Ella Riordan is confident her team has what it takes to make this July a very memorable one.
Riordan, 16, from Orland Park, is a center back for the Chicagoland United Soccer Club, an under-17 girls team.
The team will compete in the 2024 U.S. Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup on Friday in Wichita, Kansas. If they advance through the preliminaries, they will compete for the national title on July 16.
“I think we have a chance because of the grit and determination of my teammates and coaches,” Riordan said. “These kids practice hard and we work really well together. Our chemistry is like no other.”
The traveling team is like an all-star team, with players from nearby Midway Airport, Kankakee, Bourbonnais and other Illinois towns. Three of the girls are from northwest Indiana.
Local members include Orland Park defender Natalie Aubon and New Lenox forward Keegan Hullinger.
“I have nothing but good things to say about every girl on this team,” Riordan said.
And it's hard not to. The team allowed just one goal in five games at the regional tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“Defense wins championships,” she said.
That's true, but the defender also loves to score goals.
On June 18, her penalty goal was the deciding factor in the St. Louis team's victory over Chicagoland United in a game that sent the team to Kansas.
“It was a unique experience,” she said.
“The funny thing is, when I scored the goal, I didn't think I'd won the game. I thought the girl on the other team still had to take the penalty kick. When I saw my teammates running towards me, I finally knew we'd won,” Riordan said.
She practices penalty kicks with the varsity team at Sandburg High School in Orland Park, but “it's rare that the game goes to a shootout, so I don't focus on that.”
She now has a new appreciation for those on the offensive.
“As a defender who scored the winning penalty, I understand why forwards love being forwards so much. Words can't describe the feeling I got when I hit the ball into the back of the net,” Riordan said. “I went to the middle left and I replay that moment in my head every day. The goalkeeper was expecting it to go left but it went a little too far out.”
Head coach Jose Smith is brimming with confidence, especially after his team defeated the defending national champions, Wichita Rush, 1-0 in the regional semifinals.
“We should do well,” he said.
Like any coach, he hopes his team stays injury-free.
The team lost one player to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in February and was limited to just one reserve player for some games due to a chronic ankle injury.
“You need depth to win,” Smith said.
Smith, 37, a Bourbonnais native, has been a coach with Chicagoland United SC for several years and previously served as the head football coach at Kankakee Community College.
“I've coached both boys and girls. Girls want to learn more. Boys want to copy the fancy moves they see on TV,” Smith said.
He said he's looking forward to spending time with his Kansas soccer buddies and has been coaching some of the girls since they were 9 and 10 years old.
One of those girls is Riordan.
“I'm very excited,” she said. “I've never experienced anything like a national tournament before. I'm very proud of my coaches and my team for getting the opportunity to compete.”
Riordan hopes Thursday's opening ceremony will match the warmth and love the team received from locals at the regional tournament in Sioux Falls in June.
Another defender, left back Liv Connelly, 16, lives in St. John, Ind., and will be a junior at Lake Central High School this fall.
Like Riordan, she believes defense will make the difference.
“I love my team and I know we have what it takes to get it done,” she said.
“I love playing defense. I prefer stopping the ball over scoring because I know my teammates can do that,” Connelly said.
Connelly has a strong passion for soccer and previously played for two traveling teams simultaneously in Indiana and Illinois.
Now, Chicagoland United is her soccer family.
“I don't mind driving 45 minutes (to practice in Orland Park) because of the great team and even greater coach,” Connelly said.
“My teammates live in New Lenox and Orland Park so I can't stay with them, but they're still family.”
“Football has always been my fuel. Playing football has always been my love. That's all I want to do,” Connelly said.
Connelly, who has played “since I could walk”, coaches a team of six-year-old girls.
Her advice to young players is, “Nobody's perfect so it's okay if you don't do it right the first time. Just keep trying.”
Chicagoland United will be following her advice starting July 12.
Steve Mecchi is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown..
