“Maddy is a true professional and team player, everything it stands for. She cares for this team like you wouldn’t believe and she’s selfless," Goalkeeper and captain Ashlyn Harris remarked. “It’s not easy to watch from the sidelines and everyday she pulls her boots up and her socks and she gets down and she makes us better and she doesn’t complain. I have so much respect for her. ”

At the end of the day, Evans is calling a halt on her career on her terms. She played over 80 professional games in her career, played with some of the best women’s soccer players in the world, traveled across the world in pursuit of her professional soccer playing goals and had an entire stadium chanting her name as she took the pitch one last time.

Jasmyne Spencer hugs Maddy Evans after her final match

“I think my mom said it best and, she is right over there by the way, said, ‘you’re just changing gear, really.’ I've learned so much with this and I'm going to apply what I have done here and my five years of playing pro to whatever I do next. Obviously Orlando and this club and this organization and these fans it's a dream to play here. It's incredible. Even when say you are not getting the minutes you want or whatever you’re having a bad day. You need to look at the what we have here and it's absolutely unbelievable and I'm so thankful for that. So it would be hard to go anywhere else after here. Yeah I'm retired but I still love playing so if there is a chance, maybe someday.”