CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Cincinnati's World Cup champion Rose Lavelle was greeted with thunderous applause and chants of "USA" at the FC Cincinnati game Thursday evening.
The 24-year-old graduate of Mount Notre Dame High School was honored on the field at halftime of the FCC match. Lavelle scored three goals in the Women's World Cup in France. That included one in the final against the Netherlands.
There are those who crave the spotlight and the attention all time, and when you're as good as Lavelle, it can follow you around, but that's not quite her style.
"I love Cincinnati. I was so happy to come home and eat Skyline and then go to Graeter's and just be a little chill," Lavelle said.
Earning the Bronze Ball for the third-best player in the tournament, Lavelle has solidified herself as the future of women's soccer.
Those in attendance at Chipotle in Loveland didn't need to be told that.
"It was really special. It was just a once in a lifetime moment I'll never forget. I do think that I can be her one day," said Ashley O'Brien, a youth soccer player.
"I think just giving them that -- they can see her, they can touch her. It's real. That if that's something they want to do, they can do it. That's something Rose portrays," said Erin Mikula, Cup Girls U11-U13 director.
Lavelle got quite got used to the uptick in attention, but she knows how important these events Thursday are because of how important they would have been to her.
"I always think what my 9-year-old self would think if she saw where I was today, and I'm like now Mia Hamm, Christine Lilly and Julie Foudy are watching me in a U.S. jersey and it's like so cool," Lavelle said.
Lavelle isn't done soaking in the accolades, but what Cincinnati's newest athletic superstar craves now is a return to normalcy, which she hopes is sooner rather than later.
"Hopefully next week. I think once I get back to DC I'll be able to get back into a routine. I really need a routine right now. It'll be nice. I'll be able to get back to what I've been doing my whole life: playing soccer," said Lavelle.
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