Washington Spirit rising star Hal Hershfelt: A rookie season to remember

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.

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