Photos courtesy Cam Vassallo and Barry Field
The Railway City FC women’s team is proving they belong in the newly branded Ontario Premier League.
The squad is battling for a playoff berth as they currently sit in second spot in OPL 3 Southwest Division, with a pair of regular season games remaining.
St. Thomas native Lily Ryder has been a force up front for Railway City, even though she didn’t step onto a pitch until she was 12 or 13.
Prior to that, her focus was squarely on gymnastics, which she points out, gave her a solid foundation to build upon..
Ryder added, “I didn’t want to do gymnastics anymore, because all of my friends were playing soccer. And it was just taking up too much of my time. So I was like, you know, I’ll just play soccer for fun. And I ended up just being good at it. Like it kind of just came naturally to me.”
Gerry Safadi, her coach at Parkside Collegiate Institute saw her potential and encouraged Ryder to up her game.
She continued to develop playing at Niagara College and then on to Fanshawe College, where she netted three goals in 10 games as a striker last season.
However with Railway City FC, she has transitioned over to the wing.
Which has challenged Ryder to as she puts it, “broaden my horizon as a player.”
We asked Ryder for her thoughts on the team’s success since moving to St. Thomas, and she credits coach Anthony Vassallo.
In particular, she points to Vassallo’s analysis of games.
Each team plays a 14-game regular season, after which the winner of each conference advances to the playoffs. The best second-placed team by points from the three conferences also qualifies for the playoffs, which will consist of a semifinal round and a final.
Railway City has two games remaining, beginning with a game tonight (Wednesday) in London against FC London.
Ryder and the rest of the team close out the regular season next Monday in Waterloo against third place Waterloo United, who trail Railway City by five points.
Those final two games very likely will feature a new-look lineup.
“It really doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” stressed Ryder. “We’re always prepared and we’re playing like this is the playoff game. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. And I think that’s something that’s one of our strengths as a team as well.”
Written by Ian McCallum
