From the stat line alone, the game between Houston Dash and the Kansas City Current in Week 25 seemed like it would be pretty straightforward. The Dash are eliminated from the playoffs, and the Current were riding a historic undefeated streak that helped them clinch the Shield earlier than any other team in history.

But in the second half, Ryan Gareis broke through with a stunning goal, the very first of her NWSL career, to seal the biggest upset of the season.

After a water bottle shower courtesy of her teammates, Gareis fielded questions for a postgame interview and did so with her son, Crew, on her hip.

All in a day's work for this “soccer mom.”

Gareis always knew she wanted to be a mom. As she pursued a career in professional soccer, she saw more and more players give birth and come back to the game stronger than ever. It was a club of badasses, she said, and she wanted in.

Just four months after giving birth to Crew, Gareis made her return to the pitch.

Since then, it’s been a balancing act for Gareis and her fiancé, Charlotte Hornets shooting guard Pat Connaughton, to navigate parenthood and life as pro athletes.

In the next installment of Most Valuable Parent presented by Bobbie, Gareis opens up the motherhood support group with teammates Katie Lind and Allysha (Chappy) Chapman and whether she thinks Crew will pick up soccer or basketball. (Hint: you can probably guess which she’s hoping for.)

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How has soccer prepared you for motherhood?

Soccer and sports in general have so many translatable skills to a lot of parts of life, but especially with motherhood. Learning to navigate adversity has been a big thing that has helped me with soccer and translated to motherhood. Time management has been a big one. Teamwork with me and my fiancé has been big in terms of how we're raising him and really just living such an active lifestyle, having self-discipline, and staying active. Keeping my son active has been awesome, but that's a huge part of my life, so that wasn't necessarily the biggest change.

How do you define a win when it comes to motherhood or parenthood?

Like any parent, we wish for health and happiness with our children, so every time I see him smile, every time I come home and get to see him laughing and playing, that's a win in my book. I think every day that I get to wake up and spend the day with him, that's a win. Although some days are easier than others, seeing him enjoy life has been like the biggest blessings and definitely what I would consider a win.

The image of the stereotypical soccer mom often includes orange slices and mini vans. How are you redefining what it means to be a soccer mom?

I am trying to be the best example I can be for my son. I saw this quote a while ago: "If your child became like you, would they be proud of who they became?” With me and his dad both being professional athletes, I want to show him women can do that and men can do that. Whatever he chooses to do and puts his mind to, he can achieve. I’m trying to redefine that in the sense of being a soccer player myself, so the very literal version of a soccer mom. I’m just trying to make him proud and be a good example for who he wants to become when he grows up.

You're in a unique position because your fiancé is also a professional athlete and has a whole team too, but you have a built-in team of aunties and uncles. So what's been the best part of introducing Crew to your locker room?

Yeah, the girls have been absolutely phenomenal, even from the second I told them I was pregnant, the support they've given me and the love they've shown Crew has been really something that's unmatched. That every kid gets to grow up around all these badass soccer players, so I think it's just so cool for him. He also happens to be quite the flirt, so he's loving the away trips with all the girls. It’s a problem. (laughs) It has meant everything, just how he gets to see, again, more amazing examples through all of them and all the things that they do on and off the field. How they treat us and support us has been the best part of all of this.

How often is Crew coming on away trips with you now?

With Pat also playing sports, we try to balance it. I will say Crew is a very well traveled kid. I would say maybe like 75% of trips. He's gotten to go on a couple of basketball trips or he'll get to stay home with Pat when we have a farther trip or something.

It's cool that he gets to do this on both sides, traveling with both teams.

I always think what other job can you have that allows you to do that?

What do those away trips look like for you when you have him?

We have the most wonderful nanny in the world, Savannah. She's usually the caretaker who comes along with me, especially when Pat is in season. The cool thing about traveling for this job, too, is I get to explore the city, but so does he. We do a morning walk or explore what's around. We find a local playground. There's usually a pool at the hotel that he loves. We make the most out of each trip, then he comes to the game. He's such a soccer fiend Not only does he love playing it, but he loves to watch it. This is a kid who rarely sits still, but when a soccer game is going on, he is following the ball. He loves going to the game, and then he gets to come on the field after, which I just think is the most rewarding part of being a professional soccer player and a mom, getting to see how happy he is. Win or lose he has no idea. It's definitely refreshing, but he's the reason why I play. I love playing, I love the sport. I love my teammates, but everything I do is for him. We head home as a team, and we have three babies on the Dash, which is so fun. We'll usually have multiple babies on these trips, which is a blast. It's like a little small field trip for them.

I was going to ask if you had to guess based on his behavior right now, if you think he would end up picking soccer or basketball, but it sounds like he's already picked.

I will say he loves both. He will shoot a basketball and then immediately kick it as it's coming back down. I think right now, he's very into soccer, but I think I'm also biased. I always make him kick the ball around, but he's quite good at both so I guess we'll see. Pat was a dual-sport athlete, so I'm sure he'll say why not both, even though I'm rooting a little bit more for soccer.

He's already shown a knack for soccer. If you had to pick a position for him based on how he acts right now, what would you pick and why?

Okay, he's all about goal scoring. He loves the celebration. He does the runoff after he scores, so I would say maybe a nine. We presume he might be kind of tall, I think that could be good in front of the box. He's also a madman, but I think that could be good with creativity at top. I'm going to say winger or nine.

Which teammate or teammates are you trusting to babysit?

Oh, I would trust a lot of them. It's amazing how helpful they all are on our way trips or if he's in the facility one day. They're all willing to help with the stroller or watch him, really anything. He would be happy with anyone.

Well, that's very sweet. You touched on this a little bit, but you had two other teammates have kids around the same time. You were all going through the motions of returning to the game at the same time. What did it mean to be able to kind of lean on each other during that difficult time?

It's so special to have Katie and Chappy along with me in this process. All of our babies are three months apart, so Tavish, Chappy's baby came first. Crew three months later, and then Tommy three months after that. They’re all around the same age group, which has been super helpful. It's hard to balance being a professional athlete and being a mom, but seeing how they do it so gracefully, getting some reassurance and advice from them has been so special. It's also so fun to get the babies together. It's definitely a different bond that we get to have all going through motherhood around the same time. It's like a mom support group built into the team.

This is your first full season back. How did it feel to kind of be back in that routine from the jump?

Having like a couple games when I came back from maternity before that last season ended was really helpful just to get my feet under me, get back into the schedule and learn how to balance that life for a couple months before we had offseason. It was super beneficial for me entering this next season. This being my full season back, I've just been really proud and happy with how I've gotten to come back. The staff support that we've had, my teammates and everyone around me helping. It definitely takes a village to raise a kid, but also to keep me on the field. Mentally, I have felt a lot more comfortable as the season has gone on with how to balance motherhood, but also prioritizing a job. Physically, it just kind of feels good to be back in the routine. We get to work out as part of our job, which is amazing, and then I get to go home to this little smiley baby. It’s something that's unmatched, but I think the biggest mental thing, I had so much mom guilt about leaving him for training. Realizing how much I want this in my life and need this for balance and he helps so much with the perspective. Getting to go through this full season has been really rewarding in that sense.

Is there anything that's surprised you about balancing both?

A lot of things. Every day comes with some surprises. The planning is almost what has surprised me the most, especially with our travel schedule and everything with me and Pat being on different sports schedules. The planning it takes to figure out if he's coming on this away trip or what we're gonna do this day, everything like that. It's gotten easier and easier just getting into more of a routine and figuring out the game schedules. Planning the day-to-day and the travel schedules and getting out of the door with a little baby, bringing eight bags of stuff, that has been probably one of the most challenging things.

The physical toll of giving birth is substantial, but so is your career. We talked about Copa before, but what did it take for you to feel ready to get back on the pitch?

It took a village to get me back on the field. Going through pregnancy and birth is a whole toll on your body that you need to take time to get back to anything, but especially a job of this physical caliber. Then you have this little human that you're taking care of and a lot of sleepless nights and early mornings and some stress while you're figuring it all out. Honestly, it took time. I'm someone who thrives on a routine, and at the beginning with a newborn, there is no routine. It's just chaos for a little bit. Once we started to get him to sleep a little bit more and maintain some steadier naps was when I really felt like I could plan my day and figure out how to get myself some rest in order to be in the best physical shape for my career.

How have you made yourself proud over the last few months?

I always told myself when I entered the league, I will feel so proud of myself and a huge achievement of mine that I want to complete is returning to play after having a kid. I always looked up to those who did it before me and even Chappy did it three months before me. That is so cool that you could return to such a physical job after such a physical process of giving birth and raising a child and trying to balance both. We've talked about this before, but like the role models I had growing up and seeing Alex Morgan do this and all of these women who came back even stronger. I told myself if I could be in that group, I would be so proud of myself. Anytime there's a bad practice or if I don't get as many minutes as I want, I try to think of that. I did what I wanted to do. Being able to come back stronger and come back in a pretty short amount of time has made me really proud.

It should. What is a soccer moment that you can't wait to show Crew from your career?

Ooh, that's a good one. I think getting to show him himself on the field after it will be really cool to see. As he becomes more and more aware of getting to see me and his dad play, he's starting to watch the games more. Showing him any moments that we had before he even knew what was going on would be really cool and the moments of him traveling with the team, being surrounded by all these aunties and uncles that we talked about. Getting to show him my debut with the Dash will be really cool. Maybe my first media day with him, returning to play and how little he was and how he got to grow up with the sport around him. It will be really cool to show him those off the field moments, as well as any goals and fun wins.

What does making him proud look like to you?

I think making him proud is just showing up for myself and him every day. I try to bring in as much energy and fun and life to him each day because that's how his dad is and he's the best person to be around. Just to create a happy, fulfilling life for him and to show him that his mom worked so hard at what she did. I'm sure he'll love to hear if there's goals and assists and statistics as he gets older, but to show him I worked hard to come back from something that was really tough.

Is there anything about motherhood that I didn't ask you about that you want to talk about?

What other job can you bring your kid along? The support that the teams and the league have shown and the progression in what they've done the past couple years has been incredible. You're seeing more and more women have babies and come back, and it is not such a discussion, like “When do I have to stop playing to have babies?” The fact that it's kind of becoming more and more natural to just be a part of someone's career is so awesome.