Croix Bethune entered the NWSL with a bag full of jaw dropping highlights and massive amounts of intrigue. Throughout her time at USC, then Georgia, she was one of the sauciest players in the college system. The obvious question about her turning pro was the same for all collegiate prospects jumping to the professional ranks: How would she adjust?

We’re just five games into Bethune’s pro career but she has three goals in five games, all of which showcased her skills in different ways. But it’s her latest strike against Gotham that’s provided the clearest evidence yet that her full complement of skills can create her familiar and specific brand of magic at the professional level.

So let’s dissect it move by move, moment of sauce by moment of sauce.

Movement

What a player can do with the ball at their feet is important, but knowing how to create passing windows can be just as important. Even before the goal Bethune was cooking Gotham defenders by routinely finding pockets of space to receive the ball (her superpower, more on this later) and force defenders into fouls, or risk being dragged out of position.

This task is most difficult for midfielders, who have an undefined space in which to move, which can also change game to game. In addition to Bethune’s physical attributes (quick bursts of speed, quick feet, ability to dribble, pass or shoot with her right or left), she also has a rare way of hiding in plain sight.

Watch how Bethune slides behind two defenders. She stays close enough to keep the pass simple, but far enough away to not tip either defender off to her threat. My favorite part is how she gets close to their field of vision, sees the pocket forming, then backs up to avoid detection and keep it intact before inching forward again once Casey Krueger settles the ball.

Currently Bethune is second on the team with 75 touches in the attacking third (Rodman, 96), and top-5 among all NWSL midfielders in progressive passes received (how many times a player receives a forward pass that either moves the ball ten yards forward, or into the penalty area; this stat only tracks passes in the final 60% of the pitch). Movement like this is exactly why. (stats by FBref)

Receiving

How a player receives the ball is one of the most underrated and under-discussed but critically important skills for any player, and is one of Bethune’s superpowers. The way in which a pass is received can change everything; it can invite pressure and waste an opportunity, or make space and create opportunities.

The way Bethune receives Casey Krueger’s pass in the face of Gotham’s pressure changes everything.

Rather than attempting to control the ball with her left foot as soon as it was in range, Bethune invites the ball to roll across her body and onto her right foot. If she didn’t have this patience or instinct, and was in a rush to control the pass, the defender closest to her would have been able to instantly engage in a duel for possession. She immediately neutralizes the first defender by receiving the ball on her far foot and turning quickly, placing them behind both Bethune and the ball in the blink of an eye.

This move not only eliminated a defender, it also have her time to plot her next move.

Bait

Whereas off ball work and body positioning helped eliminate the nearest defender, Bethune used her quick feet, creativity, awareness and sauce-laden dribbling technique to dispatch the second. In basketball there’s an old adage, ‘you reach, I teach‘, and Bethune shows this applies to soccer as well.

Gotham center back Maitane López has to try something to separate Bethune from the ball, and the easiest route is to just kick the ball. Why not? It’s right there. It would be so easy. Just stick out a toe and kick it away. What could possibly go wrong?

Oh no. Wait, where’d it go? Relatedly: Where did SHE go?

Bethune’s quick feet beat her to the ball and placed it perfectly into the space she wanted, space López would have been covering. Instead López joined the first defender, Delanie Sheehan, in chasing Bethune. Everything to this point had been executed perfectly, and all that was left was the final action.

THE SHOT

Now, reader, I must tell you that it’s very difficult for me not to be hyperbolic about shots that lead to goals. They’re the final act, they’re the thing crowds erupt for, they are the punctuation. But think about everything it took to get here, and how damn impressive it was. Consider all the calculations, movements and touches that had to be precise to even generate this chance.

Having said all that: CDJHKWEKBHSFJFWHFEJSFDHWRFJVSWRFENK.

This ball is out of the frame of goal for 99% of its path across the line. It only sneaks in at the very last moment, and does so while also dipping hard toward the ground. It wasn’t on target, until it was; and was at a comfortable height to save, again, until it wasn’t. This is an exquisite strike that’s every bit as good as an upper 90 screamer or a filthy chip.

It’s so good that while goalkeeper’s are typically criticized for letting any shot through at their near post, I can’t even blame Cassie Miller. The ball curls at a velocity and trajectory that would have required her to possess the gift of clairvoyance, or to have fought Dr. Strange to acquire the time stone. Both are very difficult tasks to accomplish in 90 minutes, let alone the less than a second it took for the ball to leave Bethune’s foot and cross the line.

Still shots show even better than GIFs just how wicked this shot was.

This goal contained many of the elements that those who admired Bethune during her college career were waiting to see translate to the pros. With this well-crafted chance capped off with an absurd finish, Croix Bethune Truthers can be relieved. She – along with all of her skills – is here now.