An Oral History: Lynn William’s Broken Arm Game
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“I need my legs to play soccer, not my arms” — Lynn Williams
Lynn Williams hit the ground hard in her first appearance for Gotham FC last night. Unfortunate deja vu for Williams who suffered a season ending injury in her first appearance for the Kansas City Current a season ago.
Williams wouldn’t be stopped by some ordinary arm injury though — and after missing an entire year of soccer, you would have had to physically pull Lynn Williams off the pitch.
One arm sling later and Lynn Williams was back on the pitch with a fury. Williams would finish the night with 6 total shots, 58 touches, 4 passes into the final third, 3 tackles won, and the game deciding goal for Gotham.
It was a beautiful run, Williams would shift to the right as play progressed through the Angel City backline. Angel City would crash on Midge Purse as she continued to carry the ball, leaving Williams wide open in the box as a result. Williams would receive the ball, shift her weight to the left and curl a ball over a diving Paige Nielson who was just a moment too late in closing Williams down. Perfectly placed into the side netting, Williams effort would be the deciding factor in Gotham’s surprise 2–1 victory over Angel City FC.
A gorgeous goal that accelerates the fire that is the USWNT forward race ahead of this summer’s World Cup. Lynn Williams not letting Alyssa Thompson’s first ever professional goal over shadow her legendary 90 minute performance.
"I’m not one to pull myself out of the game. I’m gonna get an x ray tomorrow morning” Lynn would tell the broadcast after the match.
It’s utterly impressive to play the entire 2nd half of an intense match with your arm fixed at a 90° angle, but you could feel just how badly Williams needed to be on the pitch that night. A game winning goal was just the soccer gods making good on a past slight.
For that, we’ll always remember the Lynn Williams Broken Arm Game.
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