Hanson-native Kristie Mewis’ World Cup moment finally arrives

Kristie Mewis is one of 23 women hoping to bring a third straight World Cup to the United States. But her journey to soccer’s greatest stage was more grueling, and definitely as lengthy, as anyone’s who has ever represented the stars and stripes.

Mewis’ coach at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, David Floeck, told Boston 25 News that he knew Mewis was a superstar-in-the-making from the moment he first her lace up the cleats.

“When she first showed up at a soccer camp that I ran when she was five years old, her talent was very noticeable. She had a talent like nothing I’ve ever seen. She was more talented than a lot of older kids I’d seen and she was 5 years old.” said Floeck. “And then when I got to coach her in high school, her work ethic, you knew she was destined for great things.”

Mewis would go on to shatter records at Whitman-Hanson and collect nearly every award possible for a high school athlete.

She later made history alongside her younger sister, Sam, when they took the pitch at the 2008 Women’s U-17 World Cup becoming the first siblings to ever play on a U.S. World Cup team together.

But Mewis has had to wait for her time in the game’s ultimate spotlight. After several years floating between different clubs in the National Women’s Soccer League, an ACL tear in 2018 threatened to prematurely end her career.

Instead, she credits the injury with turning around her career.

“I was just kind of sick of just being mediocre,” said Mewis on a 2020 episode of The Equalizer’s Kickin’ Back podcast. “I felt like I had so much more to give, but for some reason, I couldn’t get in the mental and physical space to get there, and I was just like, what am I doing?”

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the NWSL to ditch its regular season format, opting for a bubble-style tournament dubbed “The Challenge Cup.” Mewis started in seven matches for the Houston Dash, registering a goal and an assist, in the club’s march to the championship. In the tournament final, Mewis battled a hamstring injury. Although she was limited to just 29 minutes of play, it was her drawn penalty in the fourth minute that allowed Houston to score the game-winning goal.

“I, for one time in my life, am not a loser. I won,” Mewis reportedly told a teammate in between sips of beer poured into the Championship Cup.

“I never win anything just let me live!!!!,” she famously captioned an Instagram story capturing the Hanson-native taking in the moment, arms laden with Budweiser.

Mewis’ Challenge Cup performance earned her a call-up to the USWNT camp in the fall of 2020. When Mewis found the back of the net in a November exhibition match against the Netherlands, it was her first goal for Team USA in over six years - the longest any player has even gone in between goals for the USWNT.

Just by suiting up Friday night, Mewis made history again. At 32 years old, Mewis is the older player to make her World Cup debut with the USWNT. The midfielder had to fight back tears when she first received the news she would be traveling down under.

“She’s worked really hard to get this moment,” said Floeck. “Through injury and different things. She’s in such great shape. I don’t think that’s gonna hold her back at all.”

Although Mewis did not see game action in the USWNT’s 3-0 win over Vietnam on Friday night, her old coach knows Mewis will be ready to contribute at a moment’s notice.

He’s seen it before.

“There’s 15 minutes left and we’re in a tie game. And I kinda hollered out to her and she goes “Hey how much time’s left?’ and I told her 15 minutes,” recounts Floeck. “And she told me ‘Just relax it will be okay.’ And she goes on to score three goals in the next 15 minutes and we win 3-0.”

The USWNT will next play the Netherlands at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night.

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