U-15s Prepare for Texas Football Club Blue Cup

Steve's Hetherington's rising U-15s have been busy over the last few weeks, training indoors and out and fitting in a handful of chilly friendlies, all in an effort to get ready for competitive play in Dallas, Texas the weekend of December 7 & 8. The team for '07-'08 will consist of 9 of the original 17 from last year with five new additions from last year's U-14 Phantoms team and four new additions coming from the Classics. In a lot of respects the team is an entirely new team and, given the technical ability, athleticism and ambition of the new players, it should be noticeably stronger on the field. It will take some time, however, for the girls to realize their full potential as a group. A lot of tactical work will be needed and the girls need to develop an understanding of each other and their styles of play.

To assure that this is achieved, the players and their families have committed to an ambitious schedule that has included three friendly matches over the past two weekends and a challenging tournament in Dallas in one week's time. The girls hosted the Sachem FC U-16s and FC Vikings U-17s on November 18. Both of these teams are division 1 MAPLE teams that display athleticism, technical ability and the cohesion that one would expect from teams that have battled their way through the MAPLE system to the point that they are playing in division 1.

The girls split the matches beating Sachem FC 2-0 and losing to the Vikings 0-2. There were nice passages of attacking build up and some very solid individual defensive efforts. the new keeper, Aubrey Ouellet looked quick and fearless.

Dana Sailor Battling one of the Vikings' Tough and Fast Strikers

New Girl, Haley Kunkel, Breaking Up a Cross

Astrid Alvarado, Holding off and Laying Off

Shawna Trunca, Attacking the Box

The next weekend, two days after digesting their Thanksgiving feast, the girls took on the Gary Karibian's COE U-17s (last year's state cup winners). The U-15s took a 5-0 thumping but the score line is not entirely fair to the girls. They had good passages of play in which they possessed well, linking up and breaking down the U-17s in the midfield. For all the attractive effort, the girls could not devise ways to get good looks at the U-17s' goal and, when chances did fall to the U-15s, they were not very economical with those opportunities. The U-17s, on the other hand, did not waste their opportunities in the final 18. That's why they are state cup champions and that's why they won 5-0. The U-17s' poise and efficiency was a great example and something to aspire for as the u-15s come together over the coming months.

The U-15s work will continue this weekend and on Monday night. The girls' will travel to Dallas next Friday for a weekend of challenging soccer against teams ranked from #16 to #35 in Texas. It will be the first real chance for the girls to start putting it together for their own state cup campaign coming this spring. The entire club is excited and optimistic about their prospects.