PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The question “What have just the last few days been like for you?” is a simple way to open an interview — but when you’re just the second goalkeeper in NWSL history to score in a match, it elicits a bit of a different answer.

“My phone’s been blowing up,” Portland Thorns goalie Bella Bixby said.

The Thorns trailed Angel City 3-2 last Saturday and were in the midst of seven minutes of stoppage time. That’s when the Rex Putnam and Oregon State University alum trotted down the field to participate in a Thorns’ corner kick.

“I just saw it bouncing towards me and knew I wasn’t going to have time to turn, so I just scooped it behind me and hoped for the best. I saw it hit the back of the net and I was like, ‘I can’t believe that just worked.’ It was wild. My teammates tackled me before I fully digested what had just happened,” Bixby said, laughing about her thought process at that moment.

That was the second straight game Bixby had made history. Although the match before was more of a traditional milestone for her position.

Bixby tied the NWSL’s record as the fastest goalie to 20 clean sheets. At the time, she’d started 40 games overall, meaning no team had scored on Bixby in half of her starts.

“The shutout record was really meaningful to me,” said Bixby, noting she sees it as more of a team achievement. “It’s something that reflects the hard work that this entire team puts into not conceding high-quality chances and just being locked down on defense over the last two years.”

The accolades are impressive, but they’re even more impressive because when Bixby graduated from Oregon State in 2018, she seriously mulled quitting soccer altogether. The Beavers didn’t have a single winning season while she was there, and her love of the game had faded.

Thankfully that love is stronger than ever now, and Bixby attributes that as one of the reasons why she has had such a successful pro career thus far.

“I am serious. Very serious about it. You have to be so dialed in. That often looks different to people, or they think of it in a different way, than having fun. Ironically, that’s when I play the most focused, the most free, the most creative, and I come up with more creative solutions,” said Bixby.

And to have her love of the game help her make history in her hometown? That’s the cherry on top for Bixby.

“It means the world to me,” Bixby said as she stopped and paused. “I almost stopped playing — to find that love again and to be able to do it here is really important to me. I grew up sitting in these seats watching Portland Beaver baseball games and later Portland Timbers soccer games and later Portland Thorns soccer games, so being able to come back to loving this sport in this stadium just means the world to me.”