Taylor Townsend sends love to Ben Shelton’s girlfriend Trinity Rodman as soccer star breaks down in tears after impressive NWSL comeback

August 4, 2025

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After 114 days, Ben Shelton’s girlfriend and soccer star Trinity Rodman made her return to the field in style. After nursing a back injury for four months, Rodman came on for NWSL’s Washington Spirit as a late substitution against the Portland Thorns on Sunday, August 3.

Rodman scored a late winner as the Spirit won 2-1. The stadium erupted as soon as the ball touched the back of the net while the Spirit players gathered around Rodman, who was in tears shortly after scoring the match-winning goal.

Rodman was in tears in the post-match interview as well. Her return couldn't have been more pleasing as she said:

"Yeah, I just think, damn, yeah, I just think, holy cow, that was just the hardest thing I've had to go through with injury and everything," Rodman said. So being back, being with the, especially at the home stadium with the crowd behind me scoring a goal like that, you saw I buried it, I was not gonna miss it. So yeah, I'm just really happy to be back. I miss the team. I miss doing what I love, so yeah, I'm just joyous."

Witnessing that moment, American tennis star Taylor Townsend shared a clip of Rodman’s triumphant goal to her Instagram story with the caption:

"@trinity_rodman you are the truth girl ❤️✨."

Townsend's Instagram story (@tay_taytownsend)

There's no one better than Taylor Townsend to understand Trinity Rodman's emotional return, as she has experienced something similar throughout her professional career.

Ben Shelton's girlfriend Trinity Rodman reveals behind-the-scenes effort in her emotional return to Audi Field

Ben Shelton's girlfriend, Trinity Rodman, has suffered from back issues since her rookie season in 2021. After winning Olympic gold last year in Paris, her back tightness worsened, and she has been trying to recover from it this entire year.

On Sunday, after her emotional return to Audi Field for the Spirit, Rodman spoke about the effort it took for her to take the soccer field again.

"I was doing a lot of work behind the scenes by myself. I was getting fit, obviously, not in a team environment, which was kind of difficult to replicate as best I could by myself," she said.

"But yeah, I was working a lot on my endurance. I was working a lot on getting my back to work the way that it should, and kind of tweaking certain things in the way that I moved. So, yeah, feels great to be back. Trainings have been amazing since I've been back, and I'm just going to keep building," Rodman added.

Hopefully, it's up and up from here for Trinity Rodman as she gets back to playing soccer.

About the author

Krutik Jain is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. It was in 2018 when the baseball bug bit Krutik, and already a cricket fan, he credits baseball's rules and Clayton Kershaw's pitching to have hooked him to the game.

A Kershaw and Mookie Betts fan, Krutik rates his favorite team LA Dodgers triumphing over Tampa Bay Rays in the 2020 World Series as his best baseball moment so far. His answer to the perennial "one player from the past you could meet" question is Jackie Robinson. Despite never having seen him play, Robinson's impact, legacy and trail-blazing journey have left an indelible impact on Krutik.

A rigorous fact-checker, Krutik likes reporting on the technical aspects of the game as well as off-field elements. When not watching baseball, Krutik is busy playing cricket, staying up to date with the happenings around the world and hiking.

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