Soccer returns to Sanford Stadium in a wildly historic night
· Yahoo Sports
Thirty years after the U.S. women's national team won the gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, going 2-1 over China, and a month after the 2026 World Cup ended its run across the American continents, soccer has returned to the heart of the Classic City at Sanford Stadium.
A record-breaking 25,433 fans packed the metal bleacher seats under the blistering 93-degree setting sun, curving around the west end zone and north side of the stadium to watch the Georgia Bulldogs face the James Madison Dukes to open their home schedule.
Visit esporist.org for more information.
Georgia has been a hotbed for soccer since Tiffeny Milbrett broke the deadlock created by China’s Sun Wen in the 68th minute of the biggest match on grass and made history for America in front of approximately 76,000 people.
Three decades of all-aged girls have come through the Peach State, which has produced the fourth-most NWSL players. Three of 23 women on the 2019 World Cup roster hailed from the metro-Atlanta area, including Emily Sonnett, who currently plays with the NJ/NY Gotham FC; Morgan Gautrat née Brian; and Kelley O’Hara.
Which made Thursday night something special to witness, especially for this next generation of girls soccer players. Girls like Emerson Finch, Harper Eubanks, Mattie Raborn and Charlotte Peyton, who all play for Augusta Arsenal.
“I didn’t really get to see the World Cup as much,” Eubanks, who is going into seventh grade, said. “So, seeing the women play, it’s like an inspiration of like who I want to be when I grow up.”
Raborn, also in seventh grade, echoed her friend’s take. They have dreams, and to see something this cool happen to the women on the Georgia roster only gives their young hearts a swell of hope for their own futures – though that’s still a long time away.
“I just feel really proud of them,” Peyton, another seventh grader whose favorite player is Lamine Yamal, said about the Georgia players. “I know they’ve come a long way and that’s also who I want to be when I grow up. It’s really inspirational, like Harper said.”
Graduate goalkeeper Jordan Brown smiled from ear to ear when she was told what Eubanks and Peyton said.
"You always want to be the inspiration for them," Brown said. "I know when I was younger and I was growing up, I was like, oh my gosh I hope I can just even touch the college field one day. Being able to break the (attendance) record and have a good performance at the same time, being able to show the girls they can get to this moment, they can get to this level if they just keep going. It's really awesome to be (someone's) inspiration."
Sophomore forward Mya Townes agreed.
"Some of our team, we talk about recognizing that we are living in answered prayers," Townes said. "I think that's such a big thing, not only for me, but for a lot of our team to realize the magnitude of what we are doing ... because a lot of people wouldn't think they can get here too."
For Bill Carter, a coach at the Madison Area Youth Soccer Association who had called the night of practice off and brought his 13U boys and several others in attendance with him, Thursday night was a full circle moment. Because Carter attended the 1996 World Cup in Athens. He’d also been to a game in Birmingham, Ala.
“The atmosphere was a little more electric as the U.S. was playing,” Carter, an Army veteran and former soccer player himself, said. “A little different looking stadium, too, but it was exciting. Such a good game then.
“But tonight the fans are excited. You see them watching the game. I mean,” Carter gestured to the stands below him as we stood on the concourse. “You see the kids that are just really engaged in the game. 30 years ago, it was the same thing. A bunch of kids were there. Now, they’re parents, and they’re dragging their kids here.”
"I think the best part of games like this, is hearing the little kids screels and screams and what not," head coach Keidane McAlpine said. "That's the best part of the game because you know, some way, somehow, there is an imprint that's being made, that's happening in that moment, and we got all that tonight."
Carter considers it to be a blessing to be in a state like Georgia that cares so much about women’s soccer. In 2028, the NWSL will be returning to Atlanta – Carter still remembers the Atlanta Beat and the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league from the late-2000s.
There’s been a massive change in the support of women’s sports since the rise of WNBA superstars Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers. If you looked out at the NCAA record-setting crowd tonight, just as many men were in attendance as women, and Madison County high school senior athletes Sadie Smith and Eva Czaplinski colored themselves impressed.
Georgia defeated James Madison, 6-0. Goals were scored by sophomore forward Mya Townes, senior midfielder Honoka Hamano (2), sophomore midfielder Ava Stack, sophomore midfielder Mona Childs and freshman midfielder Leila Avila.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Soccer returns to Sanford Stadium in a wildly historic night