Jefferson Cup: ACC commits light up U-17 girls showcase on Day 2

RICHMOND, Va. — The lush natural grass of the West Creek complex finally opened up for Jefferson Cup girls showcase weekend action on Saturday. And while the waterlogged turf gave wet socks and mud stains to everyone on hand, after a truly harsh winter across North America, there was little to no complaining about the long-awaited opportunity to compete on real grass under real sunshine.

The Jeff Cup’s U-17 bracket featured some of the day’s most noteworthy matches — and they also tended to be some of the best-attended by NCAA scouts, many of whom were tracking the progress of the commits already in the bag in addition to evaluating as-yet unaffiliated talent.

FC Virginia 97 ECNL 0-1 Ambassadors FC 97 Blue

The U-17 Championship Division matchup between Ambassadors FC 97 from Ohio and FC Virginia 97 was another loaded with players bound for the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference.

FCV features players who have signed or verbally committed to reigning national champion Florida State (junior Briana Alston), College Cup runner-up Virginia (junior Kayla Morrison) and perennial power North Carolina (sophomore Emily Fox).

But on this day they were outmatched by a team led by a pair of players who have committed to Pittsburgh, which has struggled since joining the ACC two years ago but has used joining the conference to make powerful inroads in recruiting.

That was evidenced when Ambassadors senior Sarah Krause, who has signed with Pittsburgh, took a pass from Alex Wright, who will join her at Pitt in 2016, got a step on Alston and fired a diagonal shot just inside the far post.

“It was a good goal and they took it well, but to be honest the other team had possession for most of the game,” said Ambassadors coach Caleb Fortune. “That’s a very good team we played, so this is obviously a very nice result.”

Bethesda ECNL Eclipse 0-1 New Jersey Rush 97 NPL

An intriguing ECNL-vs.-NPL contest played out at West Creek in mid-afternoon, with a highly-rated Rush side edging past their Washington, D.C.-area adversaries via a stunning moment of magic from Tiernny Wiltshire.

The Rutgers commit’s all-action performance was highlighted by an authoritative finish into the top left corner of the net, hammering home after a surging run through Zone 14 and into the Bethesda penalty box in the first half.

Wiltshire (in blue, at right) also put in plenty of less glamorous work in other areas of the field, doing her part in the energetic midfield battle alongside NJ Rush’s quietly impressive holding midfielder Jessica Shanahan, a LaSalle commit.

Rush’s nationwide franchise network was in evidence as sophomore Chloe Chiles traveled up from Norfolk to join the New Jersey squad as a guest player from Virginia Rush.

GPS-Mass. NPL Elite 0-5 Maryland United FC 97 ECNL

In the second match of the day for both teams in the U-17 Championship division, Maryland United flexed their muscles against GPS Massachusetts, earning a comfortable win.

Earlier in the day GPS had managed to hold powerful PDA United at bay for 89 minutes before conceding a late penalty kick, but they could not duplicate that against a Maryland United team loaded with players bound for the ACC.

Kia Rankin scored Maryland’s only goal earlier in the day in their win over Syracuse Development Academy, and notched a hat trick in the evening game. A junior, Rankin is committed to North Carolina State.

Allison Higgs, a senior who has signed with Pittsburgh, scored the other two goals for Maryland.  In college, Higgs and Rankin will be conference rivals along with current club teammates Gaby Vincent, who will matriculate to Louisville this fall and juniors Sarah Osborne and Melanie Stiles, who have committed to Clemson.

“It’s going to be weird going against them, but also a lot of fun,” said Rankin.