PLAINFIELD, INDIANA - Midwest Regional League play in the U14 Girls Premier Division kicked off this weekend in The Indianapolis area, where a quartet of teams from top clubs began their pursuit of qualification to the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Championships.

Saturday afternoon saw Greg Miller’s Ohio Premier team take a hard-fought victory over St. Louis area side JB Marine, while hosts Carmel United won 3-1 over Detroit-area club Vardar.

Carmel United 3, Vardar 1

Conditions were pleasant in greater Indy on Saturday afternoon as the teams squared off on the Plainfield High School football field, complete with field turf and narrow boundaries.

In the opening minutes, Vardar controlled a lot of the play and came close with a couple of chances. One came when Molly Nowicki sent in a good service from wide right, and Kara Huber’s redirect went just off target. Lindsey Adams set up Huber again and a well-struck shot appeared goalbound before Carmel goalkeeper Mackenzie James made the first of three big-time saves.

Carmel’s quick forward Tori Doss was dangerous all day and she had an initial shot and a rebound effort saved by Vardar goalkeeper Amanda Symons. Doss has an impressive combination of athleticism and skill. Her teammate Megan Kaser also played a solid match for Carmel winning balls and distributing well, while Vardar defenders Hailey Fisher and Hanna Pateryn were solid in the back.

Somewhat against the run of play, Carmel scored an opener when Cat Dillon fed a pass to Christine Gordon who hit a seeing-eye shot that found the back of the net. Vardar’s Lindsey Adams and Nicole Boehnke were putting in a good shift for the Detroit-area side, but the match went to halftime with Carmel leading 1-0.

Carmel nearly doubled their lead Mackenzie Muckow fed Doss with a good pass, but Vardar goalkeeper Symons produced another diving save to keep diminutive forward’s blast out of the net. Vardar’s Haley Verbeek responded with a surging run down the right but Carmel keeper James made a fantastic save from point blank range to preserve her team’s lead. Off the ensuring corner, Carmel’s Abby Schopper made a vital clearance from the 6-yard box.

Carmel’s Sarah Tumbass played a good pass to Taylor Carter who went on a 30-yard run with the ball, fended off a challenged and delivered an accurate strike to make it 2-0 for the Indiana team. Vardar’s Kristen Theos pulled a goal back from a scramble in front of net to make it 2-1, but a good combination of passes between Tori Doss, Emily Wolfe and Megan Kaser led to the latter scoring the final goal of the game for a scoreline of 3-1 to Carmel.

Carmel coach Ralph Richards said his team responded very well from a loss to JB Marine in the Saturday morning match.

“I was pleased with the performance (this morning). Not to the degree and standard we want with possession and moving the ball around, but overall we did a lot of things right and created some good chances, but their goalkeeper stepped up and made some big saves and we missed a few chances by just a few feet,” he said. “We just addressed it and said let’s come back and get a positive result this afternoon and they responded very nicely.”

Richards said his team scoring the opening goal was crucial to the afternoon win.

“Vardar is a very physical and direct team,” he said. “They don’t allow you to get into your passing game but I think once the goal came it settled the girls down so they could play a little bit and do the right things.”

He agreed that Doss can be a real difference-maker at forward for the U14 squad.

“Tori is a talented young lady with a lot of potential. She has possibilities to do some really good things and actually she is only about 70-80 percent right now because she has a bad foot,” she said. “(Elizabeth) stepped up quite a few times and made three great 1v1 saves. She played good especially in the 1st half and stood tall and I’d say she was man of the match today.”


Team Match Rosters

Vardar
Amanda Symons (GK), Lindsey Adams, Nicole Boehnke, Hannah Chesney, Hanna Darin, Hailey Fisher, Kara Huber, Meghan Kennedy, Katie Konwerski, Lexi McMillan, Molly Nowicki, Hanna Pateryn, Allison Reed, Kristen Theos, Haley Verbeek

Carmel United
Elizabeth James (GK), Jelena Arguello, Tori Doss, Emily Wolfe, Morgan Proffitt, Molly Pittman, Krissy Kirkhoff, Sarah Tumbass, Olivia Fitzgerald,  Abby Schopper, Taylor Carter, Jordan Thurman, Cat Dillon, Natalie Estes, Mackenzie Muckow, Christine Gordon,  Megan Kaser


Ohio Premier 2, JB Marine 0

Greg Miller’s Columbus-area team rebounded from a sluggish first half to forge a pair of goals and collect its 2nd win of the day.

Miller acknowledged an extra pep talk at halftime was necessary after the teams played a scoreless first half.

“We’re still getting some of the rust off since it’s still March. I thought in the first half we were very flat and allowed JB Marine to dictate the play. Every time they won a ball or completed a pass or got a corner kick, it seemed their momentum carried further and further. I had to get into these guys a little at halftime and say ‘Look, this is not who we are.’ Usually we’re the ones dictating things by the physical play and the better soccer. We made some adjustments and our defensive pressure in the 2nd half was better and that certainly caused the first goal. I’m fairly pleased.”

Ohio Premier midfielder Bailey Wilson, a standout on the day, won a ball in the JB end of the field and slotted a pass for Alexis Milesky who scored the opener. A corner from JB Marine’s Kayla Welch set off a scramble in front of the OP net, but Makenzie Costner came through with a vital clearance from the 6-yard box. JB Marine’s Mel Donaldson was a dangerous attacking player throughout, but Wilson, among her other contributions, did a good job of hampering the St. Louis side’s ability to create chances.

A bullet cross from the right by Milesky looked like doubling the OP lead, but JB goalkeeper Ali Wallner came off her line well and handled assertively. Wallner, Welch and Kristain Collie all put in good shifts for JB Marine.

Ohio Premier’s 2nd goal came after a free kick from Wilson went off the bar. Elise Jones got her head on the rebound and that too went off the crossbar. After a prolonged scramble, OP’s Lindsey Agnew corralled the ball and hit a volley across her body and into the back of the net to make a final scoreline of 2-0.

Wilson said the team’s sluggish start wasn’t so much from fatigue related to the first match.

“It wasn’t because it was the 2nd game of the day. We just needed to adjust to the team. We were playing like them and we needed to play our own game,” Wilson said. “Our goal is to win State Cup but this is our backup plan.”


Team Match Rosters

Ohio Premier
Katie Mazurek, Annalisa James (GK), Ashlynn Jones, Kaitlin Miller, Taylor Stroh, Polly Sellers, Lindsay Agnew, Katherine McCoy, Alexis Milesky, Hannah O’ O’Shaughnessy
Ashleigh Riddle, Bailey Wilson, Lauren Bates, Emily Byorth, Gabby Byorth, Makenzie Costner, Emily Geyer, Elise Jones, Haley Lehmkuhl

JB Marine
Lexi Boschwert, Brooke Coakley, Kristain Collie, Mel Donaldson, Bri Ebenroth, Kate Haariman, Haley Kavanaugh, Jade Klump, Maddy Kuhlenberg, Mary Roche, Analie Schmidt, Courtney Silberberg, Ali Wallner (GK), Kayla Welch, Jamison Wipke, Kristin Wolff

In Saturday morning play, JB Marine beat Carmel United 2-1, while Ohio Premier defeated Vardar 3-1. On Sunday morning, Vardar and JB Marine drew 1-1 while Carmel edged Ohio Premier 1-0.