VERONICA MALESINSKI | U.S. SOCCER

Ardrey Kell High junior Taylor Suarez, who plays for Charlotte Soccer Academy, started for the U.S. in the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup against India on Tuesday.

The brightest star currently in the Charlotte sports galaxy right now is so far away – 8,497 miles away to be exact – that it’s a safe bet most don’t even know her name.

Taylor Suarez, a junior at Ardrey Kell High who also plays for the Charlotte Soccer Academy, was a starting forward for the U.S. Women’s U17 National Soccer Team against hosts India at the FIFA U17 World Cup in their first match on Tuesday.

The 2021 Gatorade NC Player of the year as a sophomore, she played all 90 minutes at Kahlinga Stadium, a cricket ground in Bhubaneswar, a city similar in size to Charlotte on the northern part of India’s east coast, and scored on a penalty kick in the USA’s 8-0 win.

It’s a big step on the path to an objective she set for herself when she first started playing the game.

“The national team has always been my dream,” Suarez told QCFC from India. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve hoped to play on the full national team and stuff like that. When I got the invite to come to (U17) camp in November, it was like a dream come true for me. I still hope that one day I can play on the full national team.”

This is a good start. Future national team players including sisters Samantha and Kristie Mewis, Morgan Brian Gautrat, and former North Carolina star Crystal Dunn all played for the U.S. in the inaugural women’s U17 World Cup in 2008, finishing second.

“I had never gotten a call-up in previous years,” Suarez said of US Soccer, which also has U16 and U15 teams and has started a U14 development program. “They had a camp in October, but I didn’t get an invite to that one.”

Suarez was called back to a February camp and played well enough to be selected as an alternate for the CONCACAF championship qualifying team. An injury to another player opened the door for Suarez and she not only earned a spot on the final World Cup roster but started as well. While feeling for a fallen teammate, she says she was grateful to get the opportunity.

“It was very nerve-wracking at first, coming in as an alternate and trying to figure out your place and where you fit on the team but as the (CONCACAF) games kept going on, and as I started to find myself more and more on the team – I had a good amount of minutes in the championship game – seeing where I came from to now is really good.”

Coming into the World Cup, Suarez had earned nine national team caps, starting four matches, scoring twice and assisting six times.

She’s joined on the squad by two Raleigh area teammates, goalkeeper Abigail Gundry from Wake Forest, and Lauren Martinho from Cary. Both play for the NC Courage club. With three players, North Carolina is second only to California (six) in representation on the team.

Lightning quick with darting moves, Suarez, who played as a freshman at Charlotte Christian, scored 18 goals and recorded 12 assists last season even though she missed eight games due to national team duties. Still, she helped Ardrey Kell to a 25-2-1 record and a 4A state runner-up finish to Cardinal Gibbons on penalty kicks. Suarez recorded five goals and six assists in six playoff games.

Suarez wants to help improve on that by sharing what she’s experiencing on the national team level to her high school and club teams. That said, it is still new for her and the privilege of donning the national team jersey is still something she’s getting used to.

“It feels unreal every time I wear the jersey; it doesn’t feel like it’s actually happening,” she said. “It’s all surreal. It’s amazing to me how this was a dream so many years ago and now I actually get to put on the jersey with the crest. It’s very emotional sometimes before our games.”

Suarez said looking into the stands before the opening match and seeing the wide eyes of the young girls staring back at them reminded her of when she was that aspirational child in the crowd.

“Before India, when (head coach) Natalia (Astrain) was in the huddle and giving her pre-game speech, I started tearing up before the game,” she said. “We were all little girls once, dreaming of this moment. It was amazing.

“Walking onto the field and seeing all the fans, and hearing the national anthem, being able to represent my country, is just unreal for me.”

Next up for the USA is Brazil on Friday at 8 a.m. on FoxSports 2 and Universo at Kahlinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India. Then one more first round match against Morocco in Goa on Oct. 17.

In spite of its success at the upper levels of the women’s game, the U.S. has yet to win one of the seven tournaments contested at the U17 level. North Korea has won twice (2008, 2016), along with South Korea (2010), France (2012), Japan (2014), and Spain (2018).

On the Net:

ussoccer.com/competitions/fifa-u17-womens-world-cup-2022

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