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Julie Ertz will take the field on Thursday at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati wearing the United States crest for the final time. After debuting on the senior team in 2013, she has spent a decade as one of the most impactful players in recent memory. This is even more impressive considering she plays two positions — center-back and defensive midfielder — that typically don’t grab the most attention.

After a stellar career in the United States’ youth system, Ertz worked her way into becoming an integral part of the senior U.S. squad helping the team win two back-to-back World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. She became such an irreplaceable player for the national team that while out on injury for maternity leave and injury recovery for 18 months from 2021 to 2023, numerous articles were written about how the United States could fill the void she left and solve the ‘Ertz dilemma’.

Now, after a surprise return to this summer’s World Cup, Ertz is hanging up her boots for good and retiring from international play. Here’s a quick look back at just a few of the key moments that helped define a stellar career.

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Canadian women’s national team and Portland Thorns forward Janine Beckie will be hitting the six-month mark post-ACL surgery at the end of the month.

She just started running on turf again a few weeks ago, an emotional moment for her in the recovery process.

“I thought I was gonna start crying,” Beckie told The Equalizer. “Running is one of the biggest milestones that you have in [this] injury.”

The Equalizer sat down with Beckie last week to talk about her rehab journey, finding strength in community and maximizing her platform to shine a light on important issues.

Beckie is 29 and only now facing her first major injury. “I’m really lucky that I’ve gotten this far without having other issues.” She continued, “[t]he isolation was new for me, especially being in a team sport, you’re so used to being surrounded by a large group of people all the time so that was definitely a bit of a shock.”

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Heading into last year’s offseason, Racing Louisville FC midfielder Jaelin Howell knew she could do better.

Her rookie year hadn’t gone as well as she hoped and her club ended the season near the bottom of the table in ninth place. That wasn’t good enough, so the defensive midfielder spent her time off consulting with nutritionists to improve her diet, working with strength and speed coaches to improve her speed of play, and continuing to see a sports psychologist to strengthen her mental game.

“I didn’t want anybody to have a doubt in their mind about who I was as a player, as a person, or a leader,” the defensive midfielder told The Equalizer. “I wanted to do a 180 with all of that. And so having that mentality going into the offseason, knowing that I’m going to have to change a lot of things but it’s going to be worth it because when I step onto that field I’m going to be a different player.”

Howell’s hard work paid off. Not only did she come into the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League season revitalized, but her growth mindset and desire to improve herself for the betterment of the team ultimately helped her earn the captain’s armband. Being named captain at only 23-years-old, while in only the second year of her professional career, may have come as a surprise to some, but Louisville head coach Kim Björkegren was confident in Howell’s leadership capabilities.

“For me, it doesn’t matter if you’re 25 or 35,” Björkegren said. “The most important thing is that you do your best every single day for yourself but also for the club and yourself, and that’s Howell.”

Five months into her captaincy, Howell has shown a marked improvement on the field despite wrestling with nagging injuries. She also helped lead her club to to their best overall performance in their three-year history. In this exclusive conversation with The Equalizer, the defensive midfielder shares how she’s been adjusting to her new role, what it takes to build a winning culture in a young team, and how she’s working to balance helping her club reach greater success while still achieving her own goals.