CORAL SPRINGS, FLORIDA – Opening day play at the 2009 U.S. Youth Soccer Girls ODP Interregional is complete here, with a pair of matches in a new, extended schedule starting the action.

Regional teams from the 1993, ’94 and ’95 age groups are on hand to compete along with a U17 National Team from Costa Rica and the U15 Girls National Team from the U.S. A myriad of college coaches are already on hand to scout the talent.

Following are reports from Day One.

Region II 93s 2, Costa Rica 0

This game could have ended as a scoreless draw and the result would have been fair. The Costa Rican team was older and very technical, if not ever too dangerous around the Region II goal. Lang Wedemeyer’s Midwesterners showed good organization and seemed to get on the same page pretty quickly, but lacked the final ball or finish to make their good play pay off in the form of goals.

Costa Rica inserted a backup goalkeeper with about 15 minutes to go in the game and there was an immediate dropoff. Her attemped clearance of a Michela Paradiso through ball went straight to Taylor Uhl and the Minnesota forward controlled it well before finishing into an empty net. Minutes later Aliina Weykamp set up Allie Stephenson for a finish from the left that rolled in and the final 2-0 scoreline was realized.

A number of Region II players made a strong impression on the day, probably none more so than central defender Olivia Brannon. The Novi Jags player is a verbal commitment to the Virginia Cavaliers, and showed why she has been a frequent call-up to Kaz Tambi’s U17 Women’s National Team. Brannon was an anchor in the back line, a vocal leader on the field, distributed well and showed good tackling technique. She said afterward she was pleased with the team’s ability to mesh rather quickly.

“We all come from all over. Half of this group is different from last year. The main thing is to keep talking to each other. My job is to help get everyone organized and on the same page,” Brannon said. “As the game wore on we played a lot better and moved the ball and found our rhythm.”

Region II head coach Lang Wedemeyer agreed that a team coming together in short order as is necessary for ODP, requires players to be quick learners.

“The preparation is always difficult. When you bring in players from all over the Midwest and have one practice it’s difficult,” he said. “We have to focus on ourselves and what we can do and as you can see from the game, as it wore on we started to be more comfortable with each other. The personalities started to gel. They are quality players and it’s a wonderful opportunity to play against international competition.”

Some other standouts for Region II on the day:

Shea Groom: The KCFC Alliance and U17 WNT forward was very active in the attack. Her ability to run with and without the ball helped created a number of chances in the forward third, and it took a couple of fine saves from the Costa Rican goalkeeper to keep her off the score sheet. She has great technical speed and linked well with her club teammate Kaysie Clark, despite getting some rough treatment at times from the Costa Rican defense.

Kaysie Clark: Clark was a workhorse on the day, and will battle for any ball as well as showing some creativity in attack. She may have been fortunate to not have been booked after delivering about a half-dozen fouls on the afternoon, but she was key to her team having the lion’s share of possession.

Delaney Kiely: Another KCFC Alliance player, Kiely was a tenacious battler in the middle of the park who also showed some simple and clever touches to keep her team in possession and start some attacking moves.

Region II 93 Lineup
GK: Emily Lillard (Jenna O'Dell)
D: Michela Paradiso, Olivia Brannon, Melanie Pickert, Sarah Molina
M: Molly Huber, Delaney Kiely, Kaysie Clark, Katie Brown, Claire Falknor
F: Shea Groom
Subs: Christen Westphal, Megan Marsack, Taylor Uhl, Allie Stephenson, Aliina Weykamp, Madeline Vicker

Region III 93s 3, Region IV 93s 1

A couple of miscues in the back on longballs did the Westerners in. Region III’s Kaili Torres ran onto a goalkeeper punt that was allowed to bounce and finished 1v1 to put her team up 2-1 in the 1st half. Then Kelsey Shimmeck managed to round the keeper after a failed clearance and kill the match off by making it 3-1.

Region III had tied the game in the 1st half when Georgia verbal commit Morgan Brian played a great ball for Taylor Smith who scored to make it 1-1. Region IV had gone up 1-0 earlier when Real So Cal’s Jamia Fields served a bullet cross that Arsenal’s Loeau Labonta met with a perfect header for a goal.

That’s about the only way Dallas Texans and Region III goalkeeper Abby Smith is going to be beaten. Smith commands her area so well and has cat-like reflexes between the sticks. She will make any team she is on hard to beat.

This didn’t stop Labonta from playing a terrific match for Region IV. The midfielder has a great pair of feet, an impressive burst of quickness and an excellent soccer brain.

Which brings Region IV right back Marie Mckenzie to mind. Nobody’s perfect and McKenzie, on her way to UC Santa Barbara after her 2011 high school graduation, gave away a couple of passes, but she continues to show above average soccer intelligence, great athleticism and quality technique on the ball.

Quality technique is also on display when you watch Region III’s Duke recruit Gilda Doria. The Florida midfielder is excellent at running with the ball and picking out teammates with a creative pass.

Kate Perry was good in midfield for Region IV, showing real toughness and ball-winning effort, but also good technique as evidenced in her 25-yard strike that came crashing off the crossbar.

A couple of other standouts for Region III were defender Erin Inman, always tough in the tackle and good with her marking, and Margaret Cassells-Hamby, who has good feet and uses her quickness to good effect.
 
Region III 93 Lineup
GK: Abby Smith
D: Whitney Jaynes, Cherrelle Jarrett, Taylor Schneider, Carson Pickett
M: Kaili Torres, Gilda Doria, Clarissa Wedemeyer, Erin Inman, Taylor Smith
F: Morgan Brian
Subs: Emily Sonnett, Heather Magee, Margaret Cassells-Hamby, Sara Coleman, Abigail Lutzenkirchen, Kelsey Shimmick, Bryane Heaberlin

Region IV 93 Lineup
GK: Megan Kufeld (Jordan Day)
D: Marie Mackenzie, Sandra Ley, Miranda Cornejo, Alyssa Kleiner
M: Kathryn Speidel, Loeau Labonta, Kate Perry, Kelsey Foo, Alexandra Bailey
F: Jamia Fields
Subs: Monique Pendleberry, Tessa Andujar, Jaiden Thornock, Madison Krauser, Indiana Mead, Kaitlin Dickmann