BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – A furnace, a sauna, a cauldron.

All of the above.

That’s what it was like in Friday here at the U.S. Youth Soccer Region III Championships, as temperatures in the 90s coupled with Gulf-aided humidity kept things extra sticky for the more than 3,000 players contesting entry to the U.S. Youth nationals in July. The teams that win here will have played matches on six consecutive days, with no break in the weather being forecast.

It’s therefore no surprise that while plenty of college coaches are on hand today, most will be gone by Monday or Tuesday as the tournament becomes about 2/3 attrition, especially for the older age groups, but that’s the plight of American youth soccer if you want to have events that actually crown champions.

U16 Girls Match: NASA Elite (GA) 3, Renegades (FL) 2

The Georgia State Cup winners looked much more lively at the beginning of this noontime game, while the Ft. Lauderdale-area team seemed a little under duress from the weather. One exception to that was attacking midfielder Paulina Speckmaier who looks to be in fine form, dancing on the ball, running with it and striking it well both in the shot and the pass.

Some early NASA attacks were broken up by Florida defender Tina Shakes, who steps to the ball decisively and is composed with it in distribution. But the Georgians broke through and scored the opener behind some good work on the right from Samantha Thomas, with Kelsey Nix doing the honors by poking home a rebound for a 1-0 lead.

Renegades’ Rachel Price tried her luck from distance but it went wide. It appeared the fast forward suffered a leg injury somewhere along the way and was not able toimpact the match in her usual positive fashion.

The Georgians doubled their advantage behind a cool finish from Iyana Moore after some good work on the ball by Julia Nelson. NASA was benefiting from strong midfield play and tough tackling by Emily Sonnett. They almost went up 3-0 when new team member Sara Coleman, a transfer from Mississippi Fire, and Moore played a neat 1-2 before the former shot just wide.

Renegades then responded with Soraya Martinez making a nice feed to Jannel Johnson whose shot was blocked by NASA goalkeeper Alyse Scott. The Georgians then made it 3-0 just before halftime when Brooke Theobald sent in a long free kick that Julia Nelson redirected into the back of the net.

Renegades began to get much more into the match in the 2nd half while NASA, who had played some nice soccer in the 1st 40 minutes, seemed to fade a bit and quit connecting passes. The Florida team got, along with continued good play from Speckmaier, better effort from Yulie Lopez and Jannel Johnson. Another factor in the team’s resurgence was the running down the right flank of Julia Moore, and it was Moore who was felled in the area after one such surging run, leading to the award of a penalty, which Speckmaier dispatched coolly to make it 3-1.

Sara Coleman was providing some good running on the ball for NASA, but Renegades increasingly were seeing more of the possession. Johnson delivered a good finish from the right to close the margin to 3-2, and at the end NASA was clinging by their fingernails. Speckmaier actually hit the post with an effort that turned out to be the final kick of the game, and the Georgians escaped with a 3-2 win and the 3 points.

U18 Girls: Challenge SC 7, Brentwood SC 0

Pat O’Toole’s Challenge team definitely has the talent to win this event, and put on a good opening performance against the Nashville-area team, which came to the event with just 12 players.

Meghan Gibbons helped set the tone early with a lovely through ball that set up Nicole Duarte for a goal in the opening minutes. Addie Eggleston then hit a good good cross that Kelsi Brown finished easily to make it 2-0.

Challenge made it 3-0 when Kylie Cook let go with a hammer of a shot that the Brentwood goalkeeper could only parry, leaving Annalisa Hall with a clear rebound shot.  She wasn’t called on a lot at the other end but when needed, Megan Kinneman was solid in goal, both in handling and distribution.

The next goal for the Houston-area team came from Danielle Munoz, who delivered a nice volley after a good corner from Meghan Gibbons to make it 4-0. Rebecca Twining then made it 5-0 just before halftime with a long-range effort.

O’Toole was able to substitute his deep bench liberally throughout the contest, which should serve his side well as the event goes on.

Kelsi Brown scored her 2nd of the day with a nice run and strike in the 2nd half to take the lead to 6-0. Rebecca Twining doubled her pleasure with another goal to make the final scoreline 7-0. While she didn’t score herself, Addie Eggleston’s skills were on the fine display. She will begin her college career just down the road at LSU in a couple of months.

But first, she and her teammates have some further plans for club soccer.