The future is bright for this Port Washngton soccer star as she heads to play at Vanderbilt University

Local News The future is bright for this Port Washngton soccer star as she heads to play at Vanderbilt University By Josh Casper … Comments Posted on November 12, 2026 Eloise followed in her brother Felix’s footsteps. He played soccer at Schreiber and is now playing NCAA soccer at Division III Middlebury College. Keith Rubinstein Few things are more tenuous than an elite athlete’s mercurial prosperity. One moment, you could be pinching yourself as you fly up the field, living a childhood dream competing against your heroes; the next, you could be prone on your back, staring up at the bright blue sky as a trainer wipes the sweat from your brow—your future flashing before your eyes, your vision blurred by pain. Fifteen months ago, the soccer world was midfielder Eloise Rubenstein’s oyster. Elite Division I soccer coaches jockeyed for pole position in the Eloise Rubenstein recruiting race, filling her mailbox with mock jerseys and love letters, telling her that, from the Ivies to the ACC and SEC, they alone were the best place for her to take her talents. “The mail was nice,” said Rubenstein, a senior at Port Washington Schreiber High School. “Schools would send some nice packages. They’d send you a little cardboard jersey with my name on the back, kind of to show us— show me and my family what I would look like if I went to that school. It was cool to see my name on something.” A member of the U16 Girls National Team, All-State Team Captain Eloise helped lead Port Washington Schreiber HS to back-to-back conference championships and earned ECNL All-American honors while playing two years up for SUSA FC. After being tapped to train with Gotham FC in 2025 through their professional player pathway initiative, she impressed the 2023 NWSL Champs enough to earn a spot on their 32-player preseason roster, which included three Olympic Gold Medalists and four FIFA World Cup Champions. “We ran a 10-day camp, and [Eloise] came to that camp,” said Gotham Director of Pro Player Pathway Pierre Soubrier. “She was outstanding. This was probably the first time we really realized her potential. Her athleticism and vision, playing as a left center back, a left-footed left center back, are pretty unique. Her physicality in one-on-one defending, her tactical and technical ability to execute and be pulling strings [dictate tempo] in possession, in the building of the play at the back, she’s been excellent. Following her showing there, we brought that up to our first team. She did very well.” “Just being with women like Rose Lavalle, Emily Sonnet, people I’ve grown up watching my whole life, to share the field with them was really special,” said Rubinstein. “The first practice, I’ll never forget, Rose just came up to me and introduced herself, ‘Hi, I’m Rose.” I was like, “Yeah, hi, like, nice to meet you, as if she was just some person I was meeting for the first time on a team, even though I’ve known her— seen her on TV. I just had to keep my cool. Being in that environment surrounded by pro athletes, like, it really pushed my— like, challenged me to a different level and honestly allowed me to do things that I didn’t know I was even capable of doing.” Then, on July 19, 2025, with one sudden pop, young Eloise’s fortunes were flipped on their head. “I was training with the first team with Gotham,” Rubenstein remembered. “It was a five-on-five game. I was defending. I went to go kind of cut the girl off to play defense. I changed direction, and I planted my right foot. It slid through the grass, and my knee just went. I heard it pop. I couldn’t stand back up. I knew it was something bad.” Rubenstein tore the anterior cruciate ligament along with the meniscus in her right knee. Next was surgery, and more crucially, the painstaking process of rest and rehabilitation – the arduous process of an elite athlete, replete with fits and stops and setbacks, working her way back to form and ultimately the field of play. A year and three months later, the process is not over. Eloise, who missed the entire 2025 High School season as well as this, was finally cleared for non-contact drills at the one-year mark, followed by a modified practice routine. “I’m definitely feeling a lot better than I was,” said Rubinstein. “These past 4 months have been the biggest difference for me. Being on the field again, getting touches, moving around the way I used to, and being able to sweat the way I used to was a really nice experience. I feel a lot more like myself, even stronger than I did before my injury. I’ve been able to focus more in the weight room on strengthening different parts of my body, which is going to help me when I go back fully to contact.” “[Eloise] wants to make sure both legs are strong, not just rehabbing the one,” said Port Washington Head Coach Lauren Brassard. “She has a great future ahead of her, her soccer IQ, her technical ability, her size, and her strength- she is by far the best player around. She’s around almost every day at practice with the girls and us coaches and at the games. She and her family are so humble. You wouldn’t even know she was playing with Gotham. When we sit in our huddles, she’ll speak as if she was playing. Our freshmen and sophomores respect her, hearing stories about her, knowing where she’s going to play, and knowing she’s played with Gotham. They understand her full ability and talent.” Despite being injured while with Gotham, Eloise was grateful for the opportunity and experience of playing at the highest level, where she saw the dedication and commitment it takes to be a world-class professional footballer, particularly in the training room, taking note of the time and effort pros spend on rest and recovery. “One big point of focus is on the education side, making sure that players within our environment understand that everything is a process of progression. explained Soubrier. “We spend a lot of time making sure they understand these priorities. I think walking away from that experience and the diligence that professional athletes put into their bodies and their minds to take the time to recover week to week has been really important and hopefully has helped her kind of put that in perspective, that everything is a process, everything is a progression, small goals add up to bigger goals, and this is how we move forward rather than having a mindset of, you know, pushing too far too fast because we’re eager to reach something. Time is key. Young players need time to grow and develop both physically and mentally.” “It’s not something I ever wished would have happened,” said Rubinstein, of her injury, “but looking back, I would definitely not say it was a negative experience. I’ve played soccer my whole life, and not being able to do that was tough, but being able to overcome that and learn so many things off the field really opened me up to dealing with adversity. It’ll only make me better in the long run, so I’m really grateful.” Ranked among the top High School Midfielders despite missing two seasons, Rubinstein is bound for SEC women’s soccer powerhouse Vanderbilt, currently ranked first in the country. “Once I got on campus,” said Rubinstein, “I loved the environment, the coaches, and the girls on the team. It just felt like they were all really welcoming. Just the team chemistry and their values matched what I was looking for.” About the Author All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines . Schneps Media does not endorse the views shared by readers in our comment sections.