The Thorns looked poised to steal a point on the road against the Spirit before Trinity Rodman delivered a crushing blow in her first appearance in nearly four months.

Following nearly a year without scoring and months of rehabilitation, the 23-year-old forward makes triumphant return with stoppage-time winner against Thorns.

Spirit coach Adrian Gonzalez, who marked his debut as full-time head coach with the dramatic victory, mentioned after the game that because of Rodman’s minutes management, she was only ever going to play 15 minutes.