RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - Saturday play at the Jefferson Cup for Girls featured the beginning of play in the younger age groups, and Boston-area club Scorpions and DC-area side Herndon Hotspur both put on impressive displays to set up a Sunday morning showdown.

In the afternoon, both squads picked up their 2nd win of the day. Herndon beat Penn Fusion 4-1, while Scorpions shut out Massapequa Elite 6-0. The two teams are even in the group stage and will play the final group match for Sunday morning for a berth in the tournament final, to be played Sunday afternoon. U14 and U13 Championship finals will also be played Sunday and we will be on hand to cover all the action.

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U15 Girls: Herndon Hotspur 4, Penn Fusion 1
Paul Ellis’ Herndon side rode a solid defensive effort and some opportunistic goalscoring to the win.

The back line of Jessica Sells, Clara Logsdon, Emily Person, Brittany Basinger  and later Carolyn Seltzer played a high line with much discipline and good timing to thwart the Philadelphia-area side’s attack for much of the match. Basinger in particular had a strong game, putting in a number of tough tackles to break up individual efforts from Fusion.

A shot from Danielle Dangremond forced a good save from Fusion goalkeeper Haley Curtin. But on the resulting corner, Alexandria Myers sent in a precise corner and Logsdon met it with a powerful header to put the Virginia side up 1-0.

Myers help set up the 2nd goal as well, playing a good pass for Basinger, who was fouled in the area for a penalty. Darbie Kelley converted the spot kick to double the Herndon advantage.

Penn’s Rachel Orlando showed some good energy and distribution from the back, while Megan Tracewell’s through pass created a good scoring chance for her team, but Herndon goalkeeper Haley Casanova came off her line alertly to make the emergency clearance. Penn kept the pressure on however and cut the lead to 2-1 when Caitlin Green made a surging run from the left and tucked a shot home just before halftime.

Penn’s efforts were also aided by the standout play of left back Alexa Smalley, a good defender with a very good work rate.

Herndon began to take control in the 2nd half but only gained some breathing space when Dangremond scored a highlight reel goal, running down the left, cutting inside a defender and scoring with a terrific strike. The final goal came when Herndon’s Myers intercepted a pass in front of the Penn net, used good skill to bring it under control and passed it into the back of the net to provide the final scoreline of 4-1.

Herndon’s Aubrey Fletcher probably should have had a goal for her efforts, as she caused the Penn defense a lot of problems in the 2nd half with her quickness, but had a pair of near misses.

U15 Girls: Scorpions SC 6, Massapequa Elite 0
Coach Fred Marks was at another venue with his U12 team, but he apparently prepared the Boston-area side for this match quite well, judging by their exceptional performance in a 6-0 win.

Scorpions started out strongly, with Andrea O’Brien showing good skills to turn her mark and run around the right wing before hitting a shot just over the bar. Madison Meehan then drew a foul in the penalty area to set up a penalty which her sister McKenzie Meehan converted.

Massapequa’s Kelsey Kranz showed good work rate and vision in the middle of the field for the New York team. Defender Nicole Epstein had a terrific game despite the scoreline, putting in a number of strong challenges and covering a lot of ground.

Scorpions doubled their advantage when Courtney Maguire rifled a shot under the bar from the edge of the area, and then it was 3-0 after lightning-quick forward Lauren Berman made a 60-yard through the middle on a counterattack before finishing well. Berman is a very dangerous forward who has the attention of a lot of college coaches despite being just a freshman.

O’Brien showed some good passing skill and this helped create a corner kick that led to the Scorpions 4th goal. On the set piece, Bianca Webb served in the cross and BrookeSweeny headed home.

Scorpoins’ Mikayla Williams didn’t blow past anybody but showed a lot of good close control on the ball. McKenzie Meehan scored her 2nd goal of the day with a nice individual effort to make it 5-0.The 6th goal was pretty as well, as Berman’s cross was headed home by Maguire for her 2nd of the day.

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