LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – The dueling dynamics of national league play (both Elite Clubs and U.S. Youth Soccer) and the Disney Soccer Showcase tournament crown were at work here at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex.

Team in four age groups were finalizing pairings for championship matches (no bracket has just one champion), even as matches counted toward the standings of the respective leagues. In fact, Sundays games are the only ones that don’t count toward league standings.

If that is confusing, a simpler truth is that college coaches remained out in force, watching a number of talented young ladies performing on the fields here. You can scroll down for Showcase division results, or keep reading for some details and comments from some U16 feature matches.

U16 Showcase: Solar 94 Red 2, Birmingham United 0

Adrian Solca’s Solar team maintained its unbeaten record in the ECNL, overcoming some wasteful finishing with good defense, possession play and a couple of uncharacteristic goals from set pieces.

“It’s difficult on the third day. The chemistry of the game is a little different,” Solca said of his team’s struggle to pull away from a very hard-working Birmingham side. “I thought we played well against the wind and created a few chances. Unusually for us we scored two goals off of corner kicks. For a team that likes to possess the ball a lot, we are not very physical, so that’s a big plus for this team.”

The first goal came from Heather Magee, who chested home a good corner kick from Macee Blanchard in the first half. Magee was involved in the 2nd goal as well, receiving a short corner and whipping in a cross that Solar defender Brinkley Field nodded to teammate Lauren Heller, who powered a header of her own past the goalkeeper, killing the match off at 2-0 late in the 2nd half.

Magee a hard-working outside player who showed a good soccer brain and the strength and skill to hold the ball away from defenders, agreed the goals from set pieces were unusual, and said the team’s chemistry and work ethic came through during the match.

“We don’t have a lot of height, so we have to work hard on doing well in the air. We’ve been working on it at the end of practices” she said. “We’re totally close.We are crazy together. We all pile into this huge van and we everywhere together off the field at these tournaments.”

Solca said that the group’s chemistry is in part due to longevity.

“Many of these players were with me since day one. It’s unusual for a coach to have a team from U11 all the way to, right now we are U16 and I think we’ll stay together all the way through,” he said. “We have been successful and I think we can continue putting these kids into the next level.

Solca added the team will now focus on defending its title at Disney against Chicago-area side NSA Premier Fury, which won its bracket among U.S. Youth National League opponents. Solca said the team’s Saturday evening would be spent dealing with the physical demands of the quick turnaround before the Sunday morning match.

“We will continue to try to pay attention to the little details and have the lactic acid out of our bodies,” he said. “We’ll go eat properly, do a little stretching, a little movement, ice baths and so forth. I think we’ll be able to compete against another superb team tomorrow.”

In Saturday’s game, Birmingham defender Alicia Hereford distinguished herself with good reads, steps to the ball and tackling technique, as well as being able to pick out a teammate with good passes from the back. Goalkeeper Rachel Ames did a very good job of keeping the Alabama side in the game, showing good reflexes on a number of Solar breakaways in the 1st half.  On the other end of the field, BUSA’s Karmen Gaines came closest scoring, forcing Solar’s Sara Ovandipour into a splendid save on a 1v1 encounter.

Solar’s Taylor Smith showed again why she is one of the very best players in the 2012 graduating class, employing an other-worldly first three steps to threaten the Birmingham defense repeatedly, with only Hereford and Ames’ heroics and some off-target finishes keeping her off the score sheet for the day. Smith did, however, win the corner that led to the team’s first goal.


U16 Showcase: ASA Xtreme 5, PB Renegades 0

The Atlanta team was in fine form, knocking the ball around with aplomb and showing some lethality in front of the Florida team’s goal for a comfortable win.

Fast forwards and Cheyna Williams each scored a pair of goals in the triumph, and said afterward that a good style of soccer and some clever tactics from coach Iggy Moleka helped make the difference on the day.

“We do a lot of work on possession,” Williams said. “Usually we try to have two or three touches so it helps us keep our eyes open and search for someone to pass the ball to and not just kick it.”

“Our coach at the beginning of the game told us to stay wide, which opens up the middle for us,” Allen said. “So they had to drop off and go wide and that opened things up.”

Allen had a nice turn and strike on the opening goal, and a hard-charging Williams blocked an attempted goalkeeper clearance before collecting the ball and knocking home into an empty net to make it 2-0.  Williams then took a nice pass from Jordan Morell before beating a defender and slotting home to make it 3-0, which was the halftime score.

ASA made it 4-0 early in the 2nd half on a well-crafted goal. Kacey McInerney dribbled the ball across the top of the area before feeding a pass to Abby Toner, who in turn tapped it left to the waiting Meghan Hussey. Hussey fired home a tremendous strike to make it 4-0.

Renegades didn’t give up and were getting some good play from Paulina Speckmaier and Tina Shakes among others. Both players were denied a consolation goal by good saves from ASA 2nd  half goalkeeper Hannah Garcia.

The Georgia State Cup champions scored a final goal when Williams sent in a long serve that Allen did well to control. Allen’s first shot was saved at point blank range, but she controlled the rebound and fired it home for a final 5-0 scoreline.

Williams and Allen each singled out an area in which the team can improve.

“One thing we have to work on better is offside,” Williams said. “We tend to get ahead of the ball a little bit and get ahead of their defenders. We’re fast so it takes a little more for us to stay onside. We have to learn to hold our runs a little better.”

“We still need to work on placing the ball more and finishing earlier,” Allen said. “If we’re getting behind the defense, the keeper tends to come out so we need to make the right kind of finish on those.”

Saturday Results

U18 Showcase
Eclipse Select 6, Woodbury Inferno 0
Laurel Lightning 3, Florida Rush 1
Vista Shockwave 1, Birmingham United 0
Atlanta Fire United 1, Space Coast United 1
Albertson Fury 4, GSA Phoenix 2
Davis SC Radiation 2, Delaware United Blue Monkeys 0
AFC Lightning 3, Loudoun Red 0
Woodbury Inferno 3, Patriots FC 0

U17 Showcase
Ponte Vedra Storm 3, Dallas Texans 1
Syosset Sting 2, Montclair United Thunderbolts 1
PDA Tsunami 2, Eclipse Select 1
Real Colorado 2, Sting 93 0

U16 Showcase
Chantilly Burn 1, Carmel United Elite 0
ASA Xtreme 5, PB Renegades 0
Michigan Hawks 1, New Jersey Power 0
Mclean Strikers 1, Rio Vista FC 0
Dallas Texans 1, Penn Strikers 0
NSA Premier Fury 3, KC Select Scream 0
Real Colorado 1, Albertson Fury 0
Solar 94 Red 2, Birmingham United 0
CASL Spartan Elite 1, St. Louis Scott Gallagher 1
PDA Charge 3, Sting 94 0
Stars of Massachusetts 2, Charlotte Predator 1
Eclipse Select 2, San Juan Spirits 0

U15 Showcase
Mount Laurel United 2, GSA Phoenix 2
VSA Heat 1, Elk Grove United 1
Central Florida United 2, North Atlanta SA 1
Chantilly Firecats 3, Penn Fusion 2
Scorpions SC 3, Dallas Texans 2
Sockers FC 1, NSA Premier Fireballs 1
CASL Spartan Elite 2, Real Colorado 0
Challenge SC 2, Concorde Fire Elite 1
Charlotte Predator 1, St. Louis Scott Gallagher 0
PDA Celtic 2, D’Feeters 0
Eclipse Select 2, Stars of Massachusetts 1
Sting 95 4, Herndon Hotspur 0