Women's Soccer

This U-20 World Cup hero trained with marines, returned to SU with a clutch goal

Max Freund | Assistant Photo Editor

Georgia Allen scored the game winner in the U-20 FIFA World Cup consolation game and is bringing her success back to SU.

Georgia Allen’s mother couldn’t watch. As her daughter lined up the penalty kick, Liz Wesley “stared down at the concrete and waited for either the cheers or the groans” from the crowd, she said.

“Is this for the win?” Allen asked the referee.

“Yes,” she answered.

As her teammates stood side by side with their arms draped over each other’s shoulders, Allen stared down France’s keeper from the edge of the box, left foot in front of her right.

At the U-20 FIFA World Cup consolation game on Aug. 24 in Vannes, France, the only thing separating England and the bronze medal was 12 yards. Wesley heard her daughters’ right foot strike the ball. Then, cheers.



Allen returned from the U-20 World Cup in time for Syracuse’s (3-2) loss to Harvard on Aug. 30. Three days later, she scored the game-winner for the Orange against Northeastern. While with England, she trained with the Royal Marines and won a bronze medal. That improved her mental strength before her third season with SU, Allen said.

About a month earlier, Allen crouched a mile deep in an unknown forest alongside Royal Marines and her teammates, all armed with paint guns.

Allen and her teammates remained in position as marines shouted instructions. Her team was split into two groups for a search-and-destroy type drill; the teams were tasked with finding a rogue marine and eliminating him with a paintball.

For three days and nights, Allen and her teammates slept in the tents they pitched and underwent “intense” training with the Royal Marines to build character and mental strength, she said.

“(The marines) exemplify everything you aspire to be as a human being,” Allen said. “Humility, courage, determination, so humble at the same time. Just to be training alongside them was inspiring.”


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As she was taking her penalty kick, she recalled her training with the marines and the “get the job done” mentality they instilled.

“Going into the tournament, we knew what teamwork meant,” Allen said. “We knew what fighting for each other meant in real life, so it was easy then to translate that onto the field.”

After the goal, she sprinted toward the sideline, where her teammates had been lined up. In jubilation, she pounded the English shield patched on her chest. She embraced her teammates and ended up at the bottom of their celebration pile.

“Behind that celebration is three years worth of hard work and dedication and upset and downs and lows,” Allen said. “As a team, we’ve stuck together, we’ve worked through lots. That celebration was because we made history and we’re so very proud to represent England and the honor that is.”

After training with the marines and winning the bronze medal, Allen is back with the Orange and making an impact.

Against Northeastern, in her second game back with SU, Allen drilled a one-timer into the upper right corner of the goal in the 82nd minute to give the Orange the 1-0 advantage.

In her first game back with SU, against Harvard, Allen came off the bench and played limited minutes. Wheddon planned to ease Allen back into the team and re-acclimate her to the American college style of play, which is more of an “athletic game,” Wheddon said.


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“The international game is far more tactical,” Wheddon said. “There’s a lot more time on the ball, you have to think more about how to break a team down. College soccer is an athletic game. It’s run, chase for as long as you can.”

In her return to the college pitch, Allen commanded the midfield by directing the forwards to maintain the shape of the formation and the backs to stay “tucked in,” junior forward Sydney Brackett said.

“She’s very much our central rock,” Brackett added. “So it’s good to have her back.”

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