North Jersey Female Athlete of the Week stands out in more ways than one
Ryan Doyle tends to stand out.
Accounting for 86 percent of a team’s scoring in one week – in any sport – is a good way to make that happen.
The Glen Rock senior also has a name that stands out. Sure, it may seem commonplace at a glance, but wait until it appears on a list of girls soccer scorers.
“My parents always loved the names that could be girls and boys names,” Doyle said. “There’s not many girl Ryans, so I think they wanted me to be a little different.”
She made a big difference in wins over Butler (4 goals) and Mahwah (2), which kept the Panthers unbeaten at 6-0-1 entering this week’s Bergen County Tournament match with Bergen Tech. The performance brought her season total to 10 goals, though she is quick to credit her partners in the Glen Rock attack.
“Sydney Handler is one of the most selfless players I know,” Doyle said of the sophomore who assisted on both goals against Mahwah. “She’s always making the right decisions; she’s such a smart player. And Mia Corcoran always locks it down the middle and is always giving good through-balls and passes to me up top.”
The Sept. 30 victory over the Thunderbirds stood out in that it was Glen Rock’s first in the head-to-head series since 2008. The schools met six times in either county- or state-tournament play from 2007-19, with Mahwah winning five. Prior to that, they were league rivals in the 1980s and ’90s.
“It was an independent game, but usually, we don’t ever play Mahwah [anymore],” Doyle said. “So, it’s a big deal to beat them.”
Doyle grew up playing soccer in Glen Rock after her family moved there from Baltimore (she was 3 at the time). Yet soccer might be considered her “second” sport, since she also led the Panther girls lacrosse team in scoring last spring.
“I was being recruited to play Division I lacrosse, but I ended up not wanting to do that,” she said. “So, I’m taking the regular route of just applying to colleges. Maybe I’ll walk on or try out, I don’t know.”
She does have an idea of what she’d like to study – criminal justice has piqued her interest – and where.
“I definitely want to go down South somewhere,” Doyle said, “so I’m looking at Clemson, the University of South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Delaware, all those schools.”
Her older sister Kaylee currently plays club lacrosse at Clemson, which could draw her to join the Tigers.
For now, the cats at home are her priority, as she is a member of the Panthers’ Pathways club, which brings together students to work with special-needs children at elementary schools.
“We run fun events with them and do arts and crafts,” Doyle said. “I also do some stuff at the Valley Hospital, and I’ve been working with the kids in hospice there and running events for them.”
It seems that helping out and standing out come naturally to this Athlete of the Week.
Ryan Doyle
Sport: Soccer
School: Glen Rock
Class: Senior. Age: 17
Accomplishment: Doyle scored 6 of the unbeaten Panthers’ 7 goals for the week, including 4 in an NJIC Colonial Division game against Butler.
Also nominated: Erin Fahy of Cresskill, Isabella Melendez of Bergenfield, Taylor Miller of Demarest, and Maya Giordano of Old Tappan for volleyball; Krista Lilienthal of Pompton Lakes and Annabelle Lee of Old Tappan for field hockey; Isabella Ramirez of Elmwood Park for soccer; and Shayna Braver of Ramapo for gymnastics.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Female Athlete of the Week: Ryan Doyle, Glen Rock
