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Georgia Allen and Taylor Bennett shared the field in Syracuse for three years. Allen became team captain and represented England in the FIFA U20 World Cup in 2018, and Bennett tied a team record of most game-winning goals on the season.

Four months after graduation, they’ve become two out of eight Syracuse women’s soccer players to sign professional contracts. 

Bennett grew up in Dryden, New York, a small town about an hour drive south of Syracuse. She was coached by her mother, Janine, who also worked at the school Bennett attended. Her mom described her as a quiet leader on the field who played with intensity. 

Allen joined Ipswich Town’s youth team at 6 years old. Since then, she’s locked in a routine of daily soccer practices and weekend games. She previously committed to East Tennessee State University before transferring to Syracuse. 

Allen saw Syracuse as the “best environment possible” to challenge and develop herself ahead of the FIFA U20 World Cup in 2018. Through weight training sessions at Manley Field House, Allen was able to pair her already advanced technical ability with a stronger physique.

In 2018, Allen scored the game-winning goal against France that earned England a third place medal in the World Cup. Less than a week later, Allen was back in Syracuse for a match where she scored the game-winning goal against Northwestern.

Allen received an offer to rejoin Ipswich Town Football Club, a fourth-tier club in the British Women’s national league. Fifteen years after leaving Ipswich, Allen accepted the offer and enrolled in a master’s degree program in psychology at Essex University — splitting her time between the two. 

Since joining Ipswich, Allen has continued to combine tactical techniques learned in England and the physical training learned at Syracuse. In only two months, she’s identified the differences between soccer in Europe and the U.S., with Europe being more technical and the U.S. being more physical.

“Soccer has made me have to adapt my technique to be able to be a leader without compromising my values,” Allen said. “I’ve really had to work on building those one to one relationships with people.”

Around the same time Allen signed her professional deal, Bennett received an offer to play in Germany. But the offer came only a day after nose surgery — she’s broken her nose 14 times across her soccer career — and Bennett was reluctant to travel during a pandemic. So she declined the offer.

One month later, though, Afturelding, a second-division team in Iceland’s professional women’s soccer league, offered her a spot on the team and Bennett arrived in Iceland soon after.

“It’s been the best thing to happen to me,” Bennett said. “I’ve been able to really get out on my own and see what it is that I want to do.” 

In her off time, Bennett has explored Iceland’s natural wonders, hiking to waterfalls and up mountains. She’s also thought about her goals. One includes a future in coaching and returning home to the U.S. after a career in professional soccer. 

Allen speaks with Bennett regularly, talking about their international experiences and reminiscing on past times since they met in 2017. Back then, they were sophomores: Allen a first-year transfer, Bennett an established defender with the Orange. Now, they’re preparing to begin their professional soccer careers as members of an exclusive alumni group.

“We’re not just graduating and then all of a sudden, we’re done with each other. As a team, we’re all really close.” Bennett said, “And we became family over four years, so it’s not just going to end because we’re away from each other.”

Published on September 1, 2020 at 11:32 pm

Contact Skyler: [email protected] | @skylerriveraa