Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman, aka “The Big Three,” are helping the U.S. women’s national soccer team (USNWT) reclaim its place. So far during the 2024 Paris Olympics, the U.S. team’s formidable front three is scoring big.
Despite their differences in skills, Smith said her teammates learn from one another on and off the field, the Associated Press reported.
“I feel like we’re clicking really well, really fast. And I think this is only like 70% of what we can do,” she said. “I think the more games we get together, the more we’re going to be playing off each other and just learning each other’s tendencies. But it’s so much fun playing with them.”
According to AP, among the team’s goals in France, Swanson has three and Smith has two, while Rodman contributed the first.
Rodman later called her scoring technique the “Trin Spin.”
“That was just an instinctual thing because I haven’t really trained that,” she told ABC News. “But it worked out perfectly.”
At their first major tournament under coach Emma Hayes, the Americans advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday with a 4-1 victory over Germany.
“She’s my type of player,” Hayes said to the AP about Smith. “She gives to the team and I think she’s having to learn as a No. 9 — when to hold, when to stretch, when to play off of ten. So coaching her is so much fun because she absorbs it.”
In addition, while in Tokyo, the United States finished with bronze in women’s soccer, according to the AP. Before their Tokyo placement, the U.S. women’s soccer team had won four gold medals. When the Americans failed in the World Cup in 2023, their reputation sank while other teams gained ground.