Olivia Moultrie Steps Up for Young, Competitive U.S. Women’s National Team
Portland Thorns FC midfielder Olivia Moultrie scored her third and fourth international goals to lead the USWNT to a 3-1 win over Portugal on Sunday night in Connecticut
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – Almost immediately after Emma Hayes was appointed head coach of the Women’s National Team, she received a surprise in her Inbox: an email from teenager Olivia Moultrie.
The contents of the email showed an earnest, dedicated player wanting to connect with the new U.S. manager and find out what she expects from her players. Moultrie’s initiative to reach out and start a dialogue made a good first impression on her new National Team head coach.
“I thought ‘this is someone who’s going somewhere and wants to go somewhere’,” Hayes said in her post-match press conference.
Moultrie was certainly going somewhere in the U.S. Women’s National Team 3-1 bounce-back victory over Portugal in Connecticut – on the scoresheet, twice. The midfielder earned the start and rewarded her team with two goals in the opening 10 minutes of play, the first arriving a mere 44 seconds into the match.
In 10 appearances with the U.S. National Team, Moultrie has scored four goals. The first and second goals of her international career arrived in similar fashion to tonight’s performance – a brace – in a 5-0 win over Dominican Republic on Feb. 20, 2024, during the Concacaf W Gold Cup.
“From the people who were on the field and started to the people who came in off the bench and the energy, I really felt connected with my teammates tonight in all ways,” Moultrie said after the game. “That’s what allowed us to finish strong and get the result we wanted.”
The 20-year-old has always been on a fast track, accomplishing milestones way ahead of her time. She became a professional at just 13 years old when she signed a contract with Nike and signed with Portland Thorns FC at age 15. She earned her first USWNT call-up in 2023 and made her international debut on December 2 of that year when she was 18 years old.
“I don’t think she’s a finished article, but she’s much better than she was 12 months ago,” Hayes said of Moultrie. “Firstly, because she’s fit and healthy. Second, because she’s getting more disciplined in the position. And finally, because she’s able to be a bigger goal threat as a result of those two things.”
Now in her fifth season with the Portland Thorns, she’s been in fantastic form for her NWSL club and most recently helped the club qualify for the 2025 NWSL Playoffs. Earlier this year, Moultrie became the highest-scoring teenager in league history, surpassing the USWNT teammate who set up her second finish of the day against Portugal, Jaedyn Shaw.
Since breaking that record, Moultrie has moved past her teenage years, celebrating her 20th birthday on September 17. Though, she’s continuing her excellent play with her third and fourth international goals to go alongside the eight goals she’s scored this season for her club.
“I’m super happy,” Moultrie said. “Most importantly, getting the win and being able to right that wrong from a couple days ago… That unity that we talked about after being away for a little while, and to feel ourselves come back together was awesome.”
Midfielder Sam Coffey, the other goal scorer on the day for the USWNT, has seen a lot of Moultrie goals. As a teammate for both club and country, she was not at all surprised to see Moultrie make a difference on the international stage.
“She’s such a hard worker,” Coffey said. “She’s so professional at such a young age… there’s so much ceiling left and so much more success she’s going to have in the future.”
Moultrie was part of a young group that Hayes started in the second of two games against Portugal. Emily Sonnett, who captained the side in her 112th cap, entered the match with more USWNT appearances than the rest of the starting XI combined. Altogether, the starting lineup for Hayes averaged 21.7 years old and only 19.2 caps and featured three teenagers – Lily Yohannes, Claire Hutton and Jordyn Bugg.
And these young players showed what they are capable of bringing to the pitch. Yohannes was an effective distributor, establishing both pace and control in the U.S. midfield, picking out teammates all over the pitch to deliver excellent service, both short and long. Hutton played a key role as well, providing balance at the No. 6 position, and nearly scored a goal of her own in the 63rd minute. Bugg completed 68 of 69 passes, played a full 90 minutes and steadied a backline that allowed only one shot on goal from Portugal.
“It’s such a credit to our younger players because that’s a hard position to be in coming off an uncharacteristic loss that was way below our standard,” Coffey said. “To come out and to take the lessons in two days' time and to reapply it in a way where we come back and can beat them 3-1…they did an amazing job. I’m super proud of the girls.”
Coming off the disappointing performance just three days ago, this young group of players paved the way for an impressive response, showing not only how resilient this U.S. team can be but also how serious they take the charge of representing the badge with four stars above its crest.
“We’re all extremely competitive,” said Shaw. “We don’t like the feeling of losing. That’s not the legacy that is the DNA of this country. We took that [loss] hard, and we wanted to make sure that was not going to be the case today. Ultimately, we came out on top.”