In grade school, Riley Melendez always played striker for her youth soccer teams. Like any young player, she wanted to score goals.
When she was 10, a coach asked the team who wanted to play goalkeeper and Melendez hid behind a teammate, not wanting the solitary position. Her coach picked her anyway.
Aided by her mom, a former keeper at Radford University, she soon took to the job naturally, Melendez said, winning titles for her Virginia club team and in high school.
“I kind of always had that goalkeeper mentality. But I did miss scoring goals just a little bit,” Melendez said. “I’ve always heard that you’ve got to be a little crazy to play goalkeeper, to get hit by the ball and all that but it’s just an instinct. It’s hard to describe.”
More than a decade later, the Springfield, Va., native, now a junior three-year starter for the Towson University women’s soccer team, is in the midst of helping the Tigers put together its best season in years. It ended the regular season Oct. 23 with a scoreless draw against Elon.
At 11-2-5, head coach Katherine Vettori’s team hasn’t lost a game since Sept. 22 and is primed for a deep run in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, which starts Oct. 27 with a rematch against Elon.
The team’s success to this point has been built on a high degree of trust among an experienced group of players. That is aided by elite goalkeeping from Melendez, who is 13th nationally in both goals-against average (.485) and save percentage (.875). She leads the CAA in shutouts (10), GAA (.457) and save percentage (.877), allowing just eight goals all season.
“The first word that came to mind is fearless,” Vettori, now in her fifth season, said of her keeper. “Just coming out and playing to win.”
Vettori had known since becoming Towson’s head coach in January 2018 that goalkeeper was at the top of her needs if she wanted to turn around a perennially underperforming program. One of Melendez’s club coaches tipped Vettori off to the then high school sophomore, who was helping her club team win the Virginia State Cup Championship and qualify for nationals.
After Melendez visited Towson, Vettori promised her she would run 6 miles if she committed to the Tigers. Vettori remained true to her word when Melendez committed. Regardless, Towson was the perfect fit for Melendez from the moment she stepped on campus.
“Ever since the visit, the coaching staff, the vibes around the campus, the campus in itself, I just knew that this is where I was supposed to be,” she said.
As was the case for most high school athletes from the graduating class of 2020 who had hopes of playing college sports, Melendez’s freshman season at Towson was marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed her college debut until the spring of 2021.
The prolonged offseason did wonders for the development of her young keeper, Vettori said. Typically, freshmen get a few weeks of preparation ahead of a fall season. The pandemic allowed Melendez’s recruiting class a full six months to adapt to the rigors of training and schoolwork, and develop uncommon chemistry for the young group, which included star attacker Nia Christopher (John Carroll).
When the season finally kicked off on a wet and frigid day in late February 2021, nearly 500 days since the last time a ball was kicked, Melendez, Vettori and the Tigers unleashed their pent-up frustration.
“We had built up this momentum and it was just so exciting to finally play with my teammates,” Melendez said.
The Tigers played a truncated eight-game spring season (2-4-2) in which Melendez allowed just five goals in the first seven games. Her play earned her All-CAA Second Team and CAA All-Rookie Team honors and was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week three times.
During her sophomore season in the fall of 2021, Melendez still felt like a freshman in some ways, she said. From a full preseason regimen to a full slate of nonconference and CAA games and a full school workload, it took some time to adapt. But that growth period didn’t show on the field. She played in every game, helping the Tigers finish 8-7-3, and earned her second All-CAA selection.
Entering the 2022 season, expectations were high for a team coming off its first winning season in nearly 15 years. After a season-opening victory against Howard University, the Tigers were beaten soundly by La Salle, 3-1.
The loss was an eye-opener for Vettori’s team, she said. After that game, the Tigers became a defensive juggernaut and did not allow more than one goal in any game for the rest of the season.
“We really, really just committed to keeping clean sheets and sacrificing our bodies and everyone working for the person next to them,” Vettori said. “And understanding that it starts with our front line, everyone defends, and everyone attacks together.”
The team has been bolstered by stellar play by Melendez’s classmate Christopher, another two-time All-CAA player. The striker led the conference with 12 goals.
Melendez attributes her team’s success to a mutual trust between her and the defensive back line, particularly Mia Hanson, her roommate, and their chemistry with the midfield and Christopher up top.
After capping off a program-defining season that will almost certainly come with a third straight All-CAA selection for Melendez, she is confident and fully focused on winning a title, even if she’s no longer scoring goals.
“I think it’s just everybody on the field trusts each other,” Melendez said. “I trust my center backs, they trust me. … As long as we’re all trusting each other, I’m confident that we’re the best team in the CAA.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Towson Athletics