Latest news with #RileyTiernan
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Angel City's Riley Tiernan used desire and opportunity to prove she belongs
Angel City forward Riley Tiernan controls the ball against Bay FC during game at PayPal Park last week. She's a leading candidate for rookie of the year. (Kelley L Cox / NWSL via Getty Images) Welcome to the Riley Tiernan Revenge Tour. Oh, sure, the Angel City forward is far too nice to call it that, but that's what her first NWSL season has become. 'Everybody loves an underdog story,' she said. 'It kind of added fuel to my fire. When people doubt you, it makes you want to prove it that much more.' Advertisement Tiernan was definitely being doubted about six months ago when she finished her college career at Rutgers as the school's all-time leader in assists, yet didn't get a call from 12 of the 14 NWSL teams. In the first winter without a league draft, every player was a free agent, available to the highest bidder. Only no one bid on Tiernan. So she accepted an invitation to training camp with Angel City and now she's showing the others what they missed, with her five goals leading all NWSL rookies and ranking second in the league overall heading into Saturday night's home match with Racing Louisville. 'A fair shot,' said the 22-year-old. 'All I wanted, literally, was just a chance to prove myself. Without the draft it was kind of like you get what you get and you've got to hope for the best. Read more: Angel City can't keep pace with Bay FC in shutout loss Advertisement 'Once I got this invitation it was 'let's go big or go home.' I got to show out. And pretty much did.' Four of her five goals have given her team a lead; two were game-winners. Without her, Angel City (4-3-2) would not be in playoff position a third of the way into the season. If Tiernan gets credit for passing her preseason test with the team, then technical director Mark Wilson and the rest of Angel City's staff deserve praise for doing their homework. They identified Tiernan as a player worth watching last summer and nothing they saw — even the lack of interest from other clubs — swayed their thinking. 'We decided Riley was a top, top target once we'd kind of curated all of her stuff,' Wilson said. 'You have to trust your process.' Advertisement So in November, Wilson had a Zoom call with Tiernan and found that he liked the person even better than he liked the player. 'That was the final piece of the puzzle,' he said. 'We believed she had a big ceiling after watching her and we wanted to at least invite Riley in to spend some time with us. 'We really liked her character after the interview.' Angel City forward Riley Tiernan heads the ball downfield during a game against the Washington Spirit on May 2. (Roger Wimmer/ ISI Photos via Getty Images) Tiernan said the only other offer she received came from Gotham FC, which trains 35 miles from Rutgers. But after spending her entire life in South Jersey, she felt Southern California offered a different sort of challenge. 'It just felt like it was time for me to spread my wings and step out of my comfort zone,' she said. 'I had nothing to lose. After the first couple of training sessions, I started feeling comfortable and I started feeling like it was a place that I should be, an environment where I belonged.' Advertisement She's certainly fit in, starting all nine Angel City matches and ranking second among outfield players in minutes played. Plus her five goals are just two shy of the franchise single-season record with 17 games left. 'She's a big presence, but she turns on a sixpence,' Wilson said. 'She has the ability to send players into the stands with a little check and her balance and mobility for a big presence is deceiving. 'She exhibited all of those qualities and more in all the work we did.' She's continued to prove she belongs despite playing as an attacker on a team that has seven forwards with World Cup experience. Advertisement 'Isn't it funny how that worked out?' Wilson said with a wry grin. 'While we had quality attacking players, we want you looking over your shoulder. When you're looking over your shoulder, you're not comfortable. When you're not comfortable, you're pushing yourself. That level of competition for places drives standards and performance. 'Riley exhibited that from Day 1 and it hasn't stopped. I don't see her ever taking her foot off the gas.' At least not until she's finished proving herself to all those who doubted her. If she was once unwanted she's now in high demand, having earned her first callup to the U-23 national team earlier this week. She'll leave after Saturday's game for Europe and two games against Germany, which constitute another new challenge. 'I think it's good to have a sense of humbleness and be intimidated by such a high level in a new environment,' she said. 'But I also think it's important to turn that intimidation into motivation.' Advertisement It wouldn't be the first time Tiernan has used others' opinion of her to fuel her fire. 'I love this game because it does reward talent that works hard,' Wilson said. 'Riley's a talent, she is working hard, and eventually that value will be recognized.' This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How Riley Tiernan's close relationship with her sister helped the NWSL rookie find success early
Angel City FC forward Riley Tiernan was exactly where she needed to be when her teammate Claire Emslie crossed the ball into the goalkeeper's box. The 22-year-old rookie headed the ball into the net for the game-winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Seattle Reign, her first in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Advertisement 'That was the only header goal I've ever scored,' Tiernan told The Athletic on Wednesday over Zoom. 'For it to be in front of all our fans at home, and against Reign, and it was the one that put us in the lead — I was, like, in shock. I don't even really remember what happened.' That was the moment, Tiernan said, she felt welcomed into the NWSL. Since her debut goal, Tiernan has become one of the most-talked-about rookies in the league. Her five goals put her in a four-way tie for the second-most goals this season, and she has been called up to the U-23 U.S. women's national team camp in Germany next week. The New Jersey native spent four years at Rutgers University and was named the 2021 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and, by graduation, set the all-time assists record for the Scarlet Knights (34). Tiernan's ability to quickly adapt to new environments is what makes her a lethal player, her college coach, Mike O'Neill, said. 'Riley is the type of player that you love to coach, and you don't like to coach against her,' said O'Neill, the longtime head coach of Rutgers women's soccer. 'Just seeing how competitive she was and the edge that she had to be the best player that she could be, she has always been a leader from the day she set foot on campus.' But one game stands out. In late November 2021, Rutgers defeated Arkansas in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA women's tournament to reach the College Cup for the second time in program history. Tiernan, then a 19-year-old freshman, opened scoring for the Knights two minutes in and later scored the game-winning kick in a penalty shootout. 'The bigger the game, the better the player and that's Riley Tiernan,' O'Neill said. The pressure, Tiernan said, forces her to improve. 'Being uncomfortable makes me a better player,' Tiernan said, 'The one thing that's gotten me through my freshman year and this year so far is confidence. That's one of my strengths: remaining confident, even in tough environments.' Playing in the NWSL has been a lifelong goal, inspired by her older sister Madison, who played at Rutgers and later signed with Sky Blue FC. 'It was my dream since I was a little girl,' Tiernan said. 'I grew up watching my sister play, and seeing her play made me want it that much more.' The sisters, 22 and 29, talk every day, making sure to FaceTime so Riley can still see her nine-month-old nephew, Grady, despite being 3,000 miles apart. When Grady sees Riley, his face 'lights up,' his mother said. 'Me and my sister are really close, and I think that's the main foundation of who I am as a player,' Riley said. Riley also has the tenacity to want to improve, Madison said, and the athleticism to match those aspirations. Madison remembered one summer when Riley decided she would learn how to do a backflip. She'd be in the yard every day, until her family looked out the window to see her whirling in the air. Advertisement The sisters also have a middle brother, but, based on Riley's logic, sharing a bedroom made the sisters closer. 'It was a purple bedroom because she was obsessed with Justin Bieber, so I was obsessed with Justin Bieber,' Riley said, with a laugh. 'That was pretty much how everything went. I stole her clothes. I was a mini copycat. 'I luckily copied her soccer skills as well.' 'Being eight years apart, we've kind of gone through the stages of life in such different time periods,' said Madison, 'but now, her being in her 20s, we've gotten so much closer. … She's my built-in best friend. When I was 16, I thought she was annoying, but now, I couldn't be more proud of her.' That admiration is mutual. 'It's not a luxury that a lot of people have,' Riley said. 'To be able to watch her go throughout all these high-level stages of her life, and to be able to watch it and be surrounded by that environment, I think it just motivated me. Having her be there for me mentally, physically, training me, teaching me, telling me everything that I need to know, to prepare me, was the most helpful thing.' Riley committed to play for Rutgers as an eighth-grader on Madison's senior day, usually the last home game for a team's graduating class. In college, Riley wore the No 73 — a homage to her sister's birthday, July 3. The sisters' relationship evolved again when Madison became one of Riley's coaches at Rutgers, where Madison remains on staff as an assistant coach. The coaching part of their relationship persists today, with Madison checking in after most trainings. A post shared by R I L E Y T I E R N A N (@rileytiernan) 'The beauty of sport is you can never be complacent,' Madison said. 'She has a lot of hype, and that brings another set of expectations and pressure. But I tell her, get better at one thing, and that's going to continue to add to your toolbox and make you a better player.' The path to the NWSL wasn't as clear-cut for Riley as it had been for Madison, who was the 24th pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft. The draft was nixed last year, and Riley was among the first college graduates to navigate entering the league without it. Advertisement 'It was a little different experience for me,' the younger Tiernan said. 'There were a couple of things that happened that caused a little bit of a scramble for me.' It helped having an older sister who understood the NWSL. Madison reached out to folks she knew, including Becki Tweed, the head coach at Angel City. When Tweed and the club parted ways, Madison stayed in touch with the club. 'I did everything I could to help her get there because I knew she was doing everything behind the scenes to be ready for that level,' Madison said. Tiernan would eventually receive invitations for preseason training with Angel City and another club, but she said she felt a pull to Angel City. She was named to the team's 2025 preseason roster as a trialist and played significant minutes at the Coachella Valley Invitational in February. Angel City signed Tiernan in March to a two-year contract through 2026, with a club option through 2027. She remembers one of their coaches telling her that the club's sporting director, Mark Parsons, wanted to speak with her. 'I was trying not to cry, honestly,' Tiernan said. 'I texted the family group chat immediately, and I was like, 'O-M-G, I just got a contract.'' Tiernan scored her first brace against the Washington Spirit in a 4-3 win at Audi Field earlier this month. She said it was her second 'Welcome to the NWSL' moment. That day, a 'family caravan' of about 30 to 40 people traveled to D.C. from New Jersey to watch her play. Tiernan has worked her way into the starting lineup for Angel City, which sits seventh in league standings. The team faces Racing Louisville at home on Saturday. She's tied with some of the biggest names in the NWSL in the Golden Boot race – Kansas City Current's Temwa Chawinga and Debinha, and Spirit's Ashley Hatch — two goals shy of Gotham FC's Esther Gonzalez. A post shared by National Women's Soccer League (@nwsl) Off the pitch, Tiernan is feeling at home in Los Angeles. 'I feel like I was made to live here,' she said. She's playing alongside some of the most promising stars in American soccer, like sisters Alyssa and Giselle Thompson. She's also learning from players she grew up idolizing, like Sydney Leroux, who she said, 'took me under her wing, which I really needed.' Advertisement 'I have so much to learn, and I'm just trying to be like a sponge and absorb everything,' Tiernan said. For now, her focus is on Angel City and then preparing for the U-23 camp later this month. 'Hopefully something good comes of it, and I perform and other opportunities will come from that,' Tiernan said. 'But, right now my main focus is just being where my feet are and doing as much as I can and getting our team to a championship.'
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
After a chaotic weekend of results, parity in the NWSL is alive and well
In March, the NWSL got off to a worrying and predictable start, as some of the most dominant teams in the league picked up early wins. But a wild weekend of results has tightened the table and reinforced the NWSL's greatest asset: chaos. Angel City FC defeated the Washington Spirit 4-3 away off a stoppage-time winner. Seattle Reign FC and Portland Thorns pulled off 1-0 wins over the Kansas City Current and Orlando Pride, respectively, who sit at the top of the standings. The Chicago Stars, who just fired their coach after a 1-5 start, picked up a 0-0 away draw against NJ/NY Gotham FC on Sunday. The top of the table is getting tighter 🤏Take a look at your @carmax #RoadToTheShield — National Women's Soccer League (@NWSL) May 5, 2025 For years, parity has been part of the NWSL's claim to fame — something that sets it apart from the European leagues. While the richest European clubs (Barcelona, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc.) dominate their respective leagues, the NWSL's salary cap keeps everyone on even footing. Any team can win the league in a given year; any team can get an upset in a given week. The league's unpredictability is a unique feature, something that Spirit forward Esme Morgan called "really appealing" in an interview with Yahoo Sports in March. "You don't go into any games thinking it's gonna be an easy game, or you're gonna win comfortably. Every game, you have to be at your very best," Morgan said at the time. And yet the start of the NWSL season put some of that equality into question. In the first match of the year, the Orlando Pride — the reigning champions and NWSL Shield winners — dominated the Chicago stars with a 6-0 win. That same weekend, the Washington Spirit and Kansas City Current also earned strong wins, giving three of the four best teams from the 2024 season a victory to open the year. (NJ/NY Gotham FC, the other dominant force last season, ended with a 1-1 draw away.) Now, though, things have returned to being delightfully unpredictable. After seven regular-season games (out of 26 total), eight of the 14 teams are within four points of each other in the standings. The Spirit-Angel City game on Friday probably best exemplifies the parity argument. Despite taking place at Washington's Audi Field — a raucous home environment dubbed "Rowdy Audi" — Angel City controlled the pace in the matchup. ACFC finished with 59% of the possession, held a 77% passing accuracy, got twice as many shots as the Spirit and three times as many shots on goal ... all for it to come down to a stoppage-time goal from Riley Tiernan. Christen Press to Riley Tiernan for the most dramatic of goals to seal the victory!! — National Women's Soccer League (@NWSL) May 3, 2025 The Current and Pride, meanwhile, have five wins each in seven games, but their away losses this weekend made their lead at the top of the table a bit more narrow. On Friday, the Reign got the win over Kansas City by notching a first-half goal — a beauty from Lynn Biyendolo in the 37th minute, marking her first with the team — and then holding strong on defense against one of the best offenses in the league. Portland got its win over Orlando on Saturday in much the same way: Reyna Reyes scored a banger in the 16th minute, and then the Thorns controlled possession for the rest of the match. The wins saw Angel City, Seattle and Portland soar up the standings into what would be playoff positions if the season ended today. Notably, the weekend also shook things up for the San Diego Wave, who started the season with somewhat low expectations after the departures of players like Jaedyn Shaw and Naomi Girma. San Diego's 2-1 win over Bay FC — off another stoppage-time goal from a rookie, this time from 17-year-old defender Trinity Armstrong — sent the Wave up to the No. 3 spot, putting the team in excellent position moving forward. But more importantly, these shakeups bode well for the rest of the season. There are some notable matchups in the coming months that will have big implications heading into the international break in July: May 16, for example, will have both Gotham-Wave and Pride-Current. But the beauty of an unpredictable NWSL is that any of the games in between may also shake up the table. We've got a long way to go until the playoffs in November, and every team could still be in the running.
03-05-2025
- Sport
Tiernan scores twice as Angel City outlasts Spirit 4-3
Riley Tiernan scored her second goal of the match in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time to give Angel City a 4-3 win over the Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League on Friday night. Elsewhere in the NWSL, the Houston Dash fell 2-1 at home to Racing Louisville and the Seattle Reign edged the Kansas City Current 1-0. Tiernan opened the scoring at Audi Field with a quick finish from the center of the box in the eighth minute. Gisele Thompson scored off a cross from her sister Alyssa Thompson in the 22nd minute to make it 2-0. It was the first time sisters had combined for a goal in NWSL history. Spirit defender Esme Morgan scored her first NWSL goal in the 30th and Gift Monday finished into an open net in the 40th to make it 2-2 at halftime. Angel City's Katie Zelem made it 3-2 with a left-footed shot in the 72nd minute, but the Spirit tied it again Morgan's second of the match. Christen Press flicked on a corner kick for Tiernan's winner, her fifth goal of the season. Angel City (3-2-2) interim head coach Sam Laity received a red card after Tiernan's winning goal. It is the first time that the Spirit (4-3-0) has lost two consecutive NWSL matches since September 2023. Emma Sears scored in the 70th minute to give Racing Louisville the come-from-behind win at Shell Energy Stadium. The 24-year-old winger scored her fourth of the season on a breakaway counterattack. Although her strike went straight at Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell, the ricochet skidded off Campbell and into the net. Houston (2-4-1) had taken the lead on Avery Patterson's goal on the edge of the box in the eighth minute. After lightning in the area delayed the game for nearly an hour, Kayla Fischer tied things up at 1-1 by hitting a long-range goal in the 20th. Louisville (2-3-2) has now taken seven points from its last three away matches. Lynn Biyendolo scored the game's only goal in the 37th minute at Lumen Field. Reign (3-2-2) coach Laura Harvey then opted to sit back in a defensive game plan. In the second half, the Current (5-2-0) outshot their opponent 10-1, 3-0 on target. Kansas City head coach Vlatko Andonovski brought reigning NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga, who has been dealing with a hip issue, off the bench in the 61st minute but she could not find the equalizer. It is the second consecutive defeat for Kansas City after going undefeated through the first five weeks of the season.
Fox Sports
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Tiernan scores twice as Angel City outlasts Spirit 4-3
Associated Press Riley Tiernan scored her second goal of the match in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time to give Angel City a 4-3 win over the Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League on Friday night. Elsewhere in the NWSL, the Houston Dash fell 2-1 at home to Racing Louisville and the Seattle Reign edged the Kansas City Current 1-0. Tiernan opened the scoring at Audi Field with a quick finish from the center of the box in the eighth minute. Gisele Thompson scored off a cross from her sister Alyssa Thompson in the 22nd minute to make it 2-0. It was the first time sisters had combined for a goal in NWSL history. Spirit defender Esme Morgan scored her first NWSL goal in the 30th and Gift Monday finished into an open net in the 40th to make it 2-2 at halftime. Angel City's Katie Zelem made it 3-2 with a left-footed shot in the 72nd minute, but the Spirit tied it again Morgan's second of the match. Christen Press flicked on a corner kick for Tiernan's winner, her fifth goal of the season. Angel City (3-2-2) interim head coach Sam Laity received a red card after Tiernan's winning goal. It is the first time that the Spirit (4-3-0) has lost two consecutive NWSL matches since September 2023. Sears scores in 2-1 comeback win for Louisville Emma Sears scored in the 70th minute to give Racing Louisville the come-from-behind win at Shell Energy Stadium. The 24-year-old winger scored her fourth of the season on a breakaway counterattack. Although her strike went straight at Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell, the ricochet skidded off Campbell and into the net. Houston (2-4-1) had taken the lead on Avery Patterson's goal on the edge of the box in the eighth minute. After lightning in the area delayed the game for nearly an hour, Kayla Fischer tied things up at 1-1 by hitting a long-range goal in the 20th. Louisville (2-3-2) has now taken seven points from its last three away matches. Biyendolo nets first Reign goal Lynn Biyendolo scored the game's only goal in the 37th minute at Lumen Field. Reign (3-2-2) coach Laura Harvey then opted to sit back in a defensive game plan. In the second half, the Current (5-2-0) outshot their opponent 10-1, 3-0 on target. Kansas City head coach Vlatko Andonovski brought reigning NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga, who has been dealing with a hip issue, off the bench in the 61st minute but she could not find the equalizer. It is the second consecutive defeat for Kansas City after going undefeated through the first five weeks of the season. ___ AP soccer:
