Christen Press says scoring again was ‘like an out-of-body experience’

Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

During Christen Press’ recent rehab from a series of knee surgeries, fans would approach her and remind her the number of days it had been since she last played soccer. Her bigger concern was how many days it had been since she scored a goal.

Saturday marked 854 days since Press had scored a goal. That was June 11, 2022 in Louisville, the same night tore the ACL in her right knee.

Saturday was her seventh game back after multiple surgeries, and at 25 minutes of play plus stoppage time, it was her longest appearance yet. In the 7th minute of stoppage time, she stamped her return with a dramatic goal that JP Dellacamera on the ION broadcast correctly exulted: “Christen Press is back.”

“It’s so funny how these things go that you want to do so bad,” Press said after the match. “I couldn’t event tell you how the goal went. I have no idea. It felt like an out-of-body experience. I’m going to back and watch it and I hope it’s a really, really good goal and I hope I’ll be like ‘that’s a quintessential Christen Press goal and I’ll be really, really proud.’”

It is safe to assume she has seen the goal by now and that she did indeed make herself proud. After receiving a pass from Katie Zelem on the right side, Press drove at Courage defender Felicitas Rauch and deftly turned her with a cut to the left. She then unleashed what could certainly be labeled a quintessential Christen Press strike to beat Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy and put Angel City on top.

As part of her preparation for matches this season, Press has tapped into the wayback machine where she has rewatched all the goals she has scored in the National Women’s Soccer League (47 before Saturday) and the United States national team (64).

“It’s all the way back to 2012, right? I could actually see how my own goalscoring changed over time,” Press acknowledged on an audio-only Zoom during which it sure sounded like she was smiling widely throughout. “And I had the thought of how am I going to be now? I’m still working my way back. I’m still journeying. And I can’t wait to see it. I can’t wait to see what 35-year-old, four-surgery Christen Press looks like when she scores.”

The only thing about Press’ return goal is that it should have been even better. It should have been a game-winner. It gave Angel City a 1-0 lead at a time when go-ahead goals are supposed to stand up. Every goal scored in NWSL history to that point that gave a team a lead or equalized, had held up for the result.

But an inexplicable defensive breakdown by Angel City allowed Courage midfielder Denise O’Sullivan to play Olivia Wingate in behind and Wingate tapped the ball past DiDi Haracic for a 1-1 final. The dropped points did not end Angel City’s playoff chances, but it left them on life support — again.

“It’s been a roller coaster of a last 10 minutes,” Press said. “It was a lot to process in a short period of time. Obviously, I was scoring at the end, end of a game. You feel like it’s going to be the game-winning goal. And I think all of us thought that. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. The group is just devastated by that. We have to be better than that. No excuse. Full stop.”

Press said one of the traits of a great goal scorer is not to allow the emotions of the game impact performance. She said a pure goalscoring forward is the second loneliest position on a soccer team after the goalkeeper.

“No matter how good or bad your team’s playing you have to believe that the next time the ball drops to you, you’re going to score,” Press said. “But I think in a moment like this when you’re fighting to stay alive, this one was really gut wrenching for the group because it felt like it was gonna go a different way.”

For a player accustomed to being the focal point of a team’s attack, at least during her club career, Press has found things quite different during this comeback. She used the words energy, mentorship, and role-modeling to describe the elements she has brought to the team. When she gets on the field, it is often for a few final minutes of trying to either hold down a lead or create a quick strike. Even before she scored on Saturday, getting into a tie game with 25 minutes to play, and doing so alongside Sydney Leroux, felt different.

“Before the goal, I had an opportunity where I think Syd almost scored, where I felt like this is actually me playing in the game — not just the game going over my head,” Press said. “I think it’s a very important thing to be humble and put my head down and do my role for the team. I’ve done that for a long time for the national team so I actually think I’m quite experienced at it.

“But I had that sense of like I’m playing in this game and I can impact it and I can put my kind of mark on it instead of filling a strategic role…where sometimes you have to do the things that you don’t want to do so the team can win.”

Even though Press had been unofficially counting the days since her last goal, the confidence never waned. She has scored many goals in training since getting back to it in June. She said every goal scorer who does not convert in a match wonders if they will ever score again, but she learned long ago “to tell that wolf to be quiet, and to listen to the good wolf that says, ‘This is who you are.’”

“I’ve been waiting for that opportunity to come when you kind of show who I am as a player.”