A tough set of results and a lot of learning are what the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II ODP ‘95s got on their recent trip to Holland and Belgium.

The squad, coached by Wisconsin head coach Paula Wilkins and Wisconsin-Milwaukee mentor Mike Moynihan, dropped a trio of matches in the Low Countries, but came away with valuable experience.

“We asked the girls afterward and a couple of key things they noticed about the European teams is that they serve the ball better than us, they’re more accurate with long passes, and that they use their bodies well,” Moynihan, serving in an assistant’s role to Wilkins on the trip, said. “They show more composure and better decision-making, especially when they have time on the ball. They are very efficient. Our play seemed to be a little more rushed.

We made some unforced errors. Some of our players are more dangerous 1v1, but our players were impressed with how well they read the game.”

Wilkins agreed that ability to read the match was a major point of separation between her team and the Europeans, but was glad to see improvement in this area as the match went on.

“Their kids read the game better, their spacing was better. Our kids tend to rely more on being very athletic,” she said. “One of the other problems we had was that their national teams have been together for a year or two, while ours have been together for a few days here and there. But I was really happy with how the players grew through the week. They figured out they needed to read the game better and they did.

The Region II team, which had to make some late roster adjustments due to national team callus and injuries, opened the trip with a 2-0 loss to Dutch academy team KNVB. Moynihan described the match as back and forth, and noted the Midwesterners performed well given that they arrived in Holland Sunday, training Monday and played the opening game on Tuesday. Nebraska’s Elizabeth Bartels and KCFC Alliance’s Savannah Trujillo were bright spots on the day.

Against the Belgium U17 National Team, the squad lost 2-1. Moynihan said the match was played on perhaps the largest field he has seen (approximately 125x82). The U.S. team controlled play early but couldn’t score, then surrendered a counter-attack goal to Belgium and lost its way for a while, going down 2-0 in the 2nd half. The team rallied later in the game and scored its lone goal of the trip to cut the margin to 2-1. Meredith Schertzinger served a ball that was flicked on by Destinie Graves-Truax, then finished by St. Louis Scott Gallagher’s Lauren Knight. A good chance to equalize in the final moments of the game came up empty and the Belgian team prevailed.

Moynihan cited Cincinnati United Premier’s Rose Lavelle and Ohio Galaxies’ Micaela Powers, both midfielders, as having been strong in this match for Region II.

The final match was a 3-0 loss to the Dutch U17 GNT. Moynihan said the team actually played its best soccer of the trip in this match, noting that an especially talented Dutch left winger scored twice and set up her team’s third goal.

“She was very fast and dangerous,” he said. “Outside of her we had controlled a lot of the match and had some good chances to score. It was the best game we played even though it was it the worst result. We played very well as a group but we weren’t efficient with our finishing chances.”

Moynihan said perhaps the primary counsel from the coaching staff was to emulate their European counterparts in one key way.

“Every team we take over it becomes more evident that the European are growing up with the game, with the soccer culture,” he said. “You can tell they watch more high level soccer. We encouraged them to watch more. Most of our players just don’t do enough of that.”

Following is a roster of the Region II ODP 95s for the trip:

Elizabeth Bartels (Omaha, NE; Toro SC), Madison Lewis (Canton, MI; Michigan Hawks), Gianna Dal Pozzo (Naperville, IL; Team Chicago), Destinie Graves-Truax (Lexington, KY; Commonwealth SC), Haley Gribler (Springboro, OH; Metro FC), Nicole Hopkins (Centerville, OH; Ohio Premier Eagles), Meegan Johnston (Grayslake, IL; Team Chicago), Jessica Kjellstrom (Saginaw, MI; Michigan Hawks), Lauren Knight (O’Fallon, IL; St. Louis Scott Gallagher), Gracie Lachowecki (Evansville, IN; SWISA Rush), Rose Lavelle (Cincinnati, OH; Cincinnati United Premier), Marisa Oleksiak (Chesterfield Twp., MI; Michigan Hawks), Alexandra Lowes (Grand Blanc, MI; Michigan Hawks), Kelly Neeb (Cincinnati, OH; Cincinnati United Premier), Micaela Powers (Beavercreek, OH; Ohio Galaxies, FC); Meredith Schertzinger (Loveland, OH; Hammer FC), Savannah Trujillo (Kansas City, MO; KCFC Alliance)