The final TDS Combine of the summer season wrapped up on August 9 from the Georgian Count in the Tri-State area. Following suit from the previous six combines in 2014, the Tri-State Combine saw college coaches from all over the region in attendance to see 150 talented players showcase their qualities in the elite recruiting event.  

From the Combine, the TDS staff along with the college coaches picked a Girls Tri-State Best XI, presented by National Guard.

Learn more about the TDS Combines and the upcoming schedule: here.

Tri-State Girls Best XI:

(position, name, club, graduation year)

GK Samantha Allen, TSF Academy, 2016: Allen is an agile keeper, who has great spring to get to those high shots but also has the ability to get down low. Her organizational skills are second to none; constantly talking and directing her back line leaving them feeling at ease with her in behind. One of the coaches stated, “she has all the tools to be successful at Division 1 level – if she continues with her steady progression.”

D Casey Ballow, Bethesda SC, 2017: Ballow stood out at fullback with her smart decisions defensively and her ability to get up and down the line throughout games. She reads the game well, which allows her to avoid 1v1 situations and cut out trouble in advance. She can be very effective offensively, and has the “potential to play D1.”

D Emily Heckman, Penn Legacy, 2016: Heckman is strong and quick at the back, and reads the game well. Defensively she is sound, and in possession she showed a variety of passing techniques from spreading it long and wide, to hitting balls over the top, to playing it simple through the midfield. She has an aura of confidence which will transition into leadership as time progresses.

D Madison Coyne, Yardley Makefield Soccer, 2018: Coyne dominated at the back throughout the day. She has all the attributes a college coach would dream of for a defender: aggression, strength, leadership, speed and great in the air. On top of this, she reads the game well and showed her ability to pass out of the back.

M Alexandra Catanzarite, Syracuse Development Academy, 2017: Catanzarite is a feisty but tidy central midfielder. Extremely skillful and talented she has excellent creative tendencies in the final third. Catanzarite had the touchline gasping with a sweet little nutmeg through ball inside the box during the full field games. Though she has a very creative side, Catanzarite showed a lot of maturity by taking risks in the right areas, and keep things simple in her own half.

M Erica Bardes, World Class, 2017: Bardes is an old fashioned winger, who is excellent on the dribble. She is a lefty who can impact the game at any given moment with a burst of pace past a defender or with a cheeky through ball. Her physical attributes paired with her technical abilities and her decision making should lead her to a very promising college career.

M Isabella DiBenedetto, Masspequa SC, 2018: DiBenedetto is a midfielder who is extremely comfortable in possession, and has a fantastic first touch which allows her to play out quickly. Her decision making and maturity for her age is excellent, picking the simple pass at the right times and not over complicating things in the middle. Playing against players three or four years older than her did not show, as DiBenedetto continued to impact the full field games in all areas of the pitch.

M Kailee Coonan, Penn Fusion, 2017: Coonan is ranked No. 84 in the IMG Academy Top 150 for the class of 2017. She is also a youth national team regular and it showed at the Combine. She controlled the game with her excellent touch, vision and passing ability. She looked the most comfortable player on the ball on the day, stepping up to lead and direct her team. Great in possession and always looking for that penetrating through ball, she is also not shy of her defensive duties and got down hard into tackles and used her strength to win the ball back in vital areas.

M/F Marisa Fischetti, Massapequa SC, 2018: Fischetti can play out wide on the wing and as an out and out forward and spent time in both positions during the Combine. As a forward, she tends to draw out wide to receive the ball, to then use her pace down the line to cut in and get a shot off. Though Fischetti has a small frame, she has a good center of gravity and rarely got pushed off the ball mainly because no one could catch her with her blistering speed. One Division I coach described her as “effective and efficient, who makes scoring look easy.”

M/F Alexandra Gilgorri, Match Fit Academy FC, 2015: Gilgorri, one of the older players to attend the combine, caught the eye of the coaches and TDS Staff. She is an attacking midfielder who finds the pockets of space between the opposition’s defense and midfield. She has tidy feet and reads the game well, and slipped through some lovely balls to the forwards and switched the play effectively.

F Emilie Kupsov, FC Philadelphia, 2016: Kupsov dominated the attacking third throughout the day. Fast, powerful and lethal in front of goal, she continuously hit the target. Kupsov scored two fantastically worked goals in the first game of the day and managed to show a different side to her game as the day ran on, dropping deeper and linking up the play.

 

Second team/honorable mention

Elaine Liu – GK – Albertson SC – 2017

Vashti Williams – DF – Winslow SC – 2016

Deanna Graziani – DF – Match Fit Academy FC – 2016

Abigail Harkins – DF/MF – West FL Flames – 2016

Nicole Abel – MF – Connecticut FC – 2017

Alison Heckman – MF – Penn Fusion – 2018

Shelby Breen – MF – World Class – 2017

Stephanie Wilson – MF – Match Fit Academy FC – 2016

Lindsay Bathmann – MF –NJCSA – 2018

Alexandra Saturni – MF/F – Bethesda SC – 2018

Sophia Demurjian – F – Match Fit Academy FC - 2017