CORAL SPRINGS, FLORIDA – Due to the heavy rains that washed out most play Wednesday here at the U.S. Youth Soccer Girls ODP Interregional, a fuller than normal schedule was played on Thanksgiving morning, with all 12 regional teams in 3 age groups competing on the well-drained fields.

Following is a rundown of the matches in the 1993 and 1995 age groups, plus the U15 Girls National Team intrasquad scrimmage. For a fuller account of the 1994 age group matches, click HERE.

Region II 95s 1, Region I 95s 1

Albertson Fury forward Jaclyn DiMartino scored a 2nd half equalizer for Region I after Bryce Banuelos of Sockers FC put Region II up in the opening half.

DiMartino, who shows a lot of savvy and soccer intelligence as an attacking midfielder and in the forward line for the easterners, said the team is gelling well under coach Mike Singleton.

“Since the first day we are just coming together so well and becoming a close group,” she said. “So we’re playing better soccer and just learning more about each other and how we can play together better. It’s a great group of girls.”

Paula Wilkins, coach of the ’95 Region II squad, said player development and particularly preparation for future challenges is the point of the event.

“The biggest thing here is to talk about getting better and better in this environment. We’ve rated each player in each game and give them some information to see if they can implement that in each game. We’re trying to help players get to the next level so I’m demanding more and more of them with off-field stuff. We talk about professionalism and demand things that their other coaches might not demand of them and say you have to make better decisions on the ball and off the field,” Wilkins, head coach at Wisconsin, said. “The environment alone, playing against better players, puts them in an advantage. I talk to a lot of them and they say the faster speed of play is something they are not used to, but this is the environment that creates better players for the future.

“It was great today,” she continued. “I thought we played better than we did on the first day in terms of connecting passes and players understanding their roles. That’s the environment they are going to have to go into at the next level, so the biggest thing is creating challenges. It’s like the fish in the fishbowl. If you make the fishbowl bigger, the fish can get bigger.”

Region IV 95s 1, Region III 95s 0

Rebecca Schoales scored a 2nd-half winner for the westerners, with Annabella Geist making a highlight reel save late in the contest to preserve the win for Neil McGuire’s team.

Region II 93s 3, Region I 93s 0

Eden Prairie’s Taylor Uhl scored twice to go with a single strike from Allie Stephenson for the Midwesterners. Uhl scored 3 times this week and shows an unusual amount of composure in front of net to go with her exceptional skills.

“I guess it was always explained to me by coaches that (keeping cool) was an important part of scoring goals,” Uhl said. “It’s the way I am away from soccer too so I guess it’s just a good thing for me. I want my first touch and my striking to get better too. I think I can do better if I improve those things so I am working on them a lot.”

Region IV 93s 2, Region III 93s 0

Jaiden Thornock and Indiana Mead scored to lift Jerry Smith’s westerners to the win. Loeau Labonta was again impressive in midfield for the Region IV team.

U15 Girls National Team Intrasquad Scrimmage

The team canceled its match with the Region IV 93s due to lack of field availability at the ODP site, and instead played a scrimmage at the Sunrise Holiday Inn, its base camp for the week and a rare hotel that has regulation-size soccer fields as part of the property (other U.S. men’s and women’s national teams use this facility in training for international events).

Penn Strikers standout Brittany Ratcliffe scored the winning goal in the 60-minute scrimmage, the only goal scored by the team this week. Dickey said everybody played except the injured Mariana Galvan and goalkeeper Caroline Stanley, who has done more than enough this week to show her suitability as a candidate for the U17 Women’s National Team (which Dickey has stated the week is mainly an audition for).

After playing Costa Rica to a scoreless draw on a narrow American football field Wednesday night, the long and wide field at Sunrise made for a better game of soccer.

“It’s a regulation size field. We had a lot more space. It was easier for them because they are not always under pressure like on a tight field,” Dickey said. “I think they moved the ball well on the ground and played combination and were able to possess the ball for 6 or 7 passes before turning it over, so I was pleased with that.”

Dickey said his mission on the week was accomplished as the players learned more about what is needed at the international level and had the chance to make an extended showing for himself and U17 WNT head coach Kazbek Tambi in advance of February’s CONCACAF Qualifying, adding that he expects to see some of this week’s roster called in to a U17 camp in January.

For more coverage from this week’s U15 GNT matches, click HERE.