PORTLAND, Ore. – Adrianna Franch remembers what it was like to be a backup, though it’s a role she’s rarely filled. From high school through her ascent to the U.S. Women’s National Team, the reigning, two-time National Women’s Soccer League Goalkeeper of the Year has almost always been her teams’ starter. There have only been two times where she had to take a backseat.
The first game in 2014, before her second professional season. Coming off a rookie year that saw her help the Western New York Flash to the top spot in the NWSL’s inaugural regular season, Franch tore her anterior cruciate ligament, the recovery from which would take a year from her career.