What a comeback! Soccer star, Trinity Rodman, gets a standing ovation from the Washington Spirits fans for scoring the winning goal in the dying minutes of the match against the Portland Thorns. The 23-year-old who led the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal last summer was forced to step away from the Spirit in April due to a lingering back issue. So, making a return after more than three months, Rodman was kept on the bench until the 76th minute of the match. Rodman’s goal in the 92nd minute of this match secured a victory for the Spirits by a 2-1 margin against the Thorns. Tennis star Taylor Townsend was spotted applauding Ben Shelton’s girlfriend for her incredible comeback.

During the post-match interview, while sharing her thoughts on her incredible comeback, Trinity Rodman said, “That was the hardest thing I’ve had to go through, with the injury and everything. So, being back, especially at the home stadium with the crowd behind me, scoring a goal like that, you saw I buried it, was not going to miss it. I’m just really happy to be back. I missed the team, I missed doing what I love, so just joy.”

After seeing Ben Shelton’s girlfriend’s emotional reaction, Taylor Townsend shared that video clip on her IG story with the caption, “@trinity_rodman you are the truth girl ❤️✨.” Earlier during an interview, Rodman promised that she was “still going to be Trin” but acknowledged that her approach to the game would shift after the injury. Owing to her incredible performance in this match, the Spirit has now moved into the second place in the NWSL standings behind the Kansas City Current.

American tennis star Ben Shelton also shared the moment on his IG Story where Rodman was seen scoring the winning goal. He captioned the video clip saying, “Plays 15 mins first game back and scores a banger. The truth.”

Ben Shelton and Trinity Rodman turned heads around the sporting world when they “hard launched” their relationship with TikTok clues, followed by an official confirmation of their love story through a picture posted on Instagram on March 17. Ever since then, these two have established themselves as two of the biggest supporters for each other on and off the field/court.

Trinity Rodman is often spotted making her presence felt from the stands during Ben Shelton’s matches. Even during this year’s Wimbledon, where Shelton made it to the QF, we witnessed a similar thing.

Talking about Ben Shelton showcasing his love and support for his girlfriend, previously, when Rodman scored a stunning goal for the USWNT while playing against Brazil in a friendly match, Shelton had shared an IG Story highlighting that winning moment with the caption, “🔒🇺🇸.”

However, regarding Shelton’s unique camaraderie with Townsend, there have been numerous instances where we’ve seen these two tennis stars demonstrating their love and respect for each other.

Taking a look at Ben Shelton’s friendship with Taylor Townsend

In 2023, Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton reached the semifinals of the mixed doubles event at the US Open. This year, they will be seen yet again in action together at the star-studded mixed doubles event. Townsend has been in red-hot form in the doubles event, and earlier this season, she had also clinched the 2025 AO title alongside Katerina Siniakova. Owing to her impressive performances in the last few months, Townsend recently became the new WTA world number one in doubles.

This feat came shortly after she clinched the doubles title alongside China’s Zhang Shuai in the 2025 Citi Open final. Following this iconic moment, the Tour’s IG page shared a post featuring Taylor Townsend with the caption, “DC Doubles Final AND the PIF WTA Doubles Rankings World No.1 title unlocked 🔓.” After seeing this post, Ben Shelton also shared it on his own IG stories.

There have been several moments like these when we’ve seen these two showing their love and support for each other through every thick and thin. Even when Shelton secured his spot inside the Top 10 for the first time in his career in the 2025 season, Townsend was among the first ones to congratulate him on the same. They love each other’s company on the court, and that’s for sure!

Recently, while sharing his thoughts on teaming up with Townsend at the mixed doubles event at the US Open, Ben Shelton claimed, “Yeah, she’s the best mixed doubles player in the world, hands down. So if I was going to play, I wasn’t going to play at all unless I could play with her.” Do you think the Shelton-Townsend duo is the most lethal doubles team at this year’s US Open mixed doubles event?