For much of the last two years, Ashley Cuba Buchta had been trying to be a part of The Soccer Tournament (TST) however she could.

A 2009 Cardinal Mooney graduate, Buchta led the Cardinals to three straight district titles before continuing her soccer career at the University of Pittsburgh and then with Steel City FC and the Washington Spirit Reserves.

But it was while living in North Carolina that she and her husband, Zeke, developed an intense interest in TST, advertised as the “most fan-friendly and electrifying soccer festival in the world” that offers million-dollar prizes.

“My husband and I were following along TST pretty intently because we just thought it was really cool what they were doing with soccer,” Buchta said. “It was like an entertainment factor, and it got people who didn’t play soccer to buy into the sport. It was just really cool to see how they had this type of game and this method of madness to bring people together.”

Buchta tried to get on a team a year ago but could not due to injury. This year, however, Buchta sent in her tape to the team captained by World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist goalkeeper Hope Solo.

And then Buchta got a text message from a phone number she did not recognize.

“I was pretty bummed out … because I had been trying to go for years, and I didn’t hear anything, and then it was to the point where I was like, ‘OK, well, am I even supposed to be playing soccer at this point in my life?’ Because I was just going through some stuff,” Buchta said.

“And then – that was actually the day before, on Saturday – and then Sunday, I got a text, and it said, ‘Hey, Ashley, love to reach out with you. I would love to hear if you would love to play on our mixed team. Respectfully, Hope Solo.’ … And I looked at my husband, I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is spam or not, but I think it’s a really weird way for someone to spam you.’

Despite her initial suspicions, Buchta soon found herself on the phone with Solo.

“I recognized her voice and everything,” Buchta said. “It was so surreal, like I was freaking out. I was like, ‘OK, this is my sign that I’m not done playing yet.’ And I left for camp a week later, or two weeks later.”

Fortunately for her, Buchta had been staying ready for an opportunity.

Despite suffering an ACL tear during her time at Pitt, which led to European contracts being terminated and a yearlong recovery, Buchta and her husband, who now reside in Texas, had remained serious about her training.

“Where I live, it’s just fully men’s leagues, and they won’t let women play the men’s leagues, and the women’s leagues are just not the caliber of play that I’m used to,” Buchta said. “So I had been having a really hard time finding the type of play that I would like to play and that I’m used to playing. So it’s been a mental and physical struggle for me, but luckily for me, I have a really good core group of friends down here that are good at soccer and know what they’re doing in terms of if we transition from small-sided to coed to men’s league to women’s league to whatever – they’re adaptable to that. So it was to the point where we’ve put together what I call the ‘Tuesday 6 p.m. Club FC.’ … They’ve been great, and they’ve been supportive through this journey of me trying to get to TST for the last – at least, I want to say, six months or so.

“And I have a really great husband. He’s my rock; ironically, he’s a geologist. But he supports me in everything that I do, so if I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t feel like going today,’ he’ll be like, ‘No, we’re going.’ So just having that, aside from not having actual games or the environment that I’m used to having up north or out east in North Carolina, that’s been super helpful, and that’s been kind of been my outlet.”

Back in North Carolina for TST, Buchta said she relished being in a camp-like environment after so long away from it. And once the competition actually began in late May, Buchta found the experience to be “surreal” despite her mixed-gender team falling in the semifinals to the eventual champion Peluche Hawks.

“It was so fun,” Buchta said. “Regardless of what capacity you were in, it was awesome. I want to go back.”

If she does return to TST, Buchta said that she would like to bring her hometown spirit to the tournament.

“I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing, living my life. I’m having a lot of fun with life right now. And with soccer, I’m just going to keep training and making those connections,” Buchta said. “There was only one northern team [as] representation in the women’s bracket this year, and there hasn’t been any in the past. I would love to put some sort of northern representation in the tournament, because I do think there are some good players up there. I do think a lot of people do get overlooked because the sport is expensive and the cost of living is expensive, so I think that putting a team together that represents the North and represents the grit and the steel and the hard work of Pittsburgh and Youngstown and Cleveland … I think that would be awesome.”