Sophia Smith.Photo:Robin Alam/USSF/Getty
Robin Alam/USSF/Getty
After Sophia Smith netted her second goal of theU.S. Women’s National Team’s 3-0 victory over Vietnamon Friday, she and teammate Naomi Girma knew what to do.
Smith, 22, took her fingers to her mouth and made a “zip-your-lip” motion with her hand, rehashing their late Stanford teammate Katie Meyer’s viral celebration from their 2019 NCAA College Cup win.
“That was for Katie,” Smith told reporters after the game, according toESPN. “Nai and I talked about it before the game. We were like, ‘What can we do for Katie?’ It was pretty iconic what she did in the College Cup, and we just want to honor her in every way.”
Their late teammate has been a central figure of motivation forthis year’s USWNT squad, which includes Girma, 23, and Smith as two of its brightest young stars.
Katie Meyer.Katie Meyer/Instagram
Katie Meyer/Instagram
“Katie was a day-to-day part of her life,” Girma’s mother told the outlet, recalling the moment she found out Meyer died last year. “Naomi told me the news and I just couldn’t believe it. I was heartbroken.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Girma said that since Meyer’s passing, she’s “put a lot of time and effort into working towards just getting more mental health resources towards different communities that don’t have the same access that others do.”
The USWNT defender announced last week in an emotional essay ahead of the World Cup that the team is partnering with the organization Common Goal, which uses soccer “to help shift society towards a more sustainable and equitable future for all.”
Sophia Smith and Naomi Girma.Brad Smith/USSF/Getty
Brad Smith/USSF/Getty
Girma wrote in herPlayer’s Tribune essaythat Meyer was “truest friend I ever had.”
“The most unapologetic, positive, caring person in the world,” Girma wrote. “The first person to be open and talk about her feelings. The first person you’d turn to when you needed to talk about yours. And the last person you’d think would take her own life.”
And Girma smiled while thinking about their former teammate while speaking with ESPN last week, saying Meyer believed her Stanford teammates would make it to the national team one day.
“She always thought I would go to this World Cup,” Girma said. “It’s special that I’m here and I get to play for the both of us.”
source: people.com
