When the Racing Louisville and Orlando Pride 2024 Summer Cup match went to a penalty kick shootout, Jordyn Bloomer was fired up. As a backup keeper, she saw a chance to shine, but the Pride fans were deadset on making it hard for her.

“They were yelling at me the entire shootout and the whole game basically being like, ‘Who even are you?’" Bloomer said.

With two blocked shots, Bloomer silenced the Orlando crowd, and in her adrenaline fueled haze, she put her hand up to her ear, facing the stands.

“‘Talk that talk … Remember who we are,’” she remembers thinking.

If those fans didn’t know who Bloomer was then, they almost certainly do now.

When starting keeper Katie Lund went on the season-ending injury list in May, Bloomer was promoted to starter, and she hasn’t squandered a single second of her opportunity. Bloomer earned “Save of the Week” honors in her very first career start against the Houston Dash on May 2. In nine games, Bloomer has earned two clean sheets and has made a whopping 42 saves. Since 2016, the only player to have more saves in her first nine games is Angel City FC’s Angelina Anderson, who made 48 in 2023.

When Racing Louisville won the Women’s Cup tournament over the 2025 summer break, it was Bloomer who was named Player of the Match for her performance in yet another shoutout.

Most recently, she made NWSL history when she stopped two Orlando Pride penalty kicks in a single regular season game, becoming the first keeper to do so (excluding shootouts). The outstanding performance earned her both “Save of the Week” and “Player of the Week.”

“I just assumed somebody had probably done it. I’m not that special,” Bloomer said with a laugh. “It’s just me … But it’s pretty sick. For however long that lasts, any chance to get your name in a history book of any time is pretty cool.”

There was a little bit of kismet at work for the first half penalty kick – it was the same goal she defended in the 2024 Summer Cup.

“I just had this weird sense of like, I've done this before, literally in this exact same goal on this exact same field, all of that,” she said. “I was like, ‘Bring it on. Let's see what I can do.’”

With a good read on Julie Doyle’s attempt, Bloomer shuffled right and then dove to make the save. In the waning minutes of the second half, she was put to the test again.

Despite keepers being at an inherent disadvantage for PKs, Bloomer’s mindset is defined by three words: bring it on.

Orlando’s Angelina lined up and struck the ball to the left, where Bloomer again made the block.

“I’m definitely a bit of an animated person in general, and it definitely doesn’t turn off on the field,” Bloomer said. “I don’t know what it is about big save moments, but my team really loves to come up and chest bump me, and I’m like ‘You know what? I’m here for it. Give me all of that.’ It was pretty electric, I can’t lie.”

These moments of celebration are hard fought for Bloomer. She was drafted 26th overall by Louisville in the 2022 NWSL Draft, but after her rookie season, she spent the following year on loan with the Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League Women, Australia’s top flight women’s league.

Bloomer came back to Kentucky in 2023 excited to be with her teammates. She said her time in Australia built up her confidence and she came into the season fresh and ready.

“I wanted to be the best teammate, be the best No. 2. I was just having so much fun playing soccer and being back home,” Bloomer said. “I was like, ‘This is going to be the best year ever,’ and it seems like every time I say that, something goes terribly wrong.”

Just one week into the season, Bloomer suffered from a herniated disc, which caused seizing, tingling, and numbing in her left leg. Despite efforts to avoid surgery, it was clear a procedure would be the best option, but it would also keep her out of the game for six to eight months.

“That was honestly one of the hardest years of my life,” she said. “I didn’t realize the toll it would take when your entire identity is wrapped up in your ability to perform on the field, which sounds so sad, but it’s so real … It definitely puts things into perspective of how quickly something can change … Our bodies, no matter how tough we think we are, we’re fragile.”

Watching Bloomer now, you’d never guess the long road she took to get here. Embracing her new role, she takes the field with an intensity and a passion that embodies the attitude of a veteran.

Though it may seem like Bloomer just burst on to the NWSL scene, she’s been here, waiting for her moment to break through. That moment is now.

“It’s honestly crazy. I don’t know if there’s a better word to describe it,” she said. “There were moments where I didn’t know if I would ever get this chance.”

There are only so many starting keeper positions, and if a team has a reliable, consistent player, it can be difficult for a backup to break into the lineup.

“Any time you’re sitting and waiting for this magical, mythical opportunity that you don’t really know when it’s going to come or how it’s going to come and you know you’re the No. 2 going into a season, it’s really hard,” Bloomer said. “I want to be out there. I want to be the one that the team relies on.”

After coming back from her injury, Bloomer found ways to push herself and to redefine what success looked like, even if she wasn’t seeing game action.

“I just had to find different things to reframe what are my wins. Obviously, it came down to training,” Bloomer said. “If it’s not on the field on a game night, then I’m going to have to show everyone what I can do at training. I’m going to make this decision really, really, really difficult for these coaches. With all love, I was like, ‘I’m going to make it really hard for you to say no.’”

In showing the NWSL what she brings to the table, Bloomer has become undeniable, and she’s hitting her groove at the right time for her team.

After a rocky start, Louisville now sits above the playoff line, due in part to the clinic Bloomer’s been putting on week after week.

“There’s just such mutual respect and true friendship on the team. We’ve all bought into the fact that our identity as a team is crazy defensive efforts in our pressing. We have a workhorse mentality,” she said. ”We know that our success is going to come off of hard work … We know who we are as a team, and we’re having so much fun on and off the field.”

A photo of Bloomer playfully taunting, hand to her ear, is now the designated picture for the team group chat. It’s a fitting calling card for this relentlessly scrappy Racing team that’s claimed four upsets, tied with the Portland Thorns for most in the league.

With the homestretch of the season coming in fast, more than half of Racing’s remaining games are against teams that, as of Week 15, outrank them.

But with a firecracker of a keeper in goal, Louisville isn’t going down easily. In fact, Bloomer is embracing the ride, even if it’s uphill.

It’s only a matter of time before again Bloomer raises her hand to her ear, beckoning the crowd and opponents to bring it on.

By now there is no questioning who she is. They know that’s Jordyn Bloomer.

You can catch her in goal for Racing Louisville this weekend when they head to D.C. to face off against the Washington Spirit. Kickoff is 8PM ET on Prime Video.