ADVANCE, N.C. – The more than 100 teams that opened competition Saturday in the Mercedes Benz Southern Soccer Showcase had to deal with more than each other.

The weather – temperatures in the high 30s in the morning, climbing to the high 40s by mid-afternoon, with winds constantly blowing at 10-15 mph, gusting as high as 20-plus mph – made for a tough day at the BB&T Soccer Park.

However, there were some notable matches among some of the region’s top club-level teams:

Fort Lauderdale FC 99/00 Girls 2, FC Dallas Tri 00 Girls Premiere 1: Midfielder Cassie Bernardo scored late in the second half to give Fort Lauderdale the first of the two wins it would post Saturday in the U16 Silver division.

FC Dallas Tri forward Josie Gilmer had given the U16 Premiere the early lead with her first-half goal, but Fort Lauderdale’s Emily Hooper scored later in the half to knot the score 1-1.

Fort Lauderdale would post its second win of the day later Saturday, edging Liberty Soccer Association 99 Elite Blue 2-1 to improve to 2-0 in the Soccer Showcase.

Virginia Legacy SC U15 Girls CCL Elite 5, Piedmont Triad FC 00G Lady Black 1: Madeline Allburn scored twice and three other players added goals for Virginia Legacy SC in their U15 Blue division opener, the first of two wins they would post Saturday.

Piedmont Triad actually had the early lead, with Sarah Thomas scoring to put the Lady Black ahead. But Allburn and Brianna Behm scored later in the half to put Virginia Legacy ahead 2-1 at the break.

Taylor Gubler gave Virginia Legacy an insurance score early in the second half, followed by goals from Sofia Fox and Allburn (her second of the match).

Virginia Legacy would win their second match of the day later Saturday, beating Western Branch SC Chaos 11-0 to improve to 2-0 in the Soccer Showcase.

Lake Norman SC 99 LNSC Eclipse 1, West Virginia Fury Fighters 1: The Eclipse and Fury Fighters – hampered in large part by the gusting winds – battled to a tie in their opening matches Saturday in the U16 White division.

Makatlyn Tucker had put West Virginia head with her goal late in the first half, but Lake Norman’s Quinn Marcy punched home a rebound off Jessica Peters’ shot early in the second half to even the match.

SMS Ospreys 2, TFCA Select 00 Girls 0: Kyleigh Cox and Sabrina McGuigan both scored in the first half for the Ospreys, and goalkeeper Taylor Longworth recorded a shutout in their U15 Silver division opener.

Cox put the Ospreys ahead early in the first half, and McGuigan added an insurance score off a 25-yard free kick from the left side that just cleared TFCA Select goalkeeper Sarah Layne’s hands.

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