Elite Clubs National League picks up after holiday break
By Jimmy LaRoue
While Elite Clubs National League play resumes after all but two teams had the week off last week, another of the league’s Player Development Program events will take place in Danville, Calif. this weekend.
The event will be held at Mustang Soccer Complex with many of the top players taking part from Northwest Conference clubs Crossfire Premier and Washington Premier of Washington, as well as De Anza, Mustang, Pleasanton and San Juan of California.
The rosters for the event are as follows:
Team One
Kayla Jones – Goalkeeper (Mustang)
Amanda Davis – Defender (Mustang)
Casidee Lynch – Defender (San Juan)
Taffany Geer – Defender (Mustang)
Gary Bailey – Defender (San Juan)
Mireya Wathen-Mayora – Midfielder (San Juan)
Celeste Boureille – Midfielder (Mustang)
Cheyanne Maxwell – Midfielder (San Juan)
Celeste Matore – Midfielder (Mustang)
Madison Tye – Midfielder (Mustang)
Sierra Bilinger – Forward (Crossfire)
Julia Platter – Forward (San Juan)
Devlyn Jeter – Forward (San Juan)
Team Two
Sarah Shimer – Goalkeeper (Washington Premier)
Cassidy Nicks – Defender (Mustang)
Mariah Powers – Defender (San Juan)
Alexa Vandevanter – Defender (Mustang)
Alessandra Dutto – Midfielder (Mustang)
Megan Rauschnot – Midfielder (De Anza)
Shannon Hennessy – Midfielder (Mustang)
Jessica DeAnda – Midfielder (San Juan)
Alexandra Torru – Midfielder (Mustang)
Emma Bergstrom – Midfielder (Crossfire)
Rebecca Schoales – Forward (Crossfire)
Ryan Walker – Forward (Mustang)
Team Three
Kesy Platt – Goalkeeper (Pleasanton)
Hannah Rosenberg – Defender (De Anza)
Alyssa Alarab – Defender (Mustang)
Kristi Braken Guelke – Defender (De Anza)
Jaime Van Horn – Defender (Mustang)
Celia Vaughn – Midfielder (Washington Premier)
Andrea Damian – Midfielder (San Juan)
Emma Trynauer – Midfielder (De Anza)
Ivy Torres-Flores – Midfielder (Pleasanton)
Terra Carden – Midfielder (San Juan)
Jennifer Waldo – Forward (San Juan)
Serina Bolden – Forward (De Anza)
Nathalie Marie – Forward (Mustang)
Team Four
Lexi Nicholas – Goalkeeper (Pleasanton)
Cayla Velander – Defender (San Juan)
Haley Lukas – Defender (Mustang)
Haley Chow – Defender (Pleasanton)
Xochi Hunter – Defender (De Anza)
Precious Akanyirige – Defender (Pleasanton)
Hailai Aarghandiwal – Midfielder (Pleasanton)
Tamara Aboumaad – Midfielder (Pleasanton)
Madison Medved – Midfielder (De Anza)
Madeline Gibson – Midfielder (Mustang)
Andrea Boehm – Forward (Mustang)
Cali Crisler – Forward (Crossfire)
Aliyah Utush – Forward (San Juan)
ECNL PDP event are in conjunction with US Club Soccer’s id2 Player Development Programs. PDPs are regionally-based identification and development programs within US Club Soccer’s id2 Program to identify players for higher levels of play, provide a developmental experience and recognize and reward individual performance and achievement.
Teams will train in the morning on each of the two days, and play games in the afternoon.
Saturday, April 14:
Teams 1 and 2
Training: 9–10:30 a.m.
Game 1: 1-3 p.m.
Teams 3 and 4
Training: 10:30–12 p.m.
Game 1: 3-5 p.m.
Sunday, April 15:
Teams 1 and 2:
Game 2: 9-11 a.m.
Teams 3 and 4:
Game 2: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
In action across the conferences this weekend:
Northeast
The clubs in Under-15 through U-18 all have two games this weekend.
PDA (3-0-0) will look to keep its hold on first place in U-15 Northeast Conference play with games against SoccerPlus Connecticut and Connecticut FC, though with most teams having played just three games, the division is tightly bunched. In U-16, Connecticut FC (3-0-0) will look to extend its early first place lead with games against World Class FC and PDA. The PDA/Connecticut FC showdown Sunday will pit the top two teams in the conference against each other.
Mid-Atlantic Conference
Ohio Premier Eagles and Ohio Elite Soccer Academy are hosting Freestate Soccer Alliance and FC Delco this weekend.
In U-18s, Freestate (5-1-2) and Ohio Elite (6-2-1) are the top two teams in the Mid-Atlantic Conference.
In U-17 play, while it will be tough for teams to catch up to the pace FC Virginia (13-2-2) has set, a majority of the teams in the conference have played nine games or less, while FC Virginia has played 17.
FC Delco (5-0-1) and Ohio Elite (7-1-1) will duel Saturday in a battle of one versus two in the conference. Freestate (5-2-1) can move up with a strong weekend showing on its Ohio road trip, facing both Ohio Premier Eagles (3-2-4) and Ohio Elite.
SoCal Conference
It’ll be a face off between the U-17 first and second place teams in the SoCal Conference when Slammers (8-2-1) takes on Real So Cal (6-1-3), who also faces third-place San Diego Surf (6-1-4) this weekend.
In U-15s, West Coast (8-0-2) will look to extend its lead at the top of the conference as it faces Arsenal FC (3-5-0) and Slammers FC (5-2-2).
Conference teams across the age groups will place twice this weekend.
Much of the action takes place in U-14s, as 39 games are slated for the weekend. In U-15 through U-18, Midwest, Mountain West and Southeast conference teams will be off this weekend, while just two clubs are in action in both the Texas Conference (FC Dallas vs Dallas Texans) and Northwest Conference (Crossfire Premier vs Washington Premier).