'What an Extraordinary Moment' for Teen Soccer Star

Earlier this year, 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson became the first high school player to be the top pick in the National Women's Soccer League draft. On Sunday, a mere 11 minutes into her NWSL debut, Thompson showed why. The teen rocketed a shot into the top right corner of the net for Angel City FC in Los Angeles. At which point, "all four sides of the stadium exploded," writes Henry Bushnell at Yahoo Sports. Watch it here, in a clip from the NWSL titled "ALYSSA THOMPSON ARE YOU KIDDING?"

An announcer calling the game marveled, "What an extraordinary moment!" after the goal, and a headline at the Athletic notes that she "was the No. 1 pick for a reason." Angel City lost the game to Gotham FC 2-1, but "it's safe to say Thompson feels comfortable already," adds the site's Chris Branch. Thompson is widely seen as the future of American women's soccer, and Bushnell tweaks that assessment. She "is not just the future. She is the now." (More women's soccer stories.)