AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Sophia Smith pretended to zip her lips closed as she celebrated her second aim in opposition to Vietnam in the course of the United States’ opening match on the Women’s World Cup. It was a tribute to former Stanford teammate Katie Meyer, who died by suicide final 12 months.

Smith and teammate Naomi Girma selected the tribute for Meyer, the goalkeeper star of Stanford’s 2019 NCAA championship. She stopped two penalty pictures within the title recreation. An ebullient California lady recognized for her animated celebrations, Meyer made the gesture after her first penalty save as a method to silence anybody who doubted Stanford.

Girma was considered one of Meyer’s greatest associates. She penned a tribute to Meyer printed by The Players’ Tribune firstly of the World Cup.

“Na (Naomi) and I talked about it before the game, and we were like ‘What can we do for Katie?’” Smith stated. “And it was pretty iconic: what she did in the College Cup. We just wanted to honor her in every way. So that was for Katie.”

Girma stated the gesture was Meyer‘s “go-to,” and he or she and her teammates have made some extent to publicly talk about psychological well being since Meyer‘s demise.

“We see this as an opportunity to shed light on a lot of things that are important to us,” Girma stated. “I think that’s been something that’s been at the core of this team for so long, and for us to come in now and carry on that legacy is something that’s really important to us.”

Meyer’s household has stated the 21-year-old was distressed a couple of disciplinary electronic mail she obtained from the college earlier than her demise. They filed a wrongful demise lawsuit in opposition to the college final November.

The U.S. group gained the its first match on the World Cup, 3-0. Smith completed with a pair of objectives.

Up subsequent for the Americans is a recreation in opposition to The Netherlands - the group the U.S. defeated within the 2019 World Cup Final - in Wellington on Thursday.

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