RILEY TIERNAN
MAKES A GOAL-SETTING MOVE
just inside the penalty area on a foggy day in Los Angeles at the end of March. She observes her
Angel City FC
teammate,
Katie Zelem,
as she sends the ball wide to
Claire Emslie,
who is positioned near the far left of the goal. Emslie delivers a cross from about 12 yards out. With three
Seattle Reign defenders closing in on her, Tiernan leaps and connects with the ball, heading it into the top left corner of the net, well out of reach.
Impressive for someone who was unsigned just four weeks prior.
Now, at 23 years old, Tiernan is one of three finalists for the Rookie of the Year award, set to be announced tonight at 5:30 PM during the NWSL Awards on ESPN2. Her contenders include
Seattle’s
Maddie Dahlien and
Gotham FC‘s
Lilly Reale.
Tiernan’s rise to prominence has been unconventional: Just two weeks before the start of the
NWSL season, she was merely a non-roster invitee at training camp.
“She’s gone from underdog to star,” remarks Julie Uhrman, Angel City’s president and co-founder. “She wasn’t actively recruited; she fought to be noticed, to earn a spot on the roster, and to secure her place in the starting lineup. She’s succeeded in every one of those battles.”
Tieran wasted no time making her mark this season. By early May, following five goals, she topped the rookie charts and ranked second in the Golden Boot race. By the end of the regular season, she had started every match, logging 2,200 minutes, scoring 8 goals, contributing 1 assist, and tallying 18 shots on goal. Though Angel City fell short of a playoff berth with a record of 7-6-13, Tiernan’s breakout year stood out as a highlight.
“All I wanted was a chance to play,” says Tiernan. “I never expected any of this to unfold as it has.”
ALMOST EVERY DAY after school in Voorhees, New Jersey, nine-year-old Madison Tiernan played soccer in the backyard with friends. At nearly every outing, two-year-old Riley would wander over to join in.
Initially, the older girls kept a close eye on Riley, concerned for the toddler’s safety. Their mother, Robin, who worried over every little thing with her first child, soon learned that with her third child, it was “survival of the fittest.”
“She’ll be okay. In fact, she’ll thrive,” Robin recalled realizing.
Madison and her friends played with the same energy they brought to Saturday games. “Riley always kept up,” Madison recalls, who later excelled at Rutgers as the top-ranked high school soccer player in New Jersey.
“There were times when I even felt intimidated by her and thought, ‘I’ll go the other way.’ She had that competitiveness and grit from such a young age. It was impossible to overlook.”
If Riley ever fell, she simply picked herself back up. “No tears,” Robin noted. “She’d just wobble over in her diaper and get back to playing.”
By age eight, Riley emerged as one of the top players at PDA South, a renowned soccer development academy in South Jersey. Her talents gained recognition rapidly. In eighth grade, she ranked as the top girls’ soccer player in New Jersey for the class of 2021.
Soon, her family received an unexpected call from Mike O’Neill, Madison’s college coach at Rutgers, expressing interest in offering Riley a scholarship. Her father, Joe Tiernan, was astounded.
“We’re aware of her drive,” O’Neill conveyed. “We’re confident she’ll receive the mentorship and support needed as she heads to school.”
Rutgers felt like a natural fit for Riley. Madison had been a Scarlet Knight, and her brother Joey played lacrosse nearby at Stockton University. “I’m a Jersey girl,” Riley asserts. “I’m hardworking and tough. That’s just who I am, and it’s woven into my family’s fabric.”
In her freshman year at Rutgers in 2021, Tiernan earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and made the All-Freshman Team, starting every match and contributing to a victory over Arkansas in the NCAA quarterfinals with a goal and an assist. She was included on the College Soccer Coaches National Players to Watch list and ultimately concluded her time there with a school record of 34 assists, ranking sixth in Big Ten history.
However, her senior year took a turn that almost overshadowed her accomplishments. During a Big Ten semifinal against USC, Tiernan reacted out of frustration to a blocked shot and received a red card for violent conduct. This left the Scarlet Knights without their star player.
“I own up to my actions,” Tiernan stated. “That incident cost me the end of my college career as I missed the championship game we lost. It’s something I will have to prove myself from.”
Madison, who became a Rutgers assistant coach in 2022, witnessed the incident from the sidelines. “At first, I was so frustrated, screaming at the TV, ‘Riley, are you serious?’ I was also trying to have a calm conversation with our parents. After reflecting, I thought, ‘There’s a reason for this; it’s a stepping stone toward something bigger.’”
With the elimination of the NWSL collegiate and expansion draft in August 2024, Tiernan recognized the urgency to secure a contract or compete for a spot during preseason training in 2025. As the offseason dragged on, she anxiously anticipated news from NWSL teams, including Gotham FC, which had drafted Madison 24th overall in 2017 when they were still known as Sky Blue and where Riley had trained successfully the previous summer.
“I was incredibly anxious,” Tiernan expressed. “It felt helpless; there was nothing I could control.”
Weeks went by without any phone calls, and the red card incident loomed over her. As Madison pointed out, “There’s often a sense of undervaluation of my sister, that ‘she’s just a Jersey kid from Rutgers.’ Players like her are often underestimated.”
With Madison’s support, Tiernan engaged an agent who contacted every team in the league. Only Gotham and Angel City extended trial invitations. As 2025 began, she faced a critical choice.
“I had always followed my sister’s lead, but I felt it was the moment for me to carve my own path,” recounted Tiernan.
As she gazed out of the airplane window in January, Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” playing in her ears, Tiernan felt a surge of excitement: “I hopped off the plane at LAX / With a dream and my cardigan / Welcome to the land of fame excess / Am I gonna fit in?” Just days later, she stepped onto the field at Thousand Oaks for Angel City’s preseason camp as a non-roster invitee.
“I was energized and had adrenaline pumping; I knew I had to showcase my potential every day,” Tiernan said. “There was no room for complacency.”
While feedback fluctuated, with some days yielding praise from the coaching staff and others falling silent, doubt crept in at times. In her early days, Tiernan discussed her red card incident with the coaching team during a sit-down meeting.
“The red card incident was well-known, and it raised eyebrows. But our club wasn’t deterred because of an open conversation about it. She took significant ownership, which impressed us,” stated Sam Laity, Angel City’s senior assistant coach.
One evening after practice, Tiernan ordered a Bible on Amazon, seeking solace in scripture. “I found myself praying a lot more than usual,” Tiernan said. She leaned on her sister for emotional support, calling Madison nightly.
“You have what it takes,” Madison consistently reassured her.
As practice weeks rolled on, Tiernan’s confidence grew. She began to enjoy herself, and positive affirmations from the coaches poured in.
“From day one, she left a strong impression,” Laity recounted. During video reviews, clips of Tiernan surfaced frequently as a model of the behavior expected from the team. “For the first several training sessions, we kept showcasing Riley’s clips.”
Yet despite her strong performance, the contract offer took longer to materialize. “Negative ‘what-ifs’ plagued my mind,” said Tiernan. “What if I don’t make the team? Where do I go from there?”
“With the season approaching, I felt stuck.”
After more than a month of rigorous training, Tiernan broke down, sobbing in her bed, grappling with anger and frustration. “Why hasn’t anyone given me answers?” she thought.
Then, just two weeks before Angel City’s home opener and ahead of a preseason match in the Coachella Valley, first assistant coach Eleri Earnshaw called Tiernan over for a meeting with sporting director Mark Parsons and technical director Mark Wilson. “We want to sign you,” Parsons declared, and Tiernan felt as if she could finally exhale.
“For Riley, it turned out to be beneficial that she wasn’t handed anything,” Madison reflected. “It allows her to look anyone in the eye and confidently say, ‘I earned this contract.’”
Tiernan’s Angel City jersey is engulfed by seven defenders from
Bay FC during a match in September in Los Angeles. Maneuvering the ball to her left foot, she finds an opening and, in the 12th minute, sends her shot into the right side of the goalpost, past diving goalkeeper
Jordan Silkowitz.
With the momentum of her shot, Tiernan executes a backward somersault. The Angel City supporters erupt, nearly 10,000 fans chant her name during Fan Appreciation Day. As she rises from the grass, she exclaims, “Let’s go!” before embracing her teammates.
“We faced challenges this year when
Alyssa Thompson departed for Chelsea, and then Riley stepped up against Bay, tearing apart their defense, outmaneuvering several defenders for an unbelievable goal,” Parsons praised.
“Who does that? Who steps forward and takes on defenders at 22 years old? That shows remarkable technical skills and a special mindset, and I love seeing her mentality translate onto the field.”
After netting her eighth goal and setting a single-season scoring record for the club, Tiernan struggled to find the net in the following eight games, with ten attempts and four shots on target.
“In college, I had a scoring streak, especially my freshman year, but I primarily focused on setting up my teammates and facilitating play,” Tiernan explained. “My goal is always to maximize whatever I can contribute to the team.”
In her penultimate home game of the season, a 2-0 loss to
Portland Thorns FC, Tiernan took part in every offensive play, attempting 15 passes. Her efforts did not go unnoticed by her teammates and coaches.
“She hasn’t scored in a few games, but that doesn’t concern me,” Angel City coach Alexander Straus remarked afterward. “It’s all about her being in the right spots. We’re focused on building her enduring success and continued growth.”
Moments after the final whistle, Tiernan approaches the Angel City supporters’ section. Two fans wave her over, members of the women-led supporter group Mosaic 1781, presenting her with a gift.
It’s a black T-shirt, and Tiernan bursts into laughter as she admires it. The shirt features a parody of the iconic “Step Brothers” movie poster, with Tiernan’s face superimposed alongside characters from MTV’s “Jersey Shore.” “This is the best thing ever,” she exclaims, her smile reflecting pride in her roots and the winding journey that brought her here.
Wardrobe styling by Krystal Collier; Hair and makeup by Sarah Dougherty; Look 1: Athlete’s own jacket, athletic bra by Nike X Jacquemus, base layer by Jean Paul Gaultier, skirt by Chanel. Look 2: Athlete’s own jersey, custom skirt, earrings by Kyle Chan, green topaz and gold ring by Astrid & Miyu, gold ring by Made by Mary, ring by Mary Brenner, socks by DSG, shoes by Flor de Maria. Look 3: Jersey by Le Pere, base layer by Jean Paul Gaultier, skirt by Louis Vuitton, socks and cleats are athlete’s own.