Emma Duffy

WHILE IRISH EYES are on the 2027 World Cup play-offs, a League of Ireland Women’s Premier Division player is starring elsewhere on the senior international stage.

There are no domestic players in Carla Ward’s current squad, but the league is still represented worldwide: Sligo Rovers’ Dominican Republic international Giovanna Dionicio is in the middle of a double-header of friendlies against the United States’ Under-23s.

Dionicio, who made history as the first Sligo women’s player to receive a senior international call-up while representing the club, played all of Friday’s 5-0 loss and is in line to feature again on Tuesday evening.

Dominican Republic’s 2027 World Cup qualifying dream is over, but they are future-focused as they face a star-studded US side. Former Chelsea striker Mia Fishel – who is 25, with Fifa allowing some overage players – bagged a brace in the opener, with both games at the new US soccer national training centre, near Atlanta.

“I’ll be one of the first to see it,” Dionicio excitedly told The 42 before linking up with the Dominican Republic squad.

The 25-year-old full-back has been a revelation since joining Sligo during the summer, and is hoping to finish the Women’s Premier Division strongly after international duty.

Dionicio was born in America – Hartford in Connecticut - but both of her parents are from the Dominican Republic. Her father, Leonardo, originally moved to the US to play baseball with the LA Dodgers.

“Both my parents come from DR, and my dad, that was his main move to the US. My mom came when she was a lot younger. He came for baseball to sign professionally,” Dionicio explained.

“I got my first opportunity to go for U20 World Cup qualifiers in 2020. It was actually someone else’s dad, she was already playing for the team. They must have found my profile from college or something and saw that I was Dominican, and then reached out to my dad, and that’s how I got into contact with the team.

“I never knew it was really even a possibility to play with them, or what that looked like, but then once I got to college and they contacted him, I was like, ‘I would definitely like to try this.’”

A successful first campaign saw DR reach the semi-finals of a home Concacaf Women’s U20 Championship. Dionicio received her first senior call-up the following year, in 2021, and has clocked up 16 caps from World Cup qualifiers to the Gold Cup.

“It’s been really fun. I feel like we’ve accomplished a lot of historical things. Even with the U20s, like how far we got. No one would have thought we would have made it (that far). We made it to the Gold Cup with the women’s team, that was pretty big. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to qualify for the World Cup, but I’m hoping in a couple of years we can. The third time will be the charm!

“It’s been really great also to be able to keep going back to DR. A lot of times I played in the stadium where my dad grew up, and then I also play in the stadium in the hometown of my mom. I have some family still there. It’s always awesome being able to go back and they’ll come to games, and then my family in the US will fly down and all go to see games, and it’s really nostalgic for them. I feel really proud to be able to represent their country.”

Defending against USA star Lynn Williams in 2024. Source: Alamy Stock Photo

And Sligo, too. Dionicio was due to sign ahead of the 2026 season, but for visa delays. The Bit O’Red have used international connections to bolster their squad, with now-departed Sydney Stephens and Cara Jordan also starring across the campaign. 

Dionicio knows Jordan from home, and joined her in the west of Ireland in late July after playing collegiate football with Yale University and University of Connecticut – she has a degree and master’s in biomedical engineering – and a semi-professional club career.

“The past couple of months have been great. It’s honestly gone pretty fast. With three months, I didn’t know if it’d be slow or whatever, but it’s gone pretty fast, which I’m a little sad about because having two games left is kind of crazy at this point.

“Everybody here has been really helpful with the transition. I would describe Sligo kind of like my hometown, just a little bit smaller, but really close-knit and friendly, so it wasn’t too hard of a transition when I came, and then being able to just jump right in and join where we were in the season was pretty good too.

“I also lucked out that I live with two friends on the team, Emma (Malone) and Cara (Jordan). We live like 20 minutes from each other at home in Connecticut, so that probably helped a lot, they could just show me the way.”

From a baptism of fire on her debut, an FAI Cup quarter-final loss to Galway United, to a mixed bag of results, goals, assists and Player of the Match performances, it has been a whirlwind. 

A 1-0 league win over Shelbourne at the Showgrounds was a definite highlight. Two weeks later, Shels won the FAI Cup final, underlining the ever-increasing competitiveness in the women’s domestic game.

“It kind of shows that it can be anyone’s game, whoever you’re playing,” says Dionicio.

“Some leagues aren’t like that. Even at home in college, you’ll play the top team in the table, and you’re like, ‘The best we could do is tie.’ But it’s nice you can see how the results kind of sway sometimes, and that if you just go out there and give it your all, you could come away with a win.”

The physicality has also struck her as she adjusts to a different style of play.

“It is definitely one of the biggest things that has popped out to me. It’s a little bit more direct too, but I like that a lot of teams also play and move the ball around. It’s really good soccer.”

Dionicio will continue to embrace that through the run-in. Sligo are currently fifth – a huge jump from recent seasons – and can climb to fourth with two games to go. They play fourth-placed Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium on Saturday, before rounding out at home to Peamount United. 

Returning from DR duty, Dionicio is looking to help Sligo finish strong. “It was really nice that the league respected this window, so that I was able to go. I think it would have been a really hard choice to leave if we had a game, because I would of course love to just stay and finish out the season.

“The coaches were super supportive, and there are younger players that have been called up for the Ireland teams, which is also really cool: Ava Hallinan and Sarah McCaffrey. It’s really cool to see that they support all of us in going to these camps and (are) cheering us on. It’s setting a good standard for the team.”

And next season? Will Dionicio be back with the Bit O’Red for 2027? “I still don’t know how things will pan out yet, but hopefully. To come back would be awesome.

“We’ll see how the couple next couple of games go and how the league turns out. But I have been enjoying my time, so it’d be hard to leave.”

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