Marissa Sheva one step closer to World Cup dream

It’s been a season of firsts for Sellersville, PA’s Marissa Sheva: first professional goal, first international cap, and soon she could be the first player from Bucks County to make a World Cup appearance. There have been numerous U.S. youth internationals from the county in the past, Sheva among them, but none have gone on to play in the World Cup, an opportunity Sheva edged closer toward last week when she was named to Ireland’s pre-World Cup squad alongside Havertown’s Sinead Farrelly.

WNT squad confirmed for pre-World Cup Training Camp 👊#COYGIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/DitsZp6T77

— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 9, 2023

“That’s crazy to me,” Sheva said in an interview with Philadelphia Soccer Now following her 90- minute performance for the Washington Spirit against North Carolina Courage, “because Bucks County, especially now and when I was growing up, I feel like it’s a hotbed for youth soccer and it produces a lot of talent.”

Sheva, who attended Pennridge High School before a four-year career at Penn State, is one of many local players currently in the National Womens Soccer League. Sheva and fellow teammate Amber Brooks (New Hope, PA/UNC), a veteran in the league since 2013 after a start with Bayern Munich, are the only current Bucks players in the league, following the footsteps of Jen Hoy (Sellersville/Germantown Academy/Princeton), who played from 2013 to 2019 with Chicago and Sky Blue (Now Gotham FC ). Spirit teammates Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville/Boyertown/Stanford) and Maddie Elwell (Ambler/Wissahickon/Vanderbilt) lead a
group of players from Montgomery County that also includes Angel City’s Mackenzie Pluck (North Wales/GA/Duke) and San Diego’s Gio Demarco (Gwynedd Valley/Penn Charter/ Wake Forest).

The path to the World Cup has been a steep one for Sheva. In February, she finalized her Irish citizenship and made her debut against China, entering as a second-half substitute in the 0-0 draw. In April, she made her first starts, playing 85 minutes against the United States in a 2-0 loss on the 8th then going 69 minutes in a 1-0 loss three days later. Strong performances in each of those games as well as her contributions with the Spirit, who currently sit in second place in the NWSL with a club-record start to the season, has led to her inclusion in the pre-World Cup camp. Sheva will depart for Dublin next weekend after she returns from a two game road trip at Kansas City and Portland. Ireland will face Zambia on June 22 and France on July 6, both in Dublin before the final squad will travel to Australia for the World Cup. Ireland will open against the hosts on July 20 before facing Olympic Champions Canada on the 26 and Nigeria on the 31.

“I don’t feel like I’ve had time to process it yet,” she said about her rise from replacement player to potential World Cup player. “Even the past year and a half has been really crazy for me coming back from injury and then the different amount of contracts I’ve been put on.”

Sheva signed her first permanent contract this offseason, inking a one-year deal, an accomplishment that has been years in the making. Following her final season at Penn State, she finished her college track career in the spring of 2019, missing the NWSL draft and the start of the season, unsure if she wanted to continue. Her first professional experience came in Spain with Deportivo Alavés Gloriosas that fall before returning home to join the Utah Royals ahead of the Covid shutdowns. While the league played in the inaugural Challenge Cup bubble, many of the clubs were forced to scale back with the reduction of income, and Sheva was waived following the season. Then after a hip injury kept her out of action for all of 2021, she joined the Spirit as a practice player in an effort to regain her fitness and gain the attention of any NWSL team. She eventually signed with the club as a Covid-19 replacement player, an injury replacement player, then an international replacement player before becoming a full roster player last August. That experience, along with a years-long process of acquiring Irish citizenship, led her to being considered for Ireland.

“I’m excited and honored for every experience I get with the Irish National Team. The girls and the staff have welcomed me, and they’ve made it really easy to fit in, both on and off the field. Just excited to keep moving along with them.”

Sheva has appeared in ten league games this season, starting three, and has started all three Challenge Cup games. She scored her first goal her pro career against Orlando Pride May 10 in Challenge Cup action, striking a ball from distance that found the underside of the bar to extend the Spirit’s lead to 3-1. The Spirit went on to win 4-2.

OH MY @marissasheva whatta banger 🥵 pic.twitter.com/sYjXArEpFK

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 11, 2023

MARISSA SHEVA SAID OH WE SCORIN BANGERS OK BET 🔥🔥🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/JPe8usKiW6

— HEY SPIRITS (@HeySpirits) May 11, 2023

Against North Carolina, in the 17th minute, Sheva almost scored another brilliant goal from outside the box when she took a volley clean off the bounce that rose over the bar by inches.

“I saw their center back head the ball out, and there was nobody around me,” she said after the game about the strike. “Sometimes you just feel it. I might have had a second where I could have taken a touch but I was just feeling it. So I ripped it, and it came off clean, not clean enough.” Sheva, traditionally used as a winger due to her high-level endurance as a cross country and track and field star in high school and college, now finds herself closer to goal in a three-player central midfield, which gives her more of a green light to shoot. “I always get hype when girls on the team just rip shots. It gives us momentum and puts their goalie under fire a little bit so why not?”

In addition to forging friendships with her many Philly-area connections across the NWSL, Sheva is also one of over a dozen league players from Penn State, where she was a two-sport athlete, competing in track as well as in soccer. As a freshman in 2015, Sheva won the national championship, the school’s first, on a goal by Rocky Rodriguez, former Herman Trophy Winner and currently with the Portland Thorns. Rodriguez was recently named to Costa Rica’s pre- World Cup squad despite an injury setback in May.

Some of Sheva’s former teammates include Frankie Tagliaferri (North Carolina), Elizabeth Ball, Mallory Weber (Kansas City), Kaleigh Riehl (San Diego), Emily Curran-formerly Ogle (Houston), Kerry Abello (Orlando), and Ellie Jean (Gotham). PSU’s list of NWSL players also includes two- time World Cup winners Ali Krieger, newest member of PSU’s Board of Trustees, and Alyssa Naeher, the expected U.S. starter in goal for this year’s competition. Since 2013, Penn State has had 17 draft picks, most from any school in the Big Ten.

“Yeah, there’s Penn Staters all across the league, which is awesome,” Sheva said. “I feel like I get to see a Penn Stater almost every time we play a team. I just saw Frankie. And I talk to Erica [Dambauch] quite a bit actually. The rest of the staff, every once in a while we’ll connect. I’m a Penn Stater til I die, so I hope to keep those connections for a really long time.”

Always great catching up with Nittany Lions who are CHANGING THE GAME on the world stage🌎

Catch Marissa Sheva and Ireland tonight at 7:30 p.m. on HBO MAX as they take on Team USA🇺🇸🇮🇪#WeAre pic.twitter.com/685tD1LSHx

— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) April 11, 2023

With the 2023 NWSL Season continuing today, let’s take a minute to celebrate our 1️⃣4️⃣ #NextLevelNittanyLions💙🤍#WeAre pic.twitter.com/zVPM2z1ED0

— Penn State Women’s Soccer (@PennStateWSOC) April 1, 2023

It’s no coincidence that Sheva’s confidence has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year. The comfort and stability within both the league and club has allowed younger players to progress more naturally. One example has been the latest editions of the Challenge Cup. This season, most clubs have utilized a squad approach as a way to handle both the playing load and prepare for the upcoming World Cup, where a number of veterans and stars will be gone for potentially two months. For Sheva, who bounced around early in her pro career, staying in one place has had a positive impact.

“It’s allowed me to grow and develop a lot more because I feel like I have a place on this team,” she said, “and I have a staff that’s invested in me whereas before I was fighting just to keep my head above water. I had a lot of work to do. I had a lot of improving I had to do to make it in this league.”

Even though it’s in another city, Sheva has found a home where her hard work has begun to result in consistent playing time. “I’m proud of myself for sticking with it, but I’m so happy with the Spirit now where I’m growing and developing, and feel like a part of this team. And that allows players to give their all when they believe in a team, they trust the team. I think it gets another level out of players when they feel valued in a club.”

Now that Sheva’s established herself as a regular, whether in a starting or reserve role, she’s taken on new challenges, one of them being a slight shift in her on-field responsibilities. In several games this season, including the most recent game against NC, she’s been called on by coach Mark Parsons to drop in and play a six, something she’d never done before in her career
until now.

“I played a little bit in training,” she said. “I played it in the Orlando Challenge Cup game, and then a few scrimmages here and there in training. I actually really like it. This is the first year where I haven’t really touched the wings, so I feel like a true midfielder now, and I’m getting a lot of reps now. The six is fun. It’s helping me become a better eight.”

Even as Sheva’s instincts to go forward and combine against North Carolina led to reminders from the bench stay back and sit in, she admitted the side-to-side movements and greater defensive responsibilities were an adjustment, evidence she knows she’s still growing as a player for the better. “I think versatility is really important in this league,” she said, “and I think it helps you get on the field. So I will play whenever I’m given the opportunity.”

There will be no greater opportunity for Sheva this season than appearing in the World Cup. Ireland, making its first appearance in the World Cup despite fielding its first team in 1982, qualified by finishing second in UEFA’s Group A behind Sweden, ranked third in the current FIFA rankings. Ireland then had to travel to Hampden Park to face rivals Scotland in the playoff round
and came away with a 1-0 victory. The team has since moved up to 22 in the most recent ranking and should have a good chance to compete for a top-two finish in a difficult group.

Sheva could be an important piece for a team looking to reach the next step at the international level. Whether as a winger, a striker, or an interior midfielder, she’s building a case for coach Vera Pauw that can’t be ignored. A week from now, she’ll begin training camp with the hopes of making the 23-player roster that will head to Australia, and in one month, we’ll know for certain if her World Cup dream will be fulfilled. But whatever happens over the next four weeks, Sheva will have a strong following of soccer fans from Bucks County and beyond dreaming alongside her.