Independence cheer teammates who are on leave for World Cup

Paul Riley almost missed the banquet that was held in his honor Wednesday night.

The head coach of the Independence women's soccer team, Riley and his players were the guests of Yosef Al Otaiba, ambassador to the United States from the United Arab Emirates, at the UAE embassy in Washington.

But with the U.S. women's national team playing France that afternoon for a berth in Sunday's World Cup championship game, Riley was glued in front of his TV back in Malvern.

"I was hoping there was no overtime," Riley said. "If that happened . . ."

Fortunately for Riley and his players, the U.S. team put the game away with time to spare, so the group bolted their hotel in Chester County and rushed down to D.C.

"And once we got there, all anybody was talking about was the World Cup," Riley said. "And they were all talking about Philly. And that's us."

These are indeed good times for Riley and the Independence. Three Independence players - forward Amy Rodriguez, midfielder Lori Lindsey, and goaltender Nicole Barnhart - are on the U.S. World Cup team that is set to play Japan for the big trophy on Sunday at 2 p.m.

And midfielder Megan Rapinoe was with the team until she was traded last month.

Even better for Riley, the Independence have won five straight games and sit atop the six-team Women's Professional Soccer with a 7-2-3 record.

Add the fact that women's soccer in general is being noticed by everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers to Ambassador Al Otaiba, and Riley is passing through a wonderfully perfect storm of success and attention.

"It's been a really good month," Riley said Thursday as the Independence prepared for Saturday's game in Atlanta against the last-place Beat. "I don't know if we gave good luck to the World Cup team or if they gave it to us. Either way, we're enjoying this time."

Although Rodriguez, Lindsay, and Barnhart are not the stars of the U.S. national team, they are missed by the Independence. The trio, who left the Independence for the national team at the end of May, were not there for the three weeks that the UAE national team trained with the Independence in Downingtown.

And they were not there when the Independence won five straight games to rise from second-to-last place in WPS to first.

But they will be welcomed back after Sunday as the Independence look ahead to the playoffs in August.

"Can you imagine winning the World Cup and then coming back to win the WPS title?" said Skip Thorp, an assistant coach for the Independence. "I would retire if I was a player and did that."

So how have the Independence flourished during the World Cup? It was all in the planning, said David Halstead, the owner and CEO of the team.

"Plus, Paul Riley is a fantastic coach," Halstead said.

What Riley, in an admittedly calculated move, did was build his team this year around players who would not be on the national team. So, while other WPS teams have struggled with their stars playing on the national team, the Independence have dominated because their best players are still in their uniforms.

Just last week, for example, forward Tasha Kai became the first player in WPS history to score four goals in one week.

"Every player in our league is a candidate for the national team," Thorp said. "But we knew that the players we were counting on this year were probably not going to play for the U.S. team. So we knew they were going to be there for us."

Indeed, magicJack - based in Florida with six players, including Vineland's Jill Loyden, on the national team - lost back-to-back games to the Independence last month and were outscored, 9-1.

As for Sunday's World Cup final, Riley has booked an early-morning flight back from Atlanta so the Independence can catch the game together at their Downingtown practice place. Saturday's game against the Beat is scheduled for 7 p.m.

"We have to get up early," said Nikki Krzysik, the team captain from Clifton, N.J. "But it will be worth it. Women's soccer is everything these days."