COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jaedyn Shaw struck the ball with purpose and purity, and when the shot from beyond the penalty area skipped into the Japanese net Saturday in Atlanta, the teenager shimmied backward, flashed an ear-to-ear smile at teammate Sam Coffey and held up her palms as if to say, “Can you believe this is happening?”
Oh, it’s happening. Not even six months since first donning a U.S. women’s national soccer team jersey — and just in time for this summer’s Paris Olympics, where the Americans will seek to regain their stride after last year’s World Cup flop — Shaw is enjoying her breakout moment.