WAUKEGON, ILLINOIS – A late clockwork goal that won the game for Dallas Sting’s U15 team and some heroics between the sticks from a non-goalkeeper for the Ohio Premier Eagles U14 team were among the highlights of play here Sunday at the ECNL National Championships.

The U16 through U18 age groups will begin Wednesday, but the U14 and U15 age groups began play Sunday, including the top 16 teams from the respective A flights playing a straight knockout round format.

(Scroll down for complete Sunday Results)

U15 Championship Bracket: Sting score late winner to defeat Surf

As the above video explains, Tatu’s Sting squad scored in the final minutes with a goal that actually began from a goal kick. Alyssa Palacios was lining up the restart when she saw that left back Hannah Fernandez was uncovered on the flank and alertly rolled the ball in front of her. Fernandez then outraced a back-tracking Surf player to the midfield stripe from where she played a beautifully-weighted ball ahead to the hard-charging Gwenyth Puente. Puente beat her marker and turned the corner to charge toward the goalkeeper. Blair Thorpe had made an intelligent run through the middle and Puente found her teammate wide open in front of goal. Thorpe converted the tap-in and Sting had their 3-2 victory.

The fast and strong Kaycie Tillman put Sting on top early by making a strong run through the middle and bodying a cross into the back of the net. Surf answered quickly with a beautiful strike by Erika Arkans, who controlled a long pass on the left, cut across the top of the area and ripped a shot across her body and into the net for a 1-1 score.

Surf nearly went on top shortly afterward as Marley Canales put in some good work on the right,but her cross was scooped over the goal by a teammate. The match then slowed down quite a bit from its early, frenetic pace, as the hot and humid conditions took their toll on both teams, who went to the break still even at 1-1.

Surf’s Evan Buechler provided some very good services for her team, while Surf’s Arkans and Sting’s Julie James showed a willingness and ability to dish out some tough tackles in midfield. Natalie McDonough showed her ball skills when she put Sting up 2-1 with a very well-placed free kick.

Once again Surf responded very quickly, with Canales showing some very good work and skill on the right before her cross set off a wild scramble in front of goal. Eventually the ball reached the feet of Kelsey Irwin at the edge of the area, and she connected with a low drive that evaded everyone to make it 2-2.

Extra time was looming, but then the full-field movement by Sting’s Palacios, Fernandez, Puente and Thorpe delivered a quarterfinal berth for the Texas side.

On Monday, Sting will face GSA Phoenix, who continued their perfect ECNL season with a 3-1 win over Real So Cal. In the other quarterfinals, Crossfire Premier (2-1 winners over So Cal Blues) will face TSC  Hurricane (3-2 victors over West Coast FC), PDA (1-0 over Michigan Hawks) meets  Dallas Texans (3-1 over Stars of Massachusetts) and Eclipse Select (6-1 over Mustang SC) faces Colorado Rush (3-2 over Ohio Elite). Eclipse is a very good side and will be even harder to beat so long as a very vocal contingent of clubmates keep showing up at the team’s matches. This is where most of the atmosphere at the complex is coming from so far.

 

U14 Championship Bracket: Big save, great strikes, dominant midfield lead Ohio Premier Eagles

Kevin Dougherty’s Ohio Premier Eagles U14 side were drawn with Midatlantic rivals FC Virginia, with whom they tied for first in regular season play and drew 2-2 in their only other match this season. OP went into the game knowing its only true goalkeeper is out for the season with an injury, forcing Dougherty to put forward Aubrei Corder into an emergency role between the sticks.

Corder’s heroics, two good finishes and strong midfield and defensive play combined for a 2-0 victory to Ohio Premier.

Corder reiterated after the game that she is a field player, but the tall stand-in, whose family drives all the way from West Virginia so she can play with an ECNL team, came up big when her teammates needed her most.

It was early in the 2^nd half and FC Virginia, down 1-0, was pressing the OP goal hard. Katrina Halstead played a good pass to put Sierra Lam in on goal. Lam had a good shooting angle but Corder charged out and made a point-blank range save to preserve her team’s one goal lead.

The goal had come in the first half when, after a good pass by Madison Moroi set up a corner, the ball found its way to Nicole Cox who delivered a terrific strike from about 15 yards out, rifling the ball under the cross bar and into the upper 90 to put OP on top.

The Columbus-area side was also getting good offensive work from Alivia Milesky, who was running riot on the left wing. But it was midfield where the game was being won, as the Virginians had trouble getting past the consistently good ball-winning work of Moroi, Lindsay Belli and Ellie Hackett.

In the late going, the back four of Kristen McFarland, Sydney Harris, Alexa Fisher and Paige Gilliland were rock solid in front of Corder. McFarland is a U14 Girls National Team player who moved from forward to defense for this match to help her in her national team prospects and development. She certainly didn’t look out of place.

With FCV frantically pushing forward in search of a late equalizer, OP struck for a 2^nd goal with what turned out to be the last kick of the match, as Madison Moroi delivered a skillfully-placed finish on the run in the forward third for a 2-0 scoreline.

It was a tough match for Terry Foley’s FC Virginia side, but Julia Phillips looks to be quite the player.

In Monday’s quarterfinals, Ohio Premier will face Meg Ryan’s PDA Arsenal side, which won 3-0 over Arsenal FC on goals from Frankie Tagliaferri, Rebeca Frisk and Nicole Whitley. 

The other round of 16 results included Eclipse Select defeating Colorado Storm 3-0, Mustang SC edging Stars of Massachusetts 3-2, San Diego Surf beating Atlanta Fire 4-2, Arsenal FC blanking FC Dallas 3-0, Dallas Sting beating Charlotte Soccer Academy 3-0 and Crossfire Premier nipping Real Colorado 2-1.

That means the other quarterfinal matchups will be San Diego Surf vs. Dallas Sting, Crossfire Premier vs. Mustang, and Arsenal FC vs. Eclipse Select.

 

Full Results from Sunday (courtesy ECNL)

U14 A Flight Championship Bracket

Eclipse Select 3, Colorado Storm 0

Mustang 3, Stars of Massachusetts 2

Ohio Premier Eagles 2, FC Virginia 0

San Diego Surf 4, Atlanta Fire 2

Arsenal FC 3, FC Dallas 0

Dallas Sting 3, Charlotte Soccer Academy 0

Crossfire Premier 2, Real Colorado 1

PDA 3, KCFC 0

U14 Challenge Matches

Sereno SC 2, Real So Cal 0

World Class FC 2, Bethesda SC 0

Concorde Fire 4, Dallas Texans 0

San Juan SC 3, East Meadow 1

Slammers 4, Utah Avalanche 1

Freestate SA 4, Michigan Hawks 1

FC Milwaukee 3, Penn Fusion 2

Carmel United 3, FC Bucks 2

Washington Premier 2, Scorpions SC 1

Minnesota Thunder Academy 3, Virginia Rush 1

Vardar 1, SoccerPlus CT 0

St. Louis Scott Gallagher 1, FC DELCO 1

Lonestar SC 3, GSA Phoenix 0

Connecticut FC 6, Pleasanton Rage 2

So Cal Blues 2, Colorado Rush 2

D’Feeters 6, Richmond Strikers 0

Mclean SC 2, Eagles SC 0

Ohio Elite 2, Heat FC 0

Solar-Chelsea 3, Birmingham United 0

De Anza Force 8, Albertson Fury 0

Las Vegas Premier 3, West Coast FC 0

TSC Hurricane 7, SC del Sol 0

Irvine Strikers 3, Sockers FC 1

Challenge SC 4, CESA Premier 2

 

U15 A Flight Top 16 Bracket

Eclipse Select 6, Mustang  1

Dallas Texans 3, FC Stars of Massachusetts 1

Gwinnett SA 3, Real So Cal 1

Colorado Rush 3, Ohio Elite SA 2

TSC Hurricane 3, West Coast FC 2

PDA 1, Michigan Hawks 0

Crossfire Premier 2, So Cal Blues1

Dallas Sting 3, San Diego Surf 2

 

U15 B Flight Top 8 Bracket

Vardar 5, FC Dallas 1

Washington Premier 6, Penn Fusion 0

Minnesota Thunder 3, Freestate SA 1

Sereno SC 3, McLean Youth Soccer 2

 

U15 B Flight 9-16 Placement Bracket

St. Louis Scott Gallagher 4, World Class FC 1

Connecticut FC 1, Concorde Fire 0

Solar-Chelsea  1, Heat FC 1

San Juan SC 2, Atlanta Fire 1

 

U15 Challenge Matches

FC Bucks 2, De Anza Force 0

Irvine Strikers 3, FC Milwaukee 1

SC Del Sol 3, Richmond Strikers 0

BVSC 1, Birmingham United 1

Colorado Storm 4, Virginia Rush 0

Sockers FC 2, Scorpions 1

East Meadow 2, Las Vegas Premier 0

Eagles SC 2, FC DELCO 0

Utah Avalanche 6, Carolina Elite SA 0

SoccerPlus Connecticut 1, Pleasanton Rage 0

Slammers FC 3, CASL 2

Lonestar 3, FC Virginia 0

D'Feeters 4, Real Colorado 3

Carmel United 4, Arsenal FC 0

Challenge SC 5, Bethesda SC 0

KCFC 10, Ohio Premier Eagles 1

Charlotte SA 0, Albertson Fury 0