Riley Lukach comes from a great soccer family.
Lukach is a senior at Archbishop Ryan High School, and if that name looks familiar, it’s because her father was a star soccer player at the school before graduating in 1997.
Her mom was also a star soccer player, and her uncle Jon Geist was a former soccer star and former coach at Ryan.
In fact, he was slated to coach his niece until the year before she got there.
“I was going to play for him and he had to call me to tell me he was leaving,” Lukach said. “He’s coaching Chestnut Hill in college now. My parents made me call him and tell him. He’s happy for me and I’m happy for him. I would have loved playing for him but it’s going well.”
Very well.
The Ragdolls finished the Catholic League season with just two losses, which was good enough for third place in a tough conference.
They went on to win their first playoff game before falling to Nazareth Academy 2-0 last Tuesday in the PCL semifinals.
The goal was to bring home a plaque, but the season was still a great one for Lukach and her teammates.
Lukach thinks the success of the season started in the preseason. There, the Ragdolls squared off against some of the best teams in the area, including Neshaminy, Central Bucks East, Villa Joseph Marie, Germantown Academy and Council Rock South.
“We knew we had a chance to be good this year because we did lose some good players, but we had so many girls coming back,” Lukach said. “We also had good players come in. We didn’t know how it would be and when we started it was tough. The beginning of the season didn’t look good, but it was because of the schedule.
“The schedule was so hard, but I think it really helped us figure out who we were and what we needed to do. We played against a bunch of schools that were a lot bigger and they had so many girls on the roster. They had 40 and we have 20. I was proud because we saw each game as a stepping stone to get ready for the PCL. We didn’t always win, but we always got better and that was the goal.”
Lukach also took on a lot of responsibility.
She became one of the leaders of the team, which was pretty natural for her considering she comes from a family of coaches. Her father also spent a lot of time on sidelines, coaching her.
But on the field, she changed her game a little.
Last year, Ryan had Gianna Rivera, who was one of the most talented offensive players in the state. She is now playing at Kutztown, leaving a big void in the Ragdoll offense.
Lukach was happy to step in and help out. She has scored 10 goals this year and, instead of playing the role she had last year of playmaker, she is more of a scorer.
“My role is the leader, that was probably my biggest role,” she said. “I have to step up a lot, because losing the goal scorer, I have to create my own opportunities. I loved playing with Gianna, she was so good and we worked well together, but I thought we did really well. I tried to do things a little different and we had a lot of good players step up. I’m proud of what we did.
“I like both, but you feel like you get more recognition when you score. People forget about the playmakers sometimes. But I’ll do whatever we need. And we have good (offensive players) this year, it wasn’t just me. It was everyone.”
Lukach is now focusing on the future.
Though the Ragdolls will play in the District 12 championship game for the right to go to the state 3A tournament, her soccer career at Ryan is nearly over.
It might include a final season on the hardwood. She’s been a three-year starter for the Ragdolls basketball team, but she’s unsure if she’ll play her final one.
That’s because she’s already accepted a scholarship to continue her soccer career at Drexel University.
“It’s hard because I really love basketball and my teammates and the team,” said Lukach, who plans on majoring in something in the business field. “There’s a part of me that still wants to go back because I played it my whole life and I know I’ll really miss it, but there’s a part of me that’s ready to take the next step. I have to decide pretty soon. I know I’ll still be involved with the girls.
“Drexel is great. I really love it. The area is great. I really love the coaches. It’s perfect because it’s a little further away from home than some schools, but it’s still really close so I can come home.”
She’s sad to leave Ryan, but couldn’t be happier with what she did while there.
She’ll miss the girls, and her coach Meg Manion.
“I really wanted to have a good year and play hard because even though I knew where I was going, I love Ryan and I wanted to keep playing hard,” she said. “We have a great team. And I love our coach.
“I’ve been with her the whole time. My freshman year, she coached our JV team, sophomore year she helped out a lot and the past two have been great. She’s a great coach.
“I’ve been around Ryan my whole life. I’ll miss it when I’m at Drexel, there are a lot of great people there. But I’m excited.”
