Tara McKeown skipped her sister’s wedding. Then she scored the biggest goal of her life

© Hannah Foslien-Imagn Images

Tara McKeown was thrilled to return to the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs this season with the Washington Spirit, but when the quarterfinal schedule came out she hit with a wave of sadness.

Her sister, Caitlyn, had planned her wedding for Saturday, meaning that anything but the Friday night slot meant Tara would have to miss the wedding.

“Of course I wanted to make the playoffs but I was hoping that I would have the Friday game so I was able to do both,” McKeown recounted to The Equalizer this week. “Once I found out we had the Sunday game, it was definitely a sad weekend. Just figuring out that I wasn’t going to be there was very sad.”