Getty Images photo of Rebecca Moros in white marking Megan Rapinoe during the NWSL Championship Game
By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
October 6, 2015-Rebecca Moros has that championship feeling once again! Nearly every pro team she has played for has won the championship. If you count the titles she won in Japan, her championships even surpass the 10 titles won by her FC Kansas City teammate, Heather O’Reilly.
In 2005, Rebecca competed for the New Jersey Wildcats and won the W-League championship.
In 2006, playing as a forward, the Larchmont resident scored on a 12-yard shot in the 89th minute in the Women's Premier Soccer League final to give the expansion Long Island Fury the title, 1-0, over River Cities FC and she was named to the All-WPSL playoff team.
In 2007, she scored in the first minute on a 20-yard chip to lead the Washington Freedom to a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Silverbacks in the W-League final in Rochester, New York.
In 2011, Rebecca played right defender as the Western New York Flash outlasted the Philadelphia Independence, 5-4, in penalty kicks after tying 1-1 in overtime to win the Women’s Professional Soccer championship.
After the WPS folded, she went to Japan to play for INAC Kobe Leonessa. She continued her role in leading her team to titles as INAC Kobe Leonessa were Nadeshiko League champions in 2012 and 2013, Nadeshiko League Cup champions in 2013, Japan/Korea Women’s League Championship winners in 2012, Empress Cup All-Japan Women’s Football Tournament Champions in 2012 and 2013 plus Mobcast Cup International Women’s Club Championship winners vs. Chelsea in 2013.
The Duke graduate returned to the United States in 2014 to play for her former youth coach, Paul Riley, when he became coach of the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League. After the Thorns were eliminated in the semifinals, she went to the defending champions, FC Kansas City. They repeated in 2015 so Rebecca won another championship and from her defender position, she helped shut out the Seattle Reign, 1-0, in the NWSL Championship Game on October 1.
“Winning the NWSL championship is everything I've been working for over the last two years and beating a team as good as the Seattle Reign in a city I love, Portland, makes it even more special,” Rebecca stated. “Winning comes down to two things. The first is luck and that is out of my control, so I don't think much about it. The second is professionalism, and under the umbrella of the term professionalism is, consistency, responsibility for one’s performance and emotional/mental maturity. If you strive to be as professional as you can be 364 days a year, on that 365th day, when you’re playing in a championship game and it’s all on the line, it’ll be there for you and you will play well, and maybe that will be enough to win.”
The now 30-year-old played for the Olympic Development Program (ODP) of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) for an amazing six years and for Region 1 ODP for an equally impressive five years as well as many Eastern New York club teams. Rebecca played for Coach Riley with the Long Island Junior Soccer League’s HBC Fury, winners of five State Open Cup and two Region 1 titles. Prior to the Fury, she played for the Larchmont Leopards, Soundview United and Yorktown Jaguars in her native Westchester County.
With over 100,000 youth soccer players––both boys and girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 11 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. ENYYSA exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.