Beyond the penalty arc, senior midfielder Helena Sampaio awaited an Indiana header hurling toward her. After stopping it with her body, she lifted the ball over the defender’s head. Before her swirling head could trace the floating ball, Sampaio twisted her body to strike the ball with her other foot, sending a dart into the goal.

This moment opened scoring in the No. 9 Trojans’ (7-1-1, 2-0 Big Ten) 2-0 road victory Saturday afternoon over Indiana at Yeagley Field. From NCAA Soccer to Bleacher Report, the goal was shared across social media and will be a sure candidate for goal of the year. This is Sampaio’s third season as a USC starter, and she’s already posted two goals and a team-high three assists.

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Soccer was my first beat as a Daily Trojan writer when I joined the paper two years ago. Even with stars such as USWNT midfielder Croix Bethune and Utah Royals defender Zoe Burns on the roster, Sampaio was the first name I learned.

When Sampaio connects with the ball, she enters a metaphysical plane of concentration. She carves gliding paths across the grass before abruptly taking a moment to plot her next move. As she calculates the opposition, the ball twirls around her cleats, suspending defenders in a daze. Then, Sampaio selects a direction and breaks through the field’s transitional dimension. 

Even with the consistency of Sampaio’s style, her on-pitch compositions of passion, personality and devotion remain compelling, especially when her flair fabricates a blaze of brilliance like it did against the Hoosiers.

Both on and off the pitch, Sampaio extends a spirited and supportive attitude reminiscent of other inimitable athletes. 

Take the Las Vegas Ace’s Sydney Colson for example. The 35-year-old guard is the official comedian and savant of the Ace’s locker room. In addition to her TikToks and Twitter burns, Colson is known for her boldness on the court. Most notably, she slid an unprompted behind-the-back pass to Alysha Clark on a break-away to tie up Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals.

Or consider Rafael Nadal. The 22-time Grand Slam winner is best known for fiddling with his shorts and electively pinning himself to the back of the fence where he can windmill heavy topspin forehands. 

To me, it’s these distinctive styles that give sports a breath of life. 

And sometimes, I fear players who tinker with form are becoming more scarce. Perhaps I am wrong — my teenage memory database is limited — but my observations suggest athletics are becoming subject to canonization. 

For young athletes, excelling at sports can lead to offers from top universities, leadership skills and a solid understanding of how to best take care of their bodies. Recognizing these advantages, coaches develop training systems and recruiter networks that are marketed to predetermine success. Basically, if a young athletes’ parents invest enough resources, they can thrive within the sports development pipeline regardless of their innate abilities. So — like everything else of value — sports are a commodity. 

Now, keeping in mind that 7.9% of young athletes compete in the NCAA and fewer than 2.0% of collegiate athletes go on to play professionally, young athletes should probably abandon the sanitization of their sport. Rather, they should follow in the footwork of Sampaio, inventing techniques reflective of themselves and their relationship with the game. Perhaps along the way, they too will find themselves leading the No. 9 Division I soccer program in the country.

Leila MacKenzie is a junior writing about small things in sports in her column, “Little Things,” which runs every other Tuesday. She is also a sports editor at the Daily Trojan.