Lloyd, U.S. women inspire local soccer players

Her face painted red, white, and blue, Grace Bendon stood, screaming, in the overwhelming sea of U.S. fans.

Montreal's Olympic Stadium thundered with chants: "I believe that we will win!"

And win the women's soccer team did, led by South Jersey's Carli Lloyd. Bendon watched as the women she grew up idolizing carried their team to a 2-0 victory over Germany in the semifinal match of the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Seeing the U.S. women play is like nothing else, said Bendon, who co-captained the Central Bucks High School West girls' varsity soccer team to a state championship this year. She, along with seven other local soccer players, traveled to Montreal for the World Cup game on Tuesday.

"It's a hard feeling to explain, but you just feel different," Bendon said of witnessing the game. "You feel like you could be [playing] there, like you can do it. They did it."

Young soccer players across the region draw inspiration from the team - and especially from Lloyd, who scored the winning goal in Tuesday's match.

In Delran, where Lloyd got her start, the whole town is buzzing, said Mike Otto, the boys' soccer coach at Delran High School.

"She inspires all these kids to become better players and to dream a little bit," he said. "I think they all believe someday they could be on the U.S. women's national team."

Shannon Croly, a junior at Delran High - where Lloyd's jersey hangs in the hallway - said it's cool to see the township native's success. "Everyone in Delran comes together and watches the games," Croly said.

At Ott's Tavern, fans stood shoulder to shoulder to watch Tuesday night's game, manager Todd Bigley said.

The bar and restaurant were so crowded, Bigley couldn't see much of the game. But he knew when Lloyd scored.

"Everyone went crazy," he said. "It was mayhem for five minutes afterward."

Sunday's championship game will also be broadcast on a big screen at Delran High's performing arts center. The whole town is invited.

At parties and bars across the region, soccer fans will gather to watch Lloyd and her team vie for the world title. At Immaculata University, more than 300 young soccer players are to watch together as part of an Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer camp.

The U.S. team's influence is even greater now that female athletes get a little more national exposure, said Darci Borski, girls' varsity soccer coach at William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia.

"I think all young girls who play soccer right now are kind of glued to their TVs when this U.S. team plays," Borski said. "Social media and the coverage they've been getting is unbelievable, and it's only going to help the young girls out there."

For Dominique DeMarco, a senior on Penn Charter's soccer team, one highlight of watching the games is picking up tricks from the professionals.

Young players "copy their moves and try to be like them," DeMarco said of the pros.

For Bendon, the pro players stirred a desire to play at the collegiate level, which she will do as a freshman at St. Joseph's University this fall. Being on the U.S. team is the "ultimate dream," she said.

Back from Canada, Bendon will watch the match with friends on Sunday. She thinks the U.S. team will win.

Watching the players gives her faith, both in their team and in herself.

"You feel supported," Bendon said. "I don't think any other women's team has had the effect on a younger generation the way this team has. . . . They make a connection. They want you to remember them."