BOYDS, Md. — If you don’t know Mallory Pugh’s name yet, you will soon. Thanks to an interesting turn of recent events, that’s especially true if you live in the D.C. area.
Pugh was introduced Tuesday at the Maryland Soccerplex as the newest member of the Washington Spirit. Just a few months ago, she had enrolled at UCLA, rather than make the unprecedented jump from high school to the American professional ranks. But three weeks ago, she decided to turn pro, and the bidding for her services began. On Saturday, the Spirit announced she’d be coming to Washington.
“This is a historical, monumental moment for the women’s game,” said Spirit head coach Jim Gabarra at Pugh’s introduction Tuesday. “We’re really excited for Mallory, we’re excited for our club, we’re excited for our league, as well as the U.S. Women’s National Team.”
It’s been a tumultuous year for the Spirit, who saw themselves thrust into the national spotlight when owner Bill Lynch pre-empted Megan Rapinoe’s national anthem protest by playing it before the teams took the field and releasing a scathing statement. The offseason saw hometown hero Ali Krieger traded and fellow USWNT star Crystal Dunn depart for an opportunity overseas, raising rumors about players’ willingness to stay in Washington. Nevertheless, the Spirit based their entire offseason around positioning themselves in the top allocation spot, giving them first dibs at Pugh, should she leave school early.
So when multiple reports emerged that Pugh didn’t want to play for the Spirit, their plans seemed as if they might be in vain. But over the last three weeks, something clearly changed.
“I just think there was a lack of proper information,” said Gabarra. “I think the talk you heard and the reports that are out there were before us having the chance to present what our club had to offer and get a chance to make a connection to her to find out what she wanted.”
Pugh joins a team already five games into its season, getting her first training session in Tuesday. But the indication is she may take the field as soon as Saturday night, as the Spirit play a home game against FC Kansas City. While she said she was happy for the experience she got training at UCLA, the time was right to challenge herself professionally.
“I think for me, just at this point in my life, I wanted to kind of step out of my comfort zone and push myself to a new level,” said Pugh.
Certainly, the NWSL’s new collective bargaining agreement didn’t hurt, allowing her to make significantly more money than she would have if she’d turned pro last year. The Spirit certainly knew that and gambled on her availability and their ability to sell her on coming to Washington. It paid off.
“Trying to promote and grow women’s soccer in the U.S. was super important to me,” she told NWSL on Lifetime hosts Aly Wagner and Dalen Cuff this weekend.
She’ll certainly help the draw in Washington, where the Spirit have averaged 23 percent fewer fans through their first three home games than they did during the 2016 season. And the youngest player to ever score an Olympic goal for the USWNT, still just 19, will be looked at as a centerpiece of this franchise for years to come.
“It’s important that we not have too high of expectations for Mallory,” said Gabarra on Tuesday.
But given everything the franchise went through to get her, those expectations are inevitable.
