Trinity Rodman has enjoyed the most productive regular season of her career, but the Washington Spirit star says her greatest satisfaction came from just being healthy enough to start every game.
The USWNT forward finished with 12 goals and eight assists across 30 starts, setting personal regular-season bests in both attacking categories as Washington secured another home playoff game. Her previous highs were eight goals and six assists.
"Obviously winning's great, but personally, take away the goals even, I think just being able to be available, I don't think people realize how much of a blessing it is to be healthy enough to play," Rodman told ESPN.
"And I don't think you realize that until you go through something where it keeps you from doing something you love to do."
Rodman experienced that absence last season, when a lingering back injury sidelined her for about four months. She returned in August against Portland Thorns, the Spirit's next opponents as they open this year's playoff run, scoring the winner in stoppage time after coming off the bench.
And she says just being able to keep playing became her measure of success this year: "I didn't set any goal besides being available and that's happened and gonna continue to happen, touch wood, going into the playoffs.
"I'm really happy, really blessed, really thankful, and hopefully each year it just gets better and better."
Rodman completed the regular season by scoring Washington's second goal in Sunday's 2-0 victory over Chicago Stars at Audi Field, finishing a cross from Tanzania forward Clara Luvanga in the 85th minute as the Spirit clinched the No. 3 seed and a home quarterfinal against Portland on Nov. 8.
Her availability has also allowed her to take on the demands of helping teammates through a long season, although she acknowledged that responsibility can weigh heavy.
"It can be extremely uplifting and draining at the same time. Especially for players that have been in the environment more, that have been on the team longer. I think we hold a little bit more weight in certain situations," she said.
Rodman said maintaining her own consistency was part of how she tried to keep the team moving forward: "I just try to approach it in the best way I can, and staying positive.
"I obviously have bad days, but I'm always trying my hardest to be together, being with the team and being as consistent as I can throughout the season, because it's a very long season.
"But I think every day, every week is a new challenge, and we're all learning."
That shared experience, she said, extends across the squad regardless of how long individual players have been in the game.
"No matter where we are in our careers, we're all learning the same things at the same time. So, I think just having that connection is really cool to experience together," Rodman said.
"And that's just the purpose of playing a team sport."
Washington will begin their postseason at home for the third consecutive year. Rodman, who has multiple playoff experience, sees little reason to change the approach that has brought them this far.
"I don't think you can win a championship if you wait till the last moment to be like, 'Oh, we gotta make something happen,' or 'We gotta change something,'" she said.
"I think it's the way you show up every single day and if that's changing going into playoffs then we're doing something wrong."
Spirit midfielder Andi Sullivan offered a similar assessment when asked what she would tell players preparing for the playoffs.
"To me, it's how we prepare every single week. Of course, it's win or go home now," Sullivan said.
"We try to have the same attitude every single week. And I think that players will feel the difference just in the state of the game and the state of the environment."