Fresh off USWNT success, Ally Sentnor is ready to write her second NWSL chapter

Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

You know how it goes by now.

Ally Sentnor gets the ball at her feet, then cuts inside, beating one, two, three defenders, before she finds herself 20-25 yards from goal. Keep dribbling? Nah. Look for the open pass? Waste of time. Uncork a screamer toward the top corner? Now that’s the stuff.

The 21-year-old winger did it again last month in the SheBelieves Cup, a signature long-range torpedo against Colombia that put Sentnor’s reputation on its biggest stage yet. The 2024 National Women’s Soccer League Rookie of the Year finalist — and the league’s final No. 1 draft pick ever — had brought her calling card to the U.S. women’s national team, and was rewarded in the process.

https://twitter.com/USWNT/status/1892765242364403957

Sentnor’s performances across her two starts were bright spots for head coach Emma Hayes during SheBelieves. “She’s got qualities that can decide a game,” Hayes noted after the U.S. loss to Japan. “She certainly finishes the minimal chances she might get. That’s what top players possess, and I think she’s got that.”

Such a vote of confidence from Hayes caps a year of gradually increasing notoriety for Sentnor, who scored three goals and garnered a hefty number of downballot Rookie of the Year votes with the Utah Royals in her inaugural professional campaign.