Washington Spirit forward Gift Monday scored the fastest hat trick from the start of a match in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) on Sunday, commemorating each goal with one of her signature jovial celebrations. “I can never run out of celebrations,” the 23-year-old striker said following the Spirit’s win. “I have a constant one, but I love to dance, so there’s always a new step.” The Nigerian international’s first hat trick with the club helped the No. 2-ranked Spirit defeat the No. 10
“I can never run out of celebrations,” the 23-year-old striker said following the Spirit’s win. “I have a constant one, but I love to dance, so there’s always a new step.”
The Nigerian international’s first hat trick with the club helped the No. 2-ranked Spirit defeat the No. 10 Houston Dash 4-0 and clinch a spot in the postseason.
All three of Monday’s goals were assisted by U.S. women’s national team players Trinity Rodman (two) and Croix Bethune (one). The only other Spirit player to score a first-half hat trick was Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Crystal Dunn in 2015.
Monday opened her account in the 18th minute. Rodman received a pass from Monday near midfield and returned the ball to her with a dangerous placement inside the penalty box. A deft first touch around Dash goalkeeper Abby Smith expanded the space Monday needed to score from a narrow angle, hitting the far netting. For that, Monday performed her classic celebration, miming a bow and arrow.
“Growing up, I didn’t have people who really believed in my potential,” she said. “Each time I score a goal, I do that because I feel like I see myself more than how people see me: right there up in the sky among the stars.
“Each time I shoot the arrow, I feel like, ‘Oh, OK, I’m still there.”
Spirit manager Adrián González said Monday’s humility and work ethic among a group of high-caliber attackers earned her, her first start since Aug. 23.
“Right now we are having a huge competition between us,” González said. “Sometimes players, they need to feel that.”
In her first season with the Spirit, Monday has scored eight goals in 19 appearances, including 12 starts. She joined Washington from Liga F side UD Granadilla Tenerife in Spain in March. The Spirit signed her to a three-year contract with an option for 2028. She has made 10 appearances for the Nigerian senior national team but did not feature in the Super Falcons’ historic tenth Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title run in July.
Before her triple on Sunday, Monday’s first goal as a Spirit player was arguably her most memorable: poaching a ball from Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorehouse and converting the interception to upend the reigning NWSL champions in April.
With Spirit forward Ashley Hatch on maternity leave, González acknowledged that Monday might have felt alone as the first choice in her position, lacking consistent competition in training before the arrival of Italian forward Sophia Cantore from Juventus in July. The addition of Cantore, who also scored on Sunday, shifted the landscape in the fight for a starting spot. When Cantore starts, Monday typically comes on for her, and vice versa.
“That competition helps you to be even better because you know that you need to be always performing at your best,” González said. “If not, there are the players that can.”
THE ANGLE ON THAT GOAL FROM GIFT MONDAY 📐 pic.twitter.com/SFLkXy3oWZ
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 28, 2025
Monday doubled her tally three minutes after her first goal, this time courtesy of a lofted inswinger from Bethune in a corner kick sequence. Smith blocked Monday’s initial header, but she pounced onto the rebound and tapped it in.
“For me, being well-positioned in the box is actually my biggest strength,” she said. “I need to focus on my strength instead of trying to do what other people are doing. I just try to be well-positioned for any pass because I trust my teammates.”
That trust—and variety of celebrations at Monday’s disposal—was on display for her third goal, which again saw Rodman deliver a textured driven cross into the box from the flank. The Spirit had been exploiting the Dash’s width all match, and Monday made her shot even more difficult to block by opening her hip and redirecting Rodman’s pass away from the expected near post in the 36th minute.
With eight goals in the regular season, Monday has entered the Golden Boot race alongside Orlando’s Barbra Banda and just below Ludmila of the Chicago Stars, who has 10.
The Spirit’s latest win is their biggest victory margin in club history, and it extended their unbeaten streak to 10, setting a new club record. They face stiff midweek competition against Gotham FC in the Concacaf W Champions Cup on Wednesday in New Jersey, and return to league play on Sunday when they host the San Diego Wave.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Washington Spirit, Nigeria, NWSL, Women's Soccer
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