What a comeback! Soccer star Trinity Rodman gets a standing ovation from the Washington Spirit fans for scoring the winning goal in the dying minutes of the match against the Portland Thorns. The 23-year-old who led the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal last summer was forced to step away from the field in April due to a lingering back issue. Making a return after over three months, Rodman was benched until the 76th minute of the match. Within 16 minutes of Rodman’s re-entry to the field, she found the back of the net. Exactly in the 92nd minute of this game, she secured victory for the Spirit by a 2-1 margin against the Thorns. While the crowd erupted and did their bit to commend Rodman, tennis star Taylor Townsend’s glee in Ben Shelton’s girlfriend’s incredible return turned heads.

During the post-match interview, Trinity Rodman said, “That was the hardest thing I’ve had to go through, with the injury and everything. So, being back, especially at the home stadium with the crowd behind me, scoring a goal like that, you saw I buried it, was not going to miss it. I’m just really happy to be back. I missed the team, I missed doing what I love, so just joy.”

After seeing Ben Shelton’s girlfriend’s emotional answer, Taylor Townsend shared that video clip on her IG story with the caption, “@trinity_rodman you are the truth girl ❤️✨.” Earlier during an interview, Rodman promised that she was “still going to be Trin” but acknowledged that her approach to the game would shift after the injury. Owing to her incredible performance in this match, the Spirit has now moved into second place in the NWSL standings behind the Kansas City Current.

American tennis star Ben Shelton also shared the Rodman’s glory goal moment on his IG Story with a caption that read, “Plays 15 mins first game back and scores a banger. The truth.” Talk about adoring each other, these two are redefining couple goals.

Ben Shelton and Trinity Rodman turned heads around the sporting world when they “hard launched” their relationship with TikTok clues, followed by an official confirmation of their relationship with a picture on Instagram on March 17. Ever since then, these two have established themselves as the biggest cheerleaders for each other on and off the field/court. “Oh, I think that I’ve found myself a cheerleader,” indeed, as per the popular hit song by OMI.

Trinity Rodman is often spotted making her presence felt from the stands during Ben Shelton’s matches. Even during this year’s Wimbledon, where Shelton made it to the QF, we witnessed a similar thing. Previously, when Rodman scored a stunning goal for the USWNT while playing against Brazil in the friendlies doubleheader clash, Shelton had shared an IG Story highlighting that winning moment with the caption, “🔒🇺🇸.”

However, this is not the first time that Townsend has demonstrated camaraderie with Shelton beyond the court. These two go way back, and there have been numerous instances where we’ve seen these two tennis stars demonstrating their love and respect for each other.

Exploring Ben Shelton’s friendship with Taylor Townsend

In 2023, Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton reached the semifinals of the mixed doubles event at the US Open. This year, they will be seen yet again in action together at the star-studded mixed doubles event. Townsend has been in red-hot form in the doubles event, and earlier this season, she had also clinched the 2025 AO title alongside Katerina Siniakova. Owing to her impressive performances in the last few months, Townsend recently became the new WTA world number one in doubles.

This feat came shortly after she clinched the doubles title alongside China’s Zhang Shuai in the 2025 Citi Open final. Following this iconic moment, the Tour’s IG page shared a post featuring Taylor Townsend with the caption, “DC Doubles Final AND the PIF WTA Doubles Rankings World No.1 title unlocked 🔓.” After seeing this post, Ben Shelton shared Townsend’s accomplishment on his own IG stories.

There have been several moments where we’ve seen these two showing their love and support for each other through every thick and thin. Even when Shelton broke into the Top 10 for the first time in his career in the 2025 season, Townsend was among the first to congratulate him on the feat. They are a formidable team on the court and even more familial off the court!

Recently, while sharing his thoughts on teaming up with Townsend at the mixed doubles event at the US Open, Ben Shelton claimed, “Yeah, she’s the best mixed doubles player in the world, hands down. So if I was going to play, I wasn’t going to play at all unless I could play with her.” Do you think the Shelton-Townsend duo is the most lethal doubles team at this year’s US Open mixed doubles event?