The Baldwinsville girl’s soccer team starts sectionals in a few weeks, but one of their top forwards won’t be there for it.
“They’re really supportive, and they’re really happy for me,” Liana Mostrianska said.
Instead, Liana Mostrianska will be in Europe, playing for the Ukrainian national team.
“It’s a good opportunity to play on the national team, so other countries can see me,” Mostrianska said.
And they will see her love of the game, which she has been playing since she was 11 years old.
“I really loved soccer when I was young,” said Mostrianska, who speaks Ukrainian and Russian and moved to the states in 2019, a year after playing in the Ukrainian championship.
“When I was 15, I was playing in Ukraine and our team won, so they knew me,” Mostrianska said.
Clearly she made an impression.
“My coach contacted me, and asked if I can come to Ukraine and play for them because they remember me,” Mostrianska said.
So Lianashe head out on Oct. 11, practice for a week, followed then by a trip to the Netherlands.
“We are going to go to the Netherlands and there we are going to have three games. European championship,” Mostrianska said.
It’s an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up, to represent her country on the big stage, and her fellow bees will be rooting for her from across the pond.
Liana and her teammates will play three group games against the Netherland, Scotland and Austria.
