Bucks County’s Marissa Sheva takes another big step toward making Ireland’s World Cup team

ST. LOUIS — The latest in a series of dream-come-true moments for Marissa Sheva took place over the last few days.

After debuting with the Republic of Ireland’s women’s soccer team in February, the Sellersville, Bucks County, native returned to the squad for this month’s games against the United States — the country where she was born and whose under-14 and -15 teams she played for in high school.

Now there is a very real chance Sheva, a 25-year-old forward with the NWSL’s Washington Spirit, will make the Irish World Cup squad.

“It’s such a deep team, and it’s going to be a fight to get on that plane — I don’t want to say anything too soon,” Sheva told The Inquirer. “I think that we made great strides in this in these last few games, learned a lot, and put up a really good fight against [the] world No. 1. So that’s what I’m taking from it.”

Ireland manager Vera Pauw had ample praise for Sheva’s play in the two-game set against the Americans, who swept the series with 2-0 and 1-0 wins. Sheva started both games, playing 86 minutes in the first and 69 in the second.

» READ MORE: Marissa Sheva reflects on debuting for Ireland earlier this year

In a news conference between the games, Pauw described Sheva as a player who “opens the gate instead of closing the gate,” working under the radar to help teammates join attacks.

“She made sure that others could go forward,” Pauw said. “And in that, when she had the ball, she did not give it away. She made sure that if she couldn’t play attacking, or into the box, that we at least kept the ball.”

After the second game, Pauw praised Sheva for taking “a huge step forward, and that is because her tasks have become clearer. She contributed so much in the moments that she could press, the moments that she could turn out of a situation so that we could switch play.”

This all happened with Sheva’s family in the stands. Her father Bryan, mother Bernadette, aunt Dawn, and uncle Chris attended the first game in Austin; parents and sister Caitlyn attended the second game in St. Louis.

It’s a family of athletes. Caitlyn made The Inquirer’s All-Southeastern Pennsylvania girls’ soccer second team as a junior at Pennridge High in 2011, and the sisters were featured together for their track exploits in 2013. Caitlyn went on to run collegiately at East Carolina.

» READ MORE: Tierna Davidson looked like her old self in her first USWNT game in 14 months

“It’s always an incredible opportunity getting to play against the number one team in the world, and to get to do it on U.S. soil and have my family in the stands is truly incredible,” Sheva said.

The icing on the cake was getting to play not just against players she long looked up to, but with one.

Havertown’s Sinead Farrelly grew up playing for the same Downingtown-based United Spirit Gaels youth team that Sheva joined a few years later. They have brothers who are close to the same age and were youth club teammates years ago.

But for all that Sheva knew about Farrelly growing up, she had never met the 33-year-old until Ireland’s camp this month kicked off.

Just over a week after Farrelly came out of an eight-year retirement from playing to join Gotham FC, she joined the Irish camp and also could make its World Cup team.

» READ MORE: Havertown’s Sinead Farrelly signs with Gotham FC two years after NWSL abuse scandal

“I grew up hearing about Sinead all the time, and my family followed her career when she went to Virginia and then played professionally,” Sheva said. “So to finally get to meet her after hearing about her for all these years, and then getting to play with her, it’s just incredible. I’ve looked up to her for a really long time, and so now getting to play with her is an unexpected dream.”

Farrelly only played in the first game of the series. She didn’t suit up in the second because Pauw and the team’s medical staff understandably didn’t want to overexert her. Because of that, Farrelly didn’t meet with the media afterward. But she trained Monday and walked into the stadium with Sheva with cameras rolling.

“I’m so overwhelmed, very happy, excited,” Farrelly told reporters in Austin, some of whom chronicled her launching the NWSL’s wave of reckoning with abuse.

“Obviously, we wanted to win, but I’m just really proud of the team,” she said. “I am also very tired. I feel like I am manic right now, and in an hour, I’m going to completely crash. But I feel so supported here.”

Pauw said she’s in regular contact with Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós as Farrelly works to build back her fitness and stamina. If it works out, Pauw said, “then there’s a good chance” Farrelly will go to the World Cup.

» READ MORE: Mallory Swanson’s injury is a reminder that the USWNT’s depth is its biggest asset

The door is open for Sheva too, and she knows what she has to do to be welcomed through it.

“I think the biggest thing at this point is staying healthy — as we’ve seen in the past couple of weeks, there’s been a lot of injuries,” she said, a reference to global stars, including the U.S.’ Mallory Swanson, Canada’s Janine Beckie, and the Netherlands’ Vivianne Miedema.

“And then just continuing to improve,” Sheva said. “It’s really early on in the NWSL season, so the girls that have been playing in Europe might be a little bit sharper. But, yeah, continuing to gain fitness, staying sharp, and just staying healthy.”