Ashley Sanchez, the North Carolina Courage forward, is having an absolutely wild, career-best season right now. She just matched a single-season goal-scoring record in the NWSL with an insane 20 goals, becoming the first American player ever to hit that mark in the regular season. This is no joke!
From World Cup Heartbreak to a New Fire
You know, it wasn’t that long ago Sanchez was facing some real struggles. Back in 2023, she made the USWNT World Cup roster, which is huge, right? But then she was one of three players who didn’t even get to step on the field for a single minute. Can you imagine the frustration? That disappointment totally sucked the joy out of the game for her. Then, after missing the 2024 Summer Olympics gold medal run due to a new head coach and a smaller roster, 2025 was a career low: just two goals in 23 appearances. Ouch.
But talk about a comeback! Her club coach, Mak Lind, made a tactical shift, moving her to winger, and it’s clearly clicked. That, plus a renewed focus on actually enjoying the game again, has completely transformed her season. She’s not just scoring, she’s shattering expectations. Before this, her career highs were back-to-back five-goal seasons in 2023 with the Washington Spirit and 2024 after her trade to North Carolina. Twenty goals? That’s next level.
Blocking Out the Noise and Letting the Play Do the Talking
With this kind of performance, the spotlight is blinding. Her skills are all over social media, she’s racking up league recognition, and the media requests are non-stop. And yeah, she just got engaged too, so life’s moving fast! But Sanchez is just trying to keep her head down. She’s back in national team camps for the first time since January 2025, but she’s not letting all the extra attention get to her.
She said herself, “I mean, definitely, [more attention] is a little bit different, but I think I just try not to care too much about outside noise or opinions, and just try to, like, control myself and the product that I have on the field.” It sounds like she’s almost surprised by how much she’s accomplished. “I feel like I have done a lot more than maybe I thought I was gonna do. So, now it’s just all this other stuff is just kind of extra.” She’s just focused on her own game. “I feel like I just keep setting the bar for myself, but a lot of that is definitely not listening to other people and their opinions and just not getting too high about all this extra stuff.” She’s not here for the hype, she’s here to play. “We still have so many games left and so much more to do. So yeah, I guess I don’t want to say I don’t care, but I kind of guess I just don’t care too much.” That’s the mindset of a player who knows what’s up.
She’s still got a handful of games left, meaning she’s got a real shot at setting an even more impressive NWSL goal-scoring record. With the USWNT calling again, and her absolutely crushing it on the field, we can’t wait to see what else Ashley Sanchez pulls off this season.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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