Ji So-yun wins NWSL Goal of the Week on first try with Seattle Reign

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Ji So-yun wins NWSL Goal of the Week on first try with Seattle Reign

Published: 27 Mar. 2024, 10:13

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Seattle Reign midfielder Ji So-yun shoots during a National Women’s Soccer League match against Chicago Red Stars at SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago, Illinois in a photo shared on Seattle Reign's official Instagram account on Sunday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Ji So-yun won the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Goal of the Week with her very first goal for Seattle Reign, scored in Sunday’s fixture against Chicago Red Stars, the NWSL announced on Tuesday.

The NWSL Goal of the Week is an award conferred to the player who is deemed to have scored the best goal of the week by social media vote.

Ji took a tidy shot right outside the penalty box that found the back of the net after hitting the goalpost in the 63rd minute, equalizing the score at 1-1 in what was ultimately a 2-1 loss.

That goal was her first in her second appearance for the team, having joined the squad in January ahead of the 2024 season that kicked off on March 16.

It was also the first-ever goal scored by a Korean player in the NWSL.

Ji joined Seattle Reign from WK League team Suwon FC — which she joined in May 2022 in order to voluntarily try and raise the quality of Korean football ahead of last year’s World Cup — but she spent her glory days at Chelsea from 2014 to 2022, during which she scored over 68 goals in over 200 appearances for the London side.

During that eight-year stint, she won six Super League titles, three FA Cups, one community shield and two Continental Cups.

She is also the most-capped player in Korean national team history regardless of gender, having made 156 caps and scored 70 goals.

Seattle Reign will be back in league action as they take on San Diego Wave on Saturday.

The FIFA international break will begin afterward during which Ji will join the national team that is set to play a two-game series against the Philippines in Icheon, Gyeonggi on April 5 and 8.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]