Mel Reay has bolstered her squad with the signing of a Republic of Ireland international

Sunderland Women's head coach Mel Reay has bolstered her squad with the signing of Marissa Sheva, it has been confirmed.

Born in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, Sheva began her career with the Penn State Nittany Lions in college, then moving to Spain to join Deportivo Alavés Gloriosas, marking her first step in international club football.

At 27, Sheva returned to the United States, signing with Utah Royals in the National Women’s Soccer League. Her experience in the league grew as she moved to Washington Spirit in 2021 before making a return to Portland Thorns, her previous club. In addition to her club success, Sheva is a Republic of Ireland international, earning 11 senior caps for the national team. Recently, she was called up to represent her country in the upcoming double-header against Greece next month.

On signing for the club, the player said: "I'm so happy to have signed with Sunderland and be a part of this incredible club. I'm excited to work with Mel, Steph and the group of girls that have been putting in the work all season. We've only got a few games to go, but I'm excited to help the team finish the season strong."

Sunderland head coach Reay added: "We were made aware of Marissa becoming available in December and have tracked her ever since. We are delighted she wanted to come to Sunderland. We believe she has the attacking qualities to add value to the team, and we are excited to see her finish the season with us and hit the ground running into the next."

Reay also recently admitted that Sunday afternoon’s Tyne-Wear Derby defeat against Newcastle United “will hurt” for the next couple of days, but has insisted that there are positives to draw on from the loss.

The Black Cats defended well, but struggled to find their rhythm in front of a record crowd at St. James’ Park, with some 38,502 fans turning out to witness a tight 1-0 victory for the home side ultimately decided by substitute Shania Hayles’ late goal.

And while Reay has been honest about the pain that comes with losing against a local rival, she is also of the opinion that Sunday’s performance was a step up from last weekend’s 2-1 away defeat against Portsmouth.

What did Mel Reay say about Sunderland’s derby defeat against Newcastle United?

Speaking in a post-match press conference at St. James’ Park, the Sunderland boss said: “It'll hurt for 24, 48 hours until we're back in on Tuesday. We've got to dust ourselves down. I think there's improvement from last weekend, which is what we've got to draw on.

“We're at home next week to Charlton, back at Eppleton, where we haven't been for a while. We've just got to have some personal standards again and apply ourselves well in training during the week and try and finish with the next three games on a high.”

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What did Mel Reay say about Sunderland vs Newcastle United as an occasion?

While Sunderland found themselves playing in front of the largest crowd ever recorded for a Women’s Championship match, and in the midst of a vocal and occasionally hostile away environment, Reay also stated that the size of the occasion had no bearing on Sunday’s disappointing result.

When asked if the broader circumstances were a factor in her side’s loss, she added: “No, I don't think so. I think we've done a lot of work on that. We had a big crowd when we played [against Newcastle] at the Stadium of Light. We travelled to St Mary's and played in front of a big crowd.

“I think it's become a little bit more normalised. I thought the Sunderland fans were terrific in the corner. We've heard every single one of them and we want to thank them for coming to St James' to support the team. It was noticeable that they were there and that was important for the team.”

Sunday’s result leaves Sunderland seventh in the Championship table, having won just one of their last five league outings. Their next fixture comes against Charlton Athletic on March 30th.

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