday match. She was sent onto the pitch in the 75th minute amidst loud cheers at the Spirit’s home venue. Then, during the dying moments of the game, the 23-year-old showed why she’s such a revered name in the country’s soccer scene. Rodman’s shot found the back of the Thorns’ net in the 92nd minute to bring victory to the hosts. But it has been a long and arduous struggle to reach this moment.

In the post-match presser, Trinity admitted that it was tough to keep a lid on her emotions after scoring the winning goal against Portland upon her return. In a YouTube upload by the official Washington Spirit account from August 3, Rodman could be heard saying how she found it difficult to process the entire thing. “I think, yeah, that has been the hardest thing is processing that. Going from the Olympics, then kinda coming back, not really having a break,” the soccer star said it was just tough getting into motion.

“Kinda flying in the league after the Olympics,” she said further, “and then injuring myself, and then being in and out, minutes restricted, and then off season, and then out and in, I don’t know. So I think, yeah, there was a lot of uncertainty for me…The past year has been a very big learning experience for me,” Rodman told reporters while underscoring how she still struggles to make the right decision for herself.

In the same press conference, she also exclaimed how it was a brilliant feeling to get back on the pitch. “So, being back, with the whole stadium and crowd behind me, scoring a goal like that…I missed the team, I missed doing what I love. So, yeah, just joy,” Trinity said, while fighting to hold back her tears. But maybe this was also an acknowledgement of her own hard work that Trinity had been putting in for weeks.

But this is one for the books.

Trinity Rodman has been working tirelessly to get back

After the Olympic Games, Rodman was in constant pain, with her back injury relapsing. “I think, for me mentally, it was really hard. I can now kind of openly say I was in pain all the time – working through that was difficult,” she said about how she went through some of the lowest points of her life while tending to her injuries. But she remained steadfast in her objective.

“I’m still gonna be intense, and I’m still gonna give it 100% all the time, but I think there’s parts of my game where I need to save energy or adjust to certain tackles, and I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job with that so far coming back in training,” she told reporters last week, after she got back into training. But fans had no doubt in their minds that Trinity would come back in all her glory.

After the Olympics, Rodman played with the USWNT for the first time in April. Even in that game against Brazil, the winger scored a goal just minutes after her return in national stripes. On April 12, Rodman also helped the Spirit post a win over Racing Louisville, which was also her last NWSL game. But over the past few weeks, she has been sharing snippets of her rigorous training on social media, making fans wait with bated breath to see when the much-awaited moment would arrive.

Washington will return to action on Friday against Gotham FC. Do you think Rodman will once again bring her A-game to help the team retain its winning ways? Share your predictions for the upcoming game as a comment!