Washington Spirit rising star Hal Hershfelt: A rookie season to remember
It has been an eventual first year of professional football for the Clemson graduate, who is hoping to see it out with a trophy on Saturday, 23 November.
Football
By her own admission, soccer wasn’t something that came naturally to Hal Hershfelt.
Her parents felt that the pitch was a good place for her to exert all of the energy she had.
“I wasn’t the greatest when I started,” she told the Washington Post. “My mom taught me how to make daisy chains and I would do that instead.”
Hershfelt would go on to catch the attention of a club in Atlanta, prompting a move from Florida to Georgia in high school to help with her chances of collegiate soccer.
But her future in the sport was thrown in doubt when she tore her ACL and meniscus in the left knee soon after.
“I didn’t take [soccer] super seriously, and then when I did, it was taken away from me,” she added.
“I feel like it just made me appreciate it so much more.”
The injury hampered some options, but the 23-year-old eventually found a home in South Carolina where she would spend five years at Clemson University.
A real cog in midfield, Hershfelt impressed and would become the fifth overall pick in the National Women’s Soccer League draft, finding her way to the Washington Spirit.
She may have expected to be eased into life in the U.S. capital, but instead become part of a rookie group that would help the Spirit to a third Championship final.
27 games, three goals and a potential trophy in her first year in the league is a debut season that many players dream of.
Rookies keep getting results
Washington Spirit enlisted six rookies for the 2024 NWSL campaign, all playing their part to help guide their side to within one win of another Championship title.
Hershfelt and Croix Bethune in particular have stepped up in big moments, the former getting a crucial equaliser in the semi-final while the latter registered ten assists before suffering a season-ending injury.
Exactly how this class of newcomers has been so effective is down to the environment they came into.
“All of our older teammates and our coaches have made us feel so welcomed and so empowered to be able to take on these roles this season,” Hershfelt told Wtop News.
“It’s easier when you have so many new people coming in that are going through the exact same thing. We can all relate to each other and work together which I also think helps, like a little community.
“I’m super grateful [to have] so many people that come in hungry and ready to work – it’s been a great environment to start out at.”
Before the start of the season, many of them trained together and went on trips together, only helping to further create a close-knit group.
Such chemistry has shown on the pitch too, especially between Hershfelt and Bethune who have crossed paths previously, joining forces on the same team.
The pair played a big chunk of this season together in midfield, alongside the seasoned Andi Sullivan.
That combination proved crucial for the Spirit, who went on to finish second in the league before playing their way to the final.
The club has already shown what trusting their fresh faces can do, with once-rookie Trinity Rodman at the heart of their successful Championship run in 2021.
Hershfelt and the class of 2024 could be the next in line to achieve that feat.
When the USWNT came knocking
Not only has Hershfelt caught the eye of those in the NWSL, but it wasn’t long before she received a call-up from the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT).
Her lasting impression even resulted in her being relied upon as an alternative in Emma Hayes’s squad for the Paris 2024 Olympics during the summer.
For a player who had not even featured for the youth sides, to be recognised at the senior level was “insane”.
“It was cool to be able to break into the senior group,” she said.
“I’m really thankful and excited to play with [other USWNT stars]; they’re all phenomenal.”
Despite being in and around the set-up for some months, the Spirit star would have to wait until October before being rewarded her first cap.
In a 3-1 win over Iceland, she came on in the 72nd minute for the milestone moment.
Six days later, on 30 October, Hershfelt started the USA’s 3-0 win over Argentina and played the full 90.
It has been a year of several firsts for the college graduate – and she will be hoping to make it another when the Spirit takes on Orlando Pride in the Championship final on Saturday, 23 November.