Six Women’s Soccer Players Represent BGSU in Pittsburgh Summer League

It is not often that five players from the same university would play together on a summer-league soccer team. This was exactly the case with the Falcon women's soccer team, which sent five players to the Pittsburgh Riveters.

The undefeated division champion Pittsburgh Riveters SC had five Falcons on their summer roster. Cross-town rivals, Steel City FC, featured Payton O'Malley, BGSU's starting goalkeeper from 2025.

In total, more than 20% of the Bowling Green women's roster went to Western Pennsylvania this summer to gear up for a Mid-American Conference (MAC) title run.

The Riveters and Steel City FC both play in the Great Forest Division of the USL W League. The hierarchy of pro soccer leagues in the U.S. is complex, but the USL W League is a tier below the NWSL, which is the nation's premier women's soccer league.

Among the Riveters contingent were midfielders Minah Syam and Emme Butera, defenders Gabby Lamparty and Taylor Green, and goalkeeper Lexi Grundler.

While Syam is a Pittsburgh native, having attended Avonworth High School, the others are not. Butera and Lamparty are from Ohio, Grundler is from Nashville and Green is from the Chicago area. They used the summer as an opportunity to play meaningful minutes together.

"Being together was huge for us," Lamparty said. "[Minah] played here in previous seasons, so I think she was very excited that she could have some people from school also come play with her."

There was also plenty of influence from the Falcons' coaching staff.

"[Chris Fox] recommended that we try something different, and that it would be a good atmosphere," Butera said.

Grundler agrees.

"Chris has a good relationship with Scott [Gibson, Riveters Sporting Director]… (as a transfer), it has helped a lot building connections with the girls on the team," Grundler said.

These five players had a massive taste of success after arriving in Western Pennsylvania this summer. The Riveters went undefeated and clinched the Great Forest Division title for the second consecutive year. They had a regular-season goal differential of 32-5, allowing a goal in three different contests. They also won a playoff game, the first such win in the franchise's young history.

For the BGSU crew, spending extra time together this summer strengthened their on-field connection.

"Taylor and I don't live together [at school]," Lamparty said. "We're together all the time now… I feel like that leads to on-the-field chemistry even more."

Green agrees. She and Lamparty are both seniors this season and are slated to anchor the Falcons' back line as the starting center-back pairing.

"Coming into a new environment is always difficult. Being all together and helping each other through those hard times brings us even closer and builds us up more," Green said.

Lamparty embraced the atmosphere of the summer league, learning lessons she can apply in her second season with the Falcons this fall.

"Everyone is very competitive, so that is also helping us," Lamparty said. "Just being uncomfortable… when things are uncomfortable, you are forced to get out of your comfort zone and grow in different ways."

With Green and Lamparty serving as fixtures on the back line, Grundler has appreciated the opportunity to get extra summer reps with her collegiate defenders.

"Gabby and Taylor are center-backs… we're a 'build from the back' team at BG, so we all need to be on the same page and have a really good connection," Grundler said.

A unique aspect of the USL W League experience is that collegiate players get real, in-game reps against top-tier athletes from across the country. As a result, the BG players got to compete against elite competition from schools around the country.

"Playing against other girls from Power Four schools is obviously helpful," Syam said. "We obviously aren't a Power Four school at BG, but playing against that gives us more experience, in a way."

Of course, the Falcons did not join forces in Pittsburgh just for fun. The goal is to gear up for another run at a MAC title, something that just slipped from the team's grasp last season.

The Orange and Brown went 10-3-9 overall last year and 4-1-7 in the MAC. They snuck into the postseason as the 6th seed, averaging 1.18 goals per game. This fall, this group feels fully invested in what they are building.

"There's something unsaid with how we are as a team," Lamparty said. "We're just very together and bought in. Even coming here—I wouldn't have thought I would be in Pittsburgh either, but it just goes to show we want this, and we're going to do anything we have to do."

Green feels that the extra reps together have helped the team improve on key details.

"I think just staying sharp with each other… you don't forget those little things," Green added.

Grundler, who spent last season at Michigan State, feels that the summer reps have improved her approach to the game.

"Just coming here for the summer and being able to get game minutes… and having my teammates from school around me while doing it has helped my confidence on the field," Grundler said.

Syam had early conversations with her college teammates about the Riveters organization and found they were on board straight away.

"I just told them how it really is, what the environment is," Syam said. "I didn't need to hype it up that much. It's a great team and the culture speaks for itself."

The Riveters' regular season ended on June 27. They won their first playoff game 5-0, ahead of Grundler's six saves. They lost the next playoff match 2-1, ending their season.

NCAA preseason has already started, with BG's first regular-season match against Robert Morris on August 16th at home. The summer games have played a major role in keeping the players sharp.

"The way that (the USL W League) is scheduled and set up, I think it really replicates the NCAA Tournament and the MAC Tournament," Butera noted. "Back-to-back games against really good opponents that all play differently and all have different strengths and weaknesses (was helpful)."

The five Riveters are not the only BG Falcons who summered in the Steel City. Payton O'Malley, the starting goalkeeper for the Falcons last fall, finished her third season playing for the Riveters' rivals, Steel City FC. O'Malley is a Pittsburgh native who took advantage of her summer league opportunities.

"You get to try different things that maybe you wouldn't try in a college atmosphere, or work on things that you want to polish when you head back to school," O'Malley said. "I think you just get to expand your game a little bit."

That expansion included a high-profile individual milestone at the end of May, when O'Malley traveled to Cary, North Carolina, to compete in TST—the star-studded, million-dollar 7v7 world championship tournament. Selected to anchor the net for Ultrain FC, a global soccer appearance squad that reached the national semifinals last year, O'Malley faced off against lethal attacking players in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.

"Facing that level of competition at TST naturally sharpens your game preparation," O'Malley noted. "It forces you out of your comfort zone, which is exactly what you want as a goalkeeper trying to elevate your level before heading back to campus."

Similar to her BGSU teammates, O'Malley is intensely focused on chasing a MAC title in the autumn.

"We want to win the regular season; we want to win the tournament," O'Malley said. "We have big goals, we know that they are big goals, but we don't think that they are out of reach by any means."

Having reported back to Bowling Green, they bring a massive wealth of competitive match minutes with them.

"I've been finding myself making more runs into the box and getting in that attacking half more," Syam said of her personal tactical growth.

Green has found a distinct mental edge by adapting to a new environment.

"Coming here and it being a bit different… knowing that we can navigate those little things makes it easy in the big moments and big games to come together and play through," Green said.

For Lamparty, it always circles back to a single central theme.

"It all comes back to being together and being there for each other," Lamparty said.

For O'Malley, facing off against her daily collegiate teammates helped to improve her game, but there was no love lost among the group.

"We go against each other in practice all the time, especially in the spring season," O'Malley said. "I think all of us kind of thrive on that competition… but at the end of the day, all of us are very close."

The season ahead is long, but Lamparty is confident in the group's conviction.

"Especially us five working together, doing extra together, we're all just very bought in and we know what we have ahead of us too," Lamparty said.

Coverage of BGSU women's soccer's entire season will be available at bgfalconmedia.com as well as here at BGSUFalcons.com.

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