Alex Pfeiffer turned the youngest goalscorer in NWSL historical past in a thriller Saturday, ending the KC Present’s fifth objective within the staff’s inaugural match at its new stadium., a dramatic 5-4 win over the Portland Thorns.
Pfeiffer got here on as a second-half substitute and pounced on a chested-down layoff on the prime of the field within the 68th minute to make the rating 5-1 Kansas Metropolis.
At 16 years, 3 months and 20 days outdated, Pfeiffer beats the earlier file for youngest goalscorer set by the Thorns’ Olivia Moultrie in 2022 by about 5 months.
One other little bit of historical past immediately ✍️
Alex Pfeiffer turns into the youngest goalscorer in league historical past at 16 years, 4 months! pic.twitter.com/XgjQmumn7t
— Nationwide Ladies’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 16, 2024
“It’s big for any participant in her era,” Present head coach Vlatko Andonovski stated after the sport. “She’s proved that it’s doable, we proved that each one collectively that it’s doable.”
Portland made issues very attention-grabbing within the closing levels, scoring three unanswered to make issues 5-4, however KC was capable of maintain on.
Who’s Alex Pfeiffer?
A local of St. Louis, Mo., Pfeiffer turned the fourth-youngest participant to signal within the NWSL when she joined the Present final yr, inking her deal at 15 years and 338 days outdated.
She got here to the Present’s consideration after attending the staff’s expertise identification camp, at which her performances caught the attention of common supervisor Cammille Levin Ashton.
“We’re capable of (herald younger gamers) with ease due to the dedication from possession and the amenities we now have and the assets we now have,” stated Ashton. “And that enables us to each establish younger expertise but in addition give them a style of what this surroundings may very well be like.”
Pfeiffer instructed The Athletic final yr that she tries to mannequin herself after Manchester Metropolis ahead Erling Haaland as a result of she likes his inventive motion and the best way he tracks the ball within the field. These instincts paid off on Saturday, as she scored along with her solely shot on track after approaching at halftime instead of Bia Zaneratto.
“It was a surreal second,” Pfeiffer stated afterward. “Once I noticed the ball bounce within the field and I noticed I used to be gonna get there, I used to be like, my mind goes loopy, however on the similar time, I’m telling myself to be calm and simply put it behind the web. I’ve completed it a bunch of instances after which after that, I used to be simply swarmed and I used to be so excited.”
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(Picture: Jamie Squire/Getty Photos)