MEDFIELD \u2014 \u201cDon\u2019t let 13 have the ball,\u201d someone in the crowd mutters, with a mix of sarcasm and resignation, as the determined winger continues terrorizing defenders, her pace unrelenting, her movement proving she\u2019s always one or more steps ahead.<\/p>\n
The player wearing No. 13 is Sidney Heavey and containing her is clearly easier said than done. She\u2019s got facets to her game that the average teen just doesn\u2019t \u2013 tactical awareness, technique, poise. When she\u2019s not taking players on and getting in behind, she\u2019s pinging the ball around the midfield and into the penalty area with confidence and precision. She strikes the ball cleanly and with power.<\/p>\n
Her single braid, adorned with a pink and white ribbon, bobs away as she runs onto a through pass and fires past a sullen goalkeeper. On this crisp autumn day, that strike seals a hat-trick, though Heavey is unsure how many goals she\u2019s scored this season, which Medfield hopes to cap as back-to-back state champions.<\/p>\n
For the record, she\u2019s scored 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t keep track of that stuff, as long as we keep winning,\u201d said Heavey, 18, a senior, who also has 16 assists. \u201cThe chemistry is there and we all have the same goal and mindset: It\u2019s to win another state championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the population of this quaint Norfolk County town is just over 13,000, its residents over the years have included a high concentration of notable athletes. Among them are former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe and team Hall of Famer John Hannah, Super Bowl champion Ted Johnson, World Series champion Curt Schilling and heavyweight boxers Tom and Peter McNeeley.<\/p>\n
Another prominent name is Heavey\u2019s mom, Kristine Lilly.<\/p>\n
Heavey was in a stroller when mom hung up her cleats in 2011 with the Boston Breakers, completing a 23-year career that included winning two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals. Lilly\u2019s 354 international appearances are also the most in the history of both men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer.<\/p>\n
Now 55, Lilly runs soccer camps with former teammates Mia Hamm and Tisha Venturini-Hoch, though most of her involvement in the game revolves around Heavey and her other daughter Jordan, 15, a freshman on Medfield\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
Donned in a black ballcap and Medfield Warriors athleticwear, Lilly sits in the last row of metal bleachers. She\u2019s cheering for her daughters as parents from the opposing team, within earshot, share the fun fact that the Heaveys\u2019 mom is a U.S. soccer legend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best part about it is Kristine is a mom who\u2019s just watching her kids play,\u201d said Medfield head coach Melinda Lohan, who was at Giants Stadium when Lilly scored in the U.S.\u2019s opening win over Denmark at the 1999 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup. \u201cIt\u2019s extra special for me because Kristine was my role model growing up. I was nervous before our first meeting when Sidney was a freshman, because I idolized Kristine, and she has so much more soccer experience than I do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I thought could be stressful has been nothing but wonderful. We are lucky to have someone of Kristine\u2019s caliber on our sideline, and you\u2019d never know Sidney was related to a famous soccer player by how she acts. She is team-first, 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Medfield's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/concordmedfieldpc07.jpg\")
Medfield\u2019s Sidney Heavey, top, celebrates after scoring her third goal of the match against Concord-Carlisle goalkeeper Sally Wu, bottom, during the second half of a soccer game Oct. 10, 2026, in Medfield. (Paul Connors\/Media News Group\/Boston Herald)
\nHow Sidney runs<\/p>\n
After kickoff, it takes less than eight seconds for Heavey to sprint to her opponent\u2019s penalty area, take her first touch and earn the first corner kick.<\/p>\n
The defense is in for a long game, as Heavey is comfortable on both the left and right sides, and likes to drift inside to play as an extra striker.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would describe myself as determined, hardworking, hustling for every ball and gritty,\u201d Heavey said. \u201cBut I would also say I help out and do whatever I need for my team. I have people\u2019s backs.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the game, Heavey isn\u2019t just providing an attacking threat. She\u2019s also relieving pressure by giving her teammates an outlet when they\u2019re double-marked or in tight space. Heavey recognizes the smart pass and, if there isn\u2019t one available, fearlessly runs at opponents to create space elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Naturally, people who know Heavey\u2019s family history point out certain similarities between her and her mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes people show me highlights and say they can see the resemblance,\u201d said a smiling Heavey. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018I knew it was you by the way you were running.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Heavey wears No. 13 like Lilly, too. No superstitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve picked it since I was in third grade,\u201d Heavey said. \u201cNo. 13 is lucky in the household. It\u2019s never failed.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Medfield's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/concordmedfieldpc10.jpg\")
Medfield\u2019s Sidney Heavey, right, traps a pass in front of Concord\u2013Carlisle\u2019s Teagan Graham, left, during the first half of a soccer match Oct. 10, 2026, in Medfield. (Paul Connors\/Media News Group\/Boston Herald)
\n\u2018She can be anything she wants\u2019<\/p>\n
While soccer runs in the family, Heavey\u2019s path is markedly different than that of her mom, who first appeared in a U.S. jersey when she was roughly two years younger than Sidney is today.<\/p>\n
For Lilly and her husband, David, a firefighter, sports have always held a cherished place, even beyond her long soccer career.<\/p>\n
\u201cSports were such a big thing in my family,\u201d Lilly said. \u201cMy first love was baseball, and my husband\u2019s a golfer and hockey guy. It was so great for me to be able to go back and play after having (Heavey). Bringing her to games when she was 2 was fun. But both kids were around different sports. We were like, \u2018Whatever they end up as will be wonderful.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was her age on the national team, we weren\u2019t as busy, and it wasn\u2019t a commitment like it is now for these younger players,\u201d added Lilly, who played for Wilton High School in Connecticut while earning senior caps with the U.S. \u201cI loved playing for the national team a lot, then coming back to play for my high school. You can\u2019t replace these memories \u2013 you\u2019re with friends you\u2019ve known since you were little.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to soccer, Heavey has tried gymnastics and dance, and also plays on Medfield\u2019s basketball team. Her friend group partly stems from her involvement in sports, though it also includes the children of other notable former U.S. women\u2019s national team
stars, including Julie Foudy\u2019s daughter Izzy Sawyers (Cal Poly), and Venturini-Hoch\u2019s daughter, Sadie (Texas).<\/p>\n
Heavey will join them in Division 1 next year, as she\u2019s committed to the University of Central Florida, which is coached by Lilly\u2019s former teammate Tiffany Roberts.<\/p>\n
The moms in this era are known as the 99ers \u2013 a nod to the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup the Americans won that summer \u2013 and incidentally the title of a forthcoming Netflix movie about their triumph (actress Lizzy Greene was cast as Lilly).<\/p>\n
The U.S. women have won four titles, most recently winning in 2015 and 2019. When asked about her professional soccer ambitions, Heavey doesn\u2019t get specific.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal would be to play as long as I possibly can, at the highest level I possibly can,\u201d Heavey said. \u201cThat\u2019s anyone\u2019s dream when they grow up, to play with the best. I would love to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others offer a more vociferous endorsement of Heavey\u2019s potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith her work-ethic and natural ability, she can be anything she wants,\u201d Lohan said. \u201cNothing gets in her way. She doesn\u2019t talk about goals, because her goals are what\u2019s in front of her, and right now what\u2019s in front of her is (Medfield). She\u2019s very mature. But she is also very skilled, and very dangerous, and everything she does is through hard work and remaining humble.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kristine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/AP0709220159089.jpg\")
Kristine Lilly of the United States reacts after scoring the third goal for the United States against England during their quarterfinal match at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament in Tianjin, China, Saturday Sept. 22, 2007. (AP Photo\/Saurabh Das)
\n\u2018She changed the game for everyone, and then she\u2019s mom\u2019<\/p>\n
Is it hard to be a soccer mom after being a soccer player?<\/p>\n
\u201cI would go back right now to play if I could,\u201d Lilly said. \u201cBeing a soccer player was so fun. Being a soccer mom is very stressful, because I\u2019m so nervous. I have no control. You want your children to be successful, and you want them to be happy, and winning makes them happy. But it\u2019s fun to see them do the work and get into these positions. And I love gamedays. It\u2019s one of my favorite days in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lilly likes to train with her daughters, too. Having a world-class player to learn from would certainly be a plus for any aspiring soccer star. Lilly says she emphasizes technique, while also weaving lessons from her career into what she teaches her daughters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a balance, being a mom and also being a coach to them as well,\u201d Lilly said. \u201cShowing them that you can play at the highest level, do these great things, but then make sure you\u2019re also a good human. That\u2019s what I learned from my teammates \u2013 they were just good human beings that were awesome \u2013 we\u2019d compete and tear it up, and then they were quality people.\u201d<\/p>\n
When most people think about soccer in the summer of 1999, they recall how the U.S. women took the nation by storm and won the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Neither of Lilly\u2019s daughters were born yet. But those old enough saw how the legacy of that moment has since played out \u2013 how Lilly and her teammates weren\u2019t just champions of a tournament, but champions of equality and opportunity.<\/p>\n
Both daughters take none of that for granted, and they\u2019re proud of their mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was younger, I wasn\u2019t aware of everything she did, she was just like any other mom,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cBut when I saw how people reacted around her, how people care about her as much as I do, I realized how much she actually did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s crazy to think about,\u201d Sidney added. \u201cShe\u2019s changed the game of women\u2019s soccer for everyone. She\u2019s the reason I have all these opportunities, and all these girls in sports can do all these amazing things. And then she\u2019s also mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m forever grateful. Everything I know is because of her. She taught me that you can do anything you set your mind to with hard work and always giving 110 percent, even if it\u2019s cheering on your teammates from the bench or playing a different position. At the end of the day, you\u2019re doing it for your team.\u201d<\/p>\n
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