Megan Rapinoe, one of the greatest women’s soccer players in American history, played her last regular season game for the Seattle-based OL Reign on Friday, Oct. 6, in front of a league-record crowd of 34,130 spectators. The Reign plays in the National Women’s Soccer League or NWSL, the highest level of women’s soccer in the United States. 

Rapinoe is an extremely influential and often controversial player, known for leading the U.S. women’s national team to a World Cup win in 2019 while advocating for equal pay between the women’s and men’s national teams and for being very outspoken about current events. 

Lauren Forster, a senior communications major and left winger for the SPU women’s soccer team, said that she admires Rapinoe’s outspokenness despite the controversy she has attracted from time to time. 

“Although she may have lost some of her fans’ support based on her political beliefs, she always remained true to what she thought was right, and I have a lot of respect for her for it,” Forster stated. “She’s also an inspiration to me in the way she is not afraid to take up space in the media and be proud of her accomplishments. I feel like it’s always expected for female athletes to be consistently humble and simply appreciative for any attention they do receive.”

Jessica Berman, the commissioner of the NWSL, also praised Rapinoe’s personal qualities.

“She has embodied courage and bravery in a way that not many athletes have done and has really embraced her role with her full authentic self,” Berman said. “Which is what I hope people will take away from what her career has meant.”

Rapinoe leads efforts to grow women’s soccer and women’s sports in general, a contribution that is not lost on SPU students. Addie Clark, a junior exercise science major, praised her impact.

“I just think it’s really exciting,” Clark said. “It’s been really cool to watch women’s soccer grow. It’s cool to see what Megan Rapinoe has brought to soccer.”

Sophie Beadle, a senior communications major who plays right winger for the SPU women’s soccer team, shared a similar sentiment. 

“Being a great leader, on and off the field, and doing it for so long is really impressive,” Beadle said. “Great player, great legacy. Great character for the city of Seattle. I think [she] represented us well. It’s going to be sad to see her go.”

Laura Harvey, the head coach of the Reign, lauded Rapinoe for her role in growing the game and eventually drawing in the record crowd. She also emphasized that the Reign needs to keep turning out those fans in the future.

“If we want this club to be where we want it to go, and what we all believe it should be, we have to get these people back,” Harvey stated.  “And if we don’t, we’re letting [Rapinoe] down.”

Rapinoe had a long journey. Her first home game for the then-Seattle Reign was played at Starfire Sports in Tukwila in front of just 2,138 fans. She scored a goal in the third minute of stoppage as the Reign won, 3-1.

Clark, who has been a fan since the beginning, noted how much she cherishes the memories of the Reign in their early days. 

“I went to their games back when they were playing at Starfire, so I remember watching Megan Rapinoe and Jess Fishlock back when they were first on the team for their first few years,” Clark said. “I remember they came through and were signing autographs, so I still have the page with all their autographs on it.”

Forster shared similar thoughts, observing that she idolized Rapinoe and other women’s soccer players of her childhood as she worked up the ladder of youth sports.

“I’ve honestly been a fan of Megan Rapinoe for as long as I can remember. That era of U.S. women’s national team players, players like Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd, were very central to my childhood,” she noted. “My teammates and I at the time were basically obsessed with them, and we all looked up to them and wanted to be like them.”

Over her 10 seasons playing midfielder and winger with the OL Reign, Rapinoe scored 51 goals, good for sixth most in NWSL history and second most for a single team, and led the Reign to three NWSL shields (an award given to the team with the best record at the end of the regular season). 

Beadle indicated her admiration of Rapinoe’s playing style while also noting that despite the fact that they both play as aggressive wingers, they do play the game differently.

“She’s a super creative player, and I feel like she’s crafty and provides great service for her team,” Beadle noted. “I love her mentality, I love the way she goes at players and takes people on, I think I take that, but other than that, I think our styles of play are pretty different.”

Rapinoe was aggressive in her last home game, but unlike in her first, she did not manage to get a goal or her team a victory. The Reign and the opposing Washington Spirit played to a scoreless draw. But Raponie did cap off her regular-season career with a bang, scoring two goals in a playoff-clinching 3-0 Reign win against the Chicago Red Stars on Oct. 15.

After Rapinoe played her last home game, she noted how she felt soccer allowed her to find fulfillment in life.

“It’s something that we get to use to do what I feel like the point of life is, which is to use what you have to better yourself and make people better around you, and to leave things in a better place than where you found them,” Rapinoe stated.

Forster made sure to convey the level of admiration she has for Rapinoe.

“I think she was confident in a way that you don’t see very often from female athletes, and it was a huge inspiration growing up to take pride in my sport,” Forster observed. “There are few athletes in the world, both male and female, that I respect as much as her.”