United States’ Olivia Moultrie (13) shoots the ball against Dominican Republic’s Stella Tapia (3) and Renata Mercerdes (16) during the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup tournament at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024.
Damian Dovarganes, Associated Press
Teen soccer phenom Olivia Moultrie scored her first two goals in her first start for the U.S. women’s national soccer team Tuesday.
Moultrie’s historic performance earned her Woman of the Match honors in the U.S. team’s first match of the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup. The U.S. claimed a 5-0 victory over the Dominican Republic.
Moultrie, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is part of the U.S.’s youthful roster for the tournament.
Veterans like Alex Morgan, Becky Sauerbrunn and former BYU Cougar Ashley Hatch were left off the initial roster, as the Deseret News previously reported. But Sauerbrunn and Morgan were called up as injury replacements for Alana Cook and Mia Fishel, respectively.
On Tuesday, Morgan scored her first national team goal in almost a year.
How did Olivia Moultrie make history?
In the eighth minute of the match, Moultrie scored the first goal of the game and her first ever goal for the national team.
The 33rd teenager to score for the #USWNT: @olivia_moultrie 🇺🇸
🎥 » @AttackingThird
pic.twitter.com/hqC7JQyVK5
— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) February 21, 2024
She became the 33rd teenager to score for the national team and the youngest to score in almost eight years, per U.S. Soccer.
She also became the third-youngest player — behind Mallory Swanson and Tiffany Roberts — to score for the national team in a competitive game, according to OptaJack.
Moultrie’s history making performance carried over to the second half when she scored her second goal of the match — and for the national team — in the 58th minute.
we’re simply O-LIV-ING for this brace 🥹@olivia_moultrie x #BAONPDX
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) February 21, 2024
With that goal, Moultrie became the third-youngest player to score multiple goals in a match for the national team, according to OptaJack, putting her in the elite company of U.S. soccer legends Mia Hamm and Cindy Parlow Cone, who is the president of U.S. Soccer.
Both Hamm and Cone sit in the top 10 of the national team’s all-time leading scorers with 158 and 75 goals respectively, according to Just Women’s Sports.
Moultrie’s two goals came in just her third national team appearance and on the heels of signing a three-year contract extension with the Portland Thorns last week and being named the 2023 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year in January.