Sarina Bolden has been carrying the dreams of an entire nation on her shoulders.

The Santa Clara, California, USA-born Bolden didn’t find herself in the pool of the Philippine women’s national football team until 2018 when she made her promising debut at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup against Jordan.

Sarina Bolden and The Filipinas make their story part of the Philippine sports history. (AFP)

In her debut for the Philippines, it was Bolden’s 76th-minute strike that sealed the country’s 2-1 comeback win over Jordan.

Bolden must have always had a FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance written all over her as the win against Jordan potentially put the Filipinas one win away from a berth before they eventually finished third in the tournament.

Before the Filipinas forward’s 39 appearances with the Nationals including their two World Cup fixtures, Bolden was already a skilled varsity player who led the Milpitas High School Trojans to the 2015 SCVAL El Camino Division title.

From 2013 through 2015, Bolden was named as part of the first team All-SCVAL selection before attending Loyola Marymount University, scoring six goals for the collegiate team in 2016.

A successful student-athlete career forged a path for Bolden to sign her first deal with a professional football club team in Sandvikens IF in Sweden in 2019.

Just a year later, Bolden then made quite the leap and played in Taiwan for the Xinbei Hangyuan before returning to the United States to suit up for the San Francisco Nighthawks in the Women’s Premier Soccer League.

Bolden continued to be a one-and-done striker and saw more action in Asia, this time with Elfren Saitama in the WE League for over a year before deciding to mutually terminate her contract with the Japanese team.

In December 2022, Bolden announced a new home in Australian club Western Sydney Wanderers, where she owed her quick acclimation to New Zealand’s weather.

Sarina Bolden rejoices after scoring for the Filipinas. (AFP)

The 27-year-old Bolden, whose American father and Pangasinan-born Filipina mother Sherry Calpo came to the stadium to support, shared the most goals by a Filipinas member with midfielder Quinley Quezada at 22.

In those 22 goals, Bolden became responsible for some of the moments and pieces of Filipino greatness that will never be forgotten and made a mark in Philippine sports history.

It was 18 months ago when Bolden’s nerves were tested as she fired the game-winning penalty goal in the Philippines’ dramatic qualifying shootout 4-3 victory against Chinese Taipei in the 2022 AFC Asian Women’s Cup.

After the grueling journey just to get to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Bolden showed that she is no stranger to picking the most important day to score a goal — her 22nd international goal helped the Philippines claim its maiden win, 1-nil, against New Zealand on Tuesday, July 25 to the frustration of the hometown bets at the Wellington Regional Stadium.

In the 24th-minute of the match that saw the Filipinas unable to get a hold of consistent ball possession against the dominant Ferns, Bolden slotted the Philippines’ first-ever goal in the grandest football stage of all, through an accurate pass from Sara Eggesvik off an Angela Beard free-kick.

In September 2022, the unknowing world no. 46 Filipinas suffered a 2-1 friendly match defeat against the Ferns.

But not without a scare from Bolden who gave the Philippines a halftime 1-nil lead.

A month later, the Alen Stajcic-coached Filipinas were drawn into the group stage with the tournament’s co-host New Zealand.

This time, when it counted most as the Philippines kept its Round 16 hopes alive, Bolden’s lone goal was enough to get back at the 25th-ranked nation.

On Sunday, July 30, the Philippines wants to leave no trace of regret and put everything on the line when it battles world No. 12 Norway to advance to the next round of the World Cup.

And Bolden, with whatever she does best for the hopeful country, “would do that again against Norway” in Eden Park, Auckland at 3 p.m. (Manila time).