Tayler Francel's young face lit up watching the Surf Cup, a sort of soccer Woodstock that stretches across the grassy acres of the San Diego Polo Club.

With more than a dozen matches taking place simultaneously, Francel's eyes scanned the scene as she sat with older sisters Tahnee and Taryn.

“Hey, you can play right here with these girls,” Ed Francel told his daughters.

The girls were skeptical.

“This is where you can play,” Ed said. “With these kids, with this environment, everything.”

Skip ahead 10 years.

Ed is in the stands at the Surf Cup again, but now it's to cheer on Tayler's team. With Tayler as captain, the San Diego Surf captured the 17-and-under title in August. Last year, her team won the 16-and-under crown.

“It's indescribable,” said Tayler, 17, now a senior defender for Granite Hills High. “It changed my life. I can't imagine what I'd be like without being a part of that. Actually playing at Surf Cup and winning, the first time, I just bawled. I just cried with my team. It was amazing.”

Soccer is big in the Francel family, but it didn't start that way.

Ed and Candace Francel were college athletes. They knew their kids would inherit those genes. They just didn't know what sport they'd play.

That sport became soccer. On the walls of the Francels' living room is an autographed Mia Hamm poster and a bevy of medals and plaques detailing the sisters' accomplishments. The Francels regularly drive from their home in Alpine to the Surf Cup fields east of Del Mar.

Ed took his daughters to the Surf Cup for fun, and they fell in love with the sport. Each girl has played on the Granite Hills varsity team.

Tahnee is a business major at San Diego StateUniversity, and Taryn is playing on a soccer scholarship for Wisconsin.

Now that Tayler is a senior, this season will be the last for the Francels after witnessing eight years of Granite Hills soccer. The Eagles have made the playoffs each year a Francel has been on the team.

Tayler earned second-team All-San Diego Section and first-team All-Grossmont League honors last season and was a member of the Union-Tribune All-Academic Team with a 3.9 grade point average.

“She's definitely a big asset to the team,” Granite Hills coach Elio Bello said. “She's always one of the first ones there and the last one to leave, always getting the girls motivated.”

Tayler is in her second year as captain for the Eagles. The other girls say she knows when to be serious and when to help a teammate crack a smile.

The Francels' family affair with soccer is far from over.

Tayler has accepted a scholarship to Purdue, a Big 10 Conference rival of Taryn's Wisconsin team. Taryn did all she could to persuade Tayler to look elsewhere, but they both know that opposing each other will help them grow closer.

“I'm so excited,” Tayler said. “On the field, I can't really think about the fact that she's my sister, but I'm going to be happy or sad either way.”