Silence of the Goals: The US Soccer horror movie

Writing for Stars and Stripes FC, Parker Cleveland frames US Soccer within horror movie tropes ahead of Halloween, highlighting how players navigate adversity. The piece compares prominent United States women's national team players to iconic horror film survivors, including Tierna Davidson as Clarice Starling, Alyssa Thompson as Laurie Strode, Lindsey Heaps as Sidney Prescott, Trinity Rodman as Ellen Ripley, and Rose Lavelle as Dana Scully.

Cleveland contrasts these heroic figures with flawed male counterparts who create chaos and fail to meet expectations. The writer also characterizes soccer's villains as governing bodies, corporate leaders, and systemic issues rather than traditional masked monsters, arguing that institutional figures pose the greatest persistent challenge to the sport.