LIBERTYVILLE, ILLINOIS – At an event that features one of the strongest fields annually for U13 and U14 Girls teams, Midwestern sides Eclipse Select, Carmel United and Ohio Elite took victories on the opening day of play at the Eclipse Challenge Cup.

The event is also featuring the kickoff weekend for the new Elite Clubs National League, with a handful of U15, U16 and U17 teams beginning their campaigns in that competition. Top Drawer Soccer will feature ECNL matches on Saturday and Sunday along with continued coverage of the U13 and U14 brackets in the Challenge Cup.


U14 Girls: Eclipse Select 3, Chicago Fire Juniors 0

Rory Dames’ U14 Girls Eclipse Select team beat a game Chicago Fire team 3-0 here on Friday afternoon. The Fire team was a late fill-in for Long Island-based Albertson SC, who had to cancel their appearance here at the last minute due to travel difficulties from New York.

Eclipse scored a couple of early goals and went on to a 3-0 win. The team has only trained a few times this month and this was evident as the match slowed down in the midday heat. The lack of conditioning underscores the evaluation aspect of this weekend’s event for Dames.

“We’ve trained three times. Those guys lost in the regional semis so really I haven’t seen them until this week,” he said. “We brought in some new kids who are good players and will make us better. That game looked like a bunch of individual players trying to do good things. Some times when we should have played the ball we went one on one and some times when we should have gone to goal we passed, that sort of thing. From that sense all we’re really looking to do is get some games in and play. In the first game last year, Carmel beat us 6-1. By the end of the year we lost in the regional semis.

“We’re not even close (to match fitness) but that’s another thing. It’s a great day to get match fitness out, with the heat and everything. All of these teams are here to get good games and get their teams ready to play. Everybody wants to win but winning is not really the priority for anybody. You can get good games here and then go back and train and then get together again in the a couple of months and see how we are developing.”

Eclipse’s Alexis Morales opened the scoring with a long-range strike, and midfielder Katie Karabetsos doubled the Chicago-area side’s advantage with another drive from distance. Sidney McGinnis made a couple of strong runs down the left but when she crossed the ball through the 6-yard box nobody had made the run to the penalty spot or the far post and the chances went begging. The Eclipse defense wasn’t tested too often but when it was, Nicole Niro showed some good reads and steps and also some ability to win balls in the air. Goalkeeper Kaylee Price was also good coming off her line.

Late in the 2nd half Eclipse produced a final goal after some good work on the left from Jenna Weiner, whose grounded cross was met by Carrie Madden for a short-range finish for a 3-0 scoreline.

U13 Girls: Carmel United 2, Sting Dallas 1

The Indianapolis-area side produced a couple of nice goals and then held on to edge the Texas team in a U13 opener.

Mallory Dillon put Carmel up early in the 1st half after taking a good through pass from Gabby Charles and then beating the Sting goalkeeper 1v1, making the score 1-0. Carmel’s Cristine Bierman showed some good linking play with her back to goal during her first half shift. Sting’s Julie James nearly equalized late in the half after stealing a pass near the Carmel goal, but her hard shot was saved.

Blair Thorpe was putting in a good shift in the middle for Sting, winning balls and passing accurately, but this didn’t stop Dillon from making it 2-0 in the 2nd half. Grace Myers made a strong run down the left, fighting off a couple of challenges before rolling a centering pass to Dillon for the short-range finish.

Sting pulled a goal back a few minutes later when Jalynn Barron rolled a corner through the area and right back Chelsea Surprise met it with a left-footed shot that went in just under the crossbar. Sting created a few more chances late but Carmel managed to keep the ball out of net and took the 2-1 win. Carmel’s Josie Thurman had a good work rate in the middle, while defender Annika Schmidt was very strong in the back. Sting’s Casey Tillman is a very dangerous attacking player.


U14 Girls: Ohio Elite 1, Michigan Hawks 0

This was a good match with a number of chances going back and forth and a lot of skilled players on display. In the end the difference was a 1st half rebound goal from Jamie Daniels, scored after Hawks’ goalkeeper Heather Rolls had made a good save on a drive from Ohio Elite’s Miranda Melton.

Hawks’ came close to equalizing on a few occasions. Jordan Newman’s long-range drive was pushed away by Ohio Elite goalkeeper Brooke Mauro. Hawks’ forward Rilka Noel, who looked dangerous throughout, made a strong run down the left and cut inside before being parried by Mauro. Minutes later Noel almost struck again, but her shot after a great serve by Rachel Winters went off the crossbar, and Ohio’s Megan Niebuhr made an emergency clearance to send the match to halftime at 1-0.

Maddie Huster made a surging 40-yard through the middle for Ohio in the 2nd half before playing a good pass to Miranda Melton. Melton’s bid for goal was saved well by Rolls in the Hawks’ net. Hawks’ midfielder Alex Lowes put in a hard-working shift for her team, while Huster showed some intelligent linking play and good feet in attack for Ohio.

Ohio’s Sarah Benz made a strong run down the right but was denied in a 1v1 showdown with Rolls. Ohio right back Brice Huber played a strong match throughout, both in her defending and getting forward down the flank.

In the dying minutes Michigan’s Noel had another close call, but her short-range effort was saved with quick reflexes by Mauro and Ohio took the three points on the evening.