RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - Saturday at the Jefferson Cup Girls weekend brought clear skies and beautiful weather for the second day of competition for the U16 Championship Bracket.  In a morning game, PDA Crush from New Jersey faced Pittsburgh-area side Beadling SC. PDA had won 1-0 over Maryland’s Freestate Elite in the tournament opener while Beadling lost their first game 2-0 against Virginia’s VSA Heat on Friday.

PDA showed a lot of skill and speed early on Saturday as Clare MacAdam played a nice ball to Julie Spracklin whose shot was saved by the Beadling keeper.  Beadling was strong to the ball with great pressure from Frannie Crouse and Amanda Spencer.  While PDA seemed to be the dominant team, Beadling did well to keep up the pace and defend against them.  Both defenses kept their shape well with Beadling’s Marissa Sarsfield, Kailey Joyce, Carolyn Binnig and Emily Henderson protecting the goal well and backing up the goal keeper when PDA threatened.  PDA defenders Abbey Romano, Kristin Sullivan and Ellie DeCarlo did well to keep the ball out of their box, while Erin Smith played exceptionally well the entire game.  Smith not only defended well, but contributed to the offensive threat, playing the ball with great skill out of the back.  

PDA’s center midfielder Madison Tiernan was very impressive.  She was poised, strong and played quick connecting balls to her teammates but also took some quality shots herself.  Also featuring  MacAdam, Shannon Neary and Nicole Varela, the PDA attack kept the Beadling defense and goalkeeper busy.

While PDA outshot Beadling, the game remained 0-0 at the half.  In the second half Beadling changed their line up on the field when Spencer moved from the wing to center back where she continued to play with exceptional skill and vision.  PDA had several opportunities to score, especially on a free kick by Varela that just skimmed the top of the goal.  In the last five minutes of the game, PDA was all over the Beadling box but the Beadling defense remained vigilant and kept the ball out of the net to preserve a hard fought 0-0 tie.

In the U17 Championship Bracket, McLean Strikers from Northern Virginia took on Scorpions SC from Massachusetts.  McLean tied their Friday game against Pennsylvania’s CRUSA FC Bucks Extreme 2-2 while Scorpions handed New York’s Albertson SC Fury a 4-0 loss.  Each team showed great skill on the ball, with McLean moving well all over the field.  Scorpions threatened early on a corner, but McLean goalkeeper and UVA commit Jessie Ferrari made a great save and started a quick counter.  Defensive backs Shannon Collins (Maryland commit) and Caroline Gray played well out of the back to bring the ball up and create an opportunity when Collins crossed the ball from one side to the other and Gray played a great ball to Kara Wilson (Duke commit).  Wilson put the ball on the foot of forward Tabitha McHale whose shot was beautifully saved by the Scorpions keeper.  Lauren Varela demonstrated great speed and took quality shots and created some pressure for Scorpions.   A miscue in the McLean box lead to an indirect kick for Scorpions and Catherine Hartigan tapped the ball to Jenna Savi who finished for 1-0 lead early in the half.

McLean countered and went hard to every ball at that point.  Lexi Clarke skillfully brought the ball up the wing and played a perfect ball to the middle where Wilson took it through a couple of players and chipped the ball strongly into the net to even the score at 1-1.  Keeping up the pressure, McLean’s Katie Yensen and Delia Maresco (both Virginia Tech commits) worked extremely well together, winning balls and moving into the middle.  Wilson struck again when she took a shot from outside the 18 that went upper 90 to put McLean ahead 2-1 just before the half ended.  

Scorpions came out strong in the second half, attacking well through Kathryn Hiller connecting with Varela for great opportunities that were saved by Ferrari.  Each team pressured well, with McLean dominating the latter part of the half.  Scorpion defender Allison DeBenedictis was very strong and worked hard to contain the McLean attack.  Shannon Wojcik and Maisie McCune displayed great foot skills and each took excellent shots for McLean.  Neither team could convert their opportunities in the second half, and the game ended with a 2-1 McLean victory.

McLean coach Clyde Watson was pleased with his team’s efforts noting that Wilson and McHale, who scored both goals in Friday’s game, are not necessarily the team’s top goal scorers.  Watson has coached this team since they were U13 and has seen them win State Cup titles as well as the 2010 Region 1 Championship and going to the 2010 National Championship game.  Twelve of his players have already verbally committed to Division 1 programs.  Gray, who was one of the best on the field today, is looking to commit within the next few weeks and has UVA, South Carolina, and Ivy League’s Harvard, Dartmouth and Cornell on her list of favorites.

Other scores today, courtesy of the Jefferson Cup:

U13 Championship –
Bracket A
FC STING DYNAMITE      2                SCORPIONS ELITE     1
PENN LEGACY FC 97 BLACK     0                MONTGOMERY MSC COYOTES      0
FC STING DYNAMITE      0                MONTGOMERY MSC COYOTES      0
PENN LEGACY FC 97 BLACK     1                SCORPIONS ELITE     6

Bracket B
ASHBURN ASC FREEDOM 97G     0                FOOTHILLS TEAM EXTREME     0
CRUSA/FC BUCKS FREEDOM     1                TNFC 98 AZZURRI     0
ASHBURN ASC FREEDOM 97G     3                TNFC 98 AZZURRI     1
CRUSA/FC BUCKS FREEDOM     0                FOOTHILLS TEAM EXTREME     0



U14 Championship –
Bracket A
FARMINGDALE SC UNITED     1                FREESTATE STORM     0
BEADLING GUNNERS     1                PALM BEACH MAGICJACKS 96/97     5
FARMINGDALE SC UNITED     1                PALM BEACH MAGICJACKS 96/97     3
BEADLING GUNNERS     0                FREESTATE STORM     2

Bracket B
PENN FUSION SA '96 GIRLS     2                PARKVILLE SC BALTIMORE '97     1
CONCORDE FIRE NORTH ELITE     2                LOUDOUN SOCCER LOUD 96G RED     1
PENN FUSION SA '96 GIRLS     3                LOUDOUN SOCCER LOUD 96G RED     1
CONCORDE FIRE NORTH ELITE     0                PARKVILLE SC BALTIMORE '97     0


U15 Championship –
Bracket A
SAC UNITED PREMIER     2                NORTHERN VIRGINIA SC JR MAJESTICS GOLD '95     0
NC FUSION '95 ELITE G     0                WORLD CLASS FC 95 GIRLS     1
SAC UNITED PREMIER     1                WORLD CLASS FC 95 GIRLS     0
NC FUSION '95 ELITE G     0                NORTHERN VIRGINIA SC JR MAJESTICS GOLD '95     0

Bracket B
HOCKESSIN SC BLAST     0                SYC XTREME     0
JERSEY UNITED SPARTANS 95/96G WHITE     0                CRUSA FC BUCKS REVOLUTION     2
HOCKESSIN SC BLAST     0                CRUSA FC BUCKS REVOLUTION     0
JERSEY UNITED SPARTANS 95/96G WHITE     1                SYC XTREME     0


U16 Championship –
Bracket A

SCORPIONS ELITE ECNL     3                CHANTILLY YA FIRECATS     2
BETHESDA SC FREEDOM 94/95     3                SDFC 09 LYNX     0

BETHESDA SC FREEDOM 94/95     3                CHANTILLY YA FIRECATS     0
SCORPIONS ELITE ECNL     1                SDFC 09 LYNX     3

Bracket B

PDA CRUSH     1                FREESTATE ELITE 94     0
VSA HEAT BLUE     2                BEADLING SC BEADLING 94/95     0

VSA HEAT BLUE     2                FREESTATE ELITE 94     0
PDA CRUSH     0                BEADLING SC BEADLING 94/95     0

Bracket C
CRUSA FC BUCKS PROWLERS     0                NORTH CAROLINA FUSION 94 NC FUSION ELITE G     2
FC VIRGINIA 94 HOTSPUR     4                NEFC U16 ELITE     2

CRUSA FC BUCKS PROWLERS     1                NEFC U16 ELITE     0
FC VIRGINIA 94 HOTSPUR     1                NORTH CAROLINA FUSION 94 NC FUSION ELITE G     1


U17 Championship –
Bracket A
CHANTILLY SC BURN     1                REAL NEW JERSEY SC POWER     1
QUICKSTRIKE FC 94'S     1                UNITED FA 94 ELITE     2

CHANTILLY SC BURN     1                UNITED FA 94 ELITE     2
QUICKSTRIKE FC 94'S     0                REAL NEW JERSEY SC POWER     2


Bracket B
ALBERTSON SC FURY 93     0                SCORPIONS SC ECNL     4
MCLEAN STRIKERS     2                CRUSA FC BUCKS XTREME     2

MCLEAN STRIKERS     2                SCORPIONS SC ECNL     1
ALBERTSON SC FURY 93     1                CRUSA FC BUCKS XTREME     2

Bracket C
FC VIRGINIA CARDINALS ECNL     3                EAST MEADOW EXPRESS     1
BALTIMORE BAYS BAYS     2                TRIANGLE FC TFC 93 NAVY GIRLS     2

FC VIRGINIA CARDINALS ECNL     2                TRIANGLE FC TFC 93 NAVY GIRLS     1
BALTIMORE BAYS BAYS     1                EAST MEADOW EXPRESS     2
 


U18 Championship


ALBERTSON SC FURY PREMIER     0               FC VIRGINIA ECNL FCV EXPLOSION     0
ISA STING 92'     0                FC FREDERICK U19      1

PENN FUSION SA '92 GAELS     0                MCLEAN MPS AZUL 92/93      0
SYOSSET/FC STING STING ELITE     2                LOUDOUN U18 (FORMERLY 91 RED)     0

ISA STING 92'     1                FC VIRGINIA ECNL FCV EXPLOSION     1
ALBERTSON SC FURY PREMIER     2                FC FREDERICK U19      2

PENN FUSION SA '92 GAELS     3                LOUDOUN U18 (FORMERLY 91 RED)     1
SYOSSET/C STING STING 92 ELITE     0                MCLEAN MPS AZUL 92/93      3