ECNL: River City Sportsplex to host Under-14 Inter-Conference Event
By Jimmy LaRoue
The River City Sportsplex in Richmond will be the site of this weekend’s ECNL Under-14 Inter-Conference Event, with all of the U-14 teams from the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Conferences participating (Game schedule).
It includes all of the local Mid-Atlantic Conference clubs–second place FC Virginia (4-1-1, 2.17 ppg), fourth place Bethesda SC (5-3-1, 1.78 ppg), sixth place McLean Youth Soccer (2-3-1, 1.17 ppg), seventh place Freestate Soccer Alliance (2-5-1, 0.88 ppg), eighth place Virginia Rush (1-4-0, 0.60 ppg) and last place Richmond Strikers (0-4-0, 0.00 ppg).
Teams will play three matches over the weekend, playing twice on Saturday, and once more on Sunday.
Last weekend’s hurricane impacted the schedule, with several games getting postponed, while Freestate U-14s went on the road and played a scoreless tie with Ohio Elite Soccer Academy, and then fell to Carmel United 5-0 Sunday. Bethesda’s U-14s played Ohio Elite to a 2-2 tie Sunday.
The rest of the league schedule is limited this weekend, as McLean and Virginia Rush face off in U-15 through U-18 play, while FC Virginia takes on Richmond Strikers in U-16s (2:30 p.m., Centerville HS #02)
U-15s: McLean (0-3-1) hosts Virginia Rush (2-1-1) (4 p.m., Spring Hill Rec Center #5): Amanda Charalambous and Jordan Marshall each have two goals for Rush, while McLean has scored just one goal in four matches, that coming from Meghan Kammerdeiner.
U-16s: McLean (2-1-1) hosts Virginia Rush (1-3-0) (12 p.m., Spring Hill Rec Center #5): Mia Hoen-Beck leads McLean with three goals, while Kaitlyn Forsht has two goals, and Stephanie Stahl has two assists. Rush has scored just twice in four games, with Lindsay Brent and Heather Miles picking up the tallies.
U-16s: FC Virginia (2-1-1) hosts Richmond Strikers (2-2-0) (2:30 p.m., Centreville HS #02): FC Virginia is tied with McLean for the early conference lead and is led by a pair of two-goal scorers, Kristina Diana–who also has two assists–and Makayla Lewis. Richmond is led by Madeleine Mazzola’s two goals. FC Virginia won the first matchup between the clubs last month, 2-1 at West Creek.
U-17s: McLean (3-0-1) hosts Virginia Rush (1-3-0) (2 p.m., Spring Hill Rec Center #5): McLean is tied for the early conference lead with Richmond Strikers and is led by Kalia Williams three goals and two assists. Emma Shumway has also contributed two goals, and Thyla Peterson has two assists for McLean. Rush has scored just once in four games, coming in its only win of the season. McLean shutout Rush 2-0 in the teams’ previous matchup.
U-17s: FC Virginia hosts Richmond Strikers (4:30 p.m., Centreville HS #02): The Strikers have been the early class of the conference, having yet to surrender a goal while four players have contributed at least two goals, including Elizabeth Ball and Kylie Hegemier, who each have three goals. Kayla Blake and Alexis Mallory have two goals apiece. The Strikers won the previous matchup 2-0.
U-18s: McLean (2-2-0) hosts Virginia Rush (0-4-0) (3 p.m., Lewinsville Park #2): Morgan Reuther leads McLean with three goals and an assist, while Emily Hester has a pair of goals. In the two teams’ previous matchup, McLean won 2-1. Rush struggled in its first two matches, combining to lose 10-0, but after the first national event in Phoenix, in which Rush defeated Sereno and lost twice by one-goal margins, have been much improved, losing its last two conference matches by one-goal margins and will look for revenge against McLean.
U-18s: FC Virginia (4-0-0) hosts Richmond Strikers (2-2-0) (5 p.m., Braddock Park #7 Turf): FC Virginia’s U-18s have been the dominant local ECNL team, having yet to lose or tie a game in the conference, while outscoring teams 17-2. In the two teams’ last matchup, FCV won 4-1.
