Belchertown’s Avery Klingensmith, New England Mutiny reach United Women’s Soccer semifinals
Published: 07-17-2024 5:31 PM |
After defeating Sporting CT 1-0 this past Sunday in the United Women’s Soccer (UWS) league, the New England Mutiny advanced to the 2024 UWS National Championship Weekend in Buffalo, N.Y.
Friday features the two semifinal matchups at All-High Stadium, with the Mutiny taking on the Michigan Jaguars (5 p.m.) and FC Buffalo battling the Santa Clara Blue Heat (8 p.m.). The winners advance to the title tilt on Sunday.
A key part of the Mutiny’s undefeated season has been the play of former Belchertown star and high school All-American Avery Klingensmith. The 2022 Belchertown graduate currently plays collegiate soccer for American University in Washington, D.C. and is now in her third straight summer with the Mutiny.
“I had followed along with the Mutiny a little bit when I was younger; being from western Mass. I had heard of them,” Klingensmith said. “Seeing the UWS, the super high level of soccer, that’s something that I wanted to be a part of.”
The league is typically made up of strong college players and former professional soccer players who still hold a passion to play at a high level. Every once in awhile a high school player slips through the cracks.
Klingensmith was one of those.
She played right away after graduating high school, and wasted no time immersing herself among some of the best talent in the country. Klingensmith, now 20, not only took what she learned from the more experienced players alongside her, she also used it as an opportunity to get a feel for what her first year at American would look like – going on to start five games as a first-year player in 2022.
“Having just graduated, it was great for me because at the time I was one of the youngest on the team,” Klingensmith said of her first year with the Mutiny. “Being able to play with girls who were already in college helped me learn from them what my first year at American was going to be like.
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“I was pretty nervous at first,” she continued. “It was definitely the highest level I had ever played at. But once I got a few practices under my belt and started playing some games, I was completely fine. Then when I went into college, I had already played at that type of level – so it was a very seamless transition.”
Her time at Belchertown aided her early success with the Mutiny and at American. As a senior in the fall of 2021, Klingensmith led Belchertown with 17 goals and helped the Orioles to a Western Mass. championship and an MIAA Division 3 Final Four appearance.
During her time on varsity, she accumulated 69 points and took home a closet-full of awards – including a nod as an All-American to cap off her career.
By the time Klingensmith stepped on the pitch with the big dogs, she was more than ready to hold her own – despite the young age.
“I had a great experience playing soccer at Belchertown,” Klingensmith said. “It definitely prepared me for both the Mutiny as well as college. From a soccer standpoint, I was super successful on the field at Belchertown, so the confidence that gave me was super important.”
New England’s roster consists of mainly players from the region (Massachusetts and Connecticut especially), but there are some players from the Mid-Atlantic, one player from Michigan, one from Germany and another from East Africa. Another player is a current college coach. There are also a couple of Klingensmith’s teammates who she played with for about a decade as they grew up competing on the same club team.
This year more than others, Klingensmith has been able to add new skills and techniques to her game because of the diverse backgrounds her teammates have.
“Having that mix of girls from different colleges, from different towns, and at different stages of their soccer journey is super helpful for me to develop my game,” Klingensmith said. “It also creates a really cool practice environment for us even outside of the games.”
Despite being in the nation’s capital for the majority of the year, and despite no longer playing in her hometown, the connection to Belchertown still runs strong.
Klingensmith sees younger players that she used to help and are now on the current Belchertown team come to Mutiny games to support her. The Mutiny play their home games at Lusitano Stadium in Ludlow, so the commute is a piece of cake for her fellow Belchertown natives.
The feeling never gets old when catching up with them after the game.
“The Belchertown connection in general is awesome for me with the Mutiny, because I’ll see a lot of younger players that come to games,” Klingensmith said. “It’s a cool transition for me having played in Belchertown and knowing younger players to then playing for the Mutiny and still seeing them come out for some games."
The Mutiny’s roster also includes UMass’ Chandler Pedolzky and Mount Holyoke College’s Ada Siepmann.
The end goal for Klingensmith is to play professionally, which she said would likely be overseas, when her college career is over. But she also double majors in political science and justice and law, so law school is also in the picture for her.
For most people, it would be one or the other. But Avery Klingensmith will be ready for the challenge when the time comes.
“My plan is to do both: play after college and also go to law school,” she said. “It’s just a matter of when and in what order.”