ECNL 2012 National Finals – Coverage Central
Thursday, 4:00 p.m. EDT<\/strong>: What. A. Day. A packed schedule of Under-16, U-17 and U-18 games is playing out under a seriously scorching sun at the Waukegan SportsPark, and there’s been no lack of drama, especially in the 12 pivotal Flight A quarterfinals. With air temperatures climbing past 90 degrees before the first round of morning matches had even concluded and the heat index reaching 105 degrees by early afternoon, players are being pushed to the limits of their fitness levels.\r\n\r\nBut just as importantly, the conditions have rewarded both technique — needed to maintain possession and force the opposition to chase — and focus, with the high level of play leaving scant margin for errors or breakdowns. As Ohio Premier U-17s coach Chris King reminded his team during their hard-fought quarterfinal match against CASL Chelsea Ladies, \”Every ball counts.\” Here are some scores from the Flight A quarterfinals. <\/strong>\r\n\r\nU-16<\/strong>\r\n\r\nEclipse Select SC 1-2 KCFC\r\n\r\nSlammers FC 1-0 Mustang SC\r\n\r\nDallas Sting 2-1 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy\r\n\r\nMichigan Hawks 2-1 PDA (in overtime)<\/strong> <\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nU-17<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSlammers FC 0-0 Mustang SC – Slammers advance via PK shootout<\/strong><\/em>\r\n\r\nMichigan Hawks 6-1 Concorde Fire\r\n\r\nOhio Premier Eagles 0-2 CASL Chelsea Ladies\r\n\r\nDallas Sting 2-1 Scorpions SC <\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nU-18<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSlammers FC 1-0 Arsenal FC\r\n\r\nDallas Texans 0-0 PDA – Texans <\/em><\/strong>advance via PK shootout<\/strong><\/em>\r\n\r\nSolar-Chelsea SC 2-1 Mustang SC\r\n\r\nReal Colorado 1-2 Michigan Hawks\r\n\r\nSee the full list of today’s scores, including Flight B and consolation matches, here<\/a>.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThursday, 10:30 a.m. EDT<\/strong>: Good morning! We’re wading into Day 5 of the ECNL National Finals, with Flight A quarterfinal matches in the Under-16, U-17 and U-18 age groups along with dozens of Flight B and consolation games happening as well.Which games are you most excited about? Drop a comment or two below, please!\r\n\r\nJimmy LaRoue has posted some in-depth looks at yesterday’s U-14 and U-15 championship finals — do take a look:\r\n\r\nECNL U-14: Ignoring coach\u2019s advice, just this once, pays dividends for Arsenal in winning championship<\/a>\r\n\r\nECNL U-15: Colorado Rush captures first-ever national title for club with shutout of Dallas Sting<\/a>\r\n\r\nAnd Jimmy has also rounded up some of his best action photos from Day 4:\r\n\r\n Photo gallery: Day 4 of ECNL National Finals<\/a>\r\n\r\nHere’s one of them, to help remind everyone of what’s at stake in Waukegan this week…\r\n\r\n;\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thesoccerwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Co-Rush-U15-ECNL-trophy.jpg\" "\\"Colorado")
<\/a>\r\n\r\n;\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThursday<\/strong>, 12:55 a.m. EDT:<\/strong> Many have just graduated from high school, and most have already signed letters of intent with elite NCAA Division I programs, having made that momentous decision months or even a year or two ago. Some have even experienced the international level as members of U.S. youth national teams.\r\n\r\nAll the same, there’s still plenty of hunger for success to be found among the players taking part in the ECNL’s Under-18 National Finals. Some 1o months of hard work has culminated in this four-day stretch in suburban Chicago and trophies are now well in sight, with some longtime teammates eager to end their careers together on a high note. And as college coaches will readily point out, they don’t stop the evaluating process once recruits have committed to their program — continuous improvement and strong, focused performances are still expected in these situations.\r\n\r\nU-18 heavyweights held serve on Day 1 in Waukegan, as the top five seeds all snared victories: Dallas Texans, Michigan Hawks, Mustang SC, Arsenal FC and Slammers FC. Real Colorado sprang a minor upset over local rivals Colorado Rush, Dallas’ Solar-Chelsea produced a five-goal explosion to sweep past Arizona’s SC Del Sol and perennial contenders PDA may be set to make some noise in this bracket — though they’ll have to knock off the Texans, who are fast, physical and packed with future Big XII Conference standouts, in Thursday’s quarterfinals to do so.\r\n\r\nDallas Texans 2-1 Crossfire Premier\r\nArsenal 4-3 FC Stars of Massachusetts\r\nColorado Rush 1-2 Real Colorado\r\nSlammers 2-0 Albertson Fury\r\nSC Del Sol 2-5 Solar-Chelsea SC\r\nMichigan Hawks 3-2 Carmel United\r\nMustang SC 3-1 KCFC\r\nPDA ECNL U18 2-1 Eclipse Select SC\r\n\r\nOther U-18 quarterfinal duels include Slammers vs. Flight A leading scorers Arsenal, Solar-Chelsea against Mustang and Real Colorado vs. Real Colorado. After losing two straight matches at the ECNL National Showcase Event in Phoenix last October, Mustang\u2019s U-18s reeled off a mind-boggling 14-game unbeaten streak that only ended with a 1-0 loss to San Juan SC in their final regular-season game of the year. Could they be rediscovering that dominance at the perfect time?\r\n\r\nWednesday, 10:55 p.m. EDT:<\/strong> Sure, the ECNL has plenty of dominant teams, stacked conferences and heavily-represented regions where dense collections of top talent can be found. Yet competitiveness remains the norm across the league and in one-off, knockout matches like those taking place here in the early rounds in Waukegan, anything can happen. Highly seeded teams continue to be upset during this National Finals week and the opening day of Under-17 Flight A action extended that trend.\r\n\r\nBased in Oak Brook, Ill., barely an hours’ drive south of here, top-ranked side Eclipse Select is on familiar turf this week and their rip-roaring autumn — they started the season on a 14-0 run — would have made them championship favorites in the minds of many just a few months ago. But their hopes were dashed by a 3-2 loss to Midwestern rivals Michigan Hawks this morning.\r\n\r\nAbout two hours later, a similar fate befell the no. 5 and no. 7 seeds, Texas and Mountain West top dogs (respectively) Dallas Texans and Colorado Rush. And after taking a 3-1 second-half lead over FC Virginia, Dallas Sting had to sweat to avoid being pegged back in the late going as Hotspur scored to cut the deficit to one, then threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Sting goal until the final whistle.\r\n\r\nConcorde Fire 2-1 TSC Hurricane\r\nEclipse Select SC 2-3 Michigan Hawks\r\nColorado Rush 0-1 Ohio Premier Eagles\r\nScorpions SC 4-2 Bethesda SC\r\nDallas Texans 0-1 Slammers FC\r\nMustang SC 2-1 Real So Cal\r\nDallas Sting 3-2 FC Virginia\r\nCASL Chelsea Ladies 3-0 San Diego Surf\r\n\r\nThose who came out second-best in today’s action still have plenty of soccer ahead of them in the form of consolation games, and will want to show their best for the hundreds of college scouts on hand. Meanwhile, all four of Thursday’s quarterfinal clashes promise excellent soccer. No.2 seed CASL Chelsea meet upstarts Ohio Premier in the wake of a very impressive win over San Diego Surf, Sting will look to find a way past the stingy defense of Scorpions SC, California contenders Slammers FC and Mustang SC face off and Michigan Hawks will attempt to keep the magic going against Georgia’s Concorde Fire.\r\n\r\nU-17 Flight B play begins at 4 p.m. CDT on Thursday. McLean Youth Soccer, Charlotte Soccer Academy, Washington Premier, World Class FC, Carolina Elite Soccer Academy, Minnesota Thunder Academy, Solar-Chelsea SC and FC Stars of Massachusetts are in town to seek the flight championship, while ninth through 16th seeds Heat FC, St. Louis Scott Gallagher, Birmingham United, Utah Avalanche, Penn Fusion SA, SC Del Sol, Atlanta Fire and East Meadow will battle for placement — and exposure to the aforementioned NCAA coaches.\r\n\r\nWednesday, 8:00 p.m. EDT:<\/strong> Under-16 National Finals action got underway in hot, sunny and windy conditions at the Waukegan SportsPark today, with the top 16 squads from the age group’s Flight A playing their first matches.\r\n\r\nIt’s generally been a tough tournament for highly-seeded teams thus far, with several surprising upsets sprinkled in among the results from the first three days of competition (featuring U-14 and U-15 play), and that trend continued in this age level as no. 2-seeded Lonestar SC fell to upstarts Ohio Elite. But top seeds Slammers FC sent a powerful message with a dominating win over Crossfire Premier and Eclipse Select maneuvered past West Coast FC to give the hometown club a shot at a deep tourney run in their own backyard.\r\n\r\nSlammers FC 5-1 Crossfire Premier\r\nMustang SC 3-0 Atlanta Fire\r\nEclipse Select SC 3-2 West Coast FC\r\nKCFC 2-1 San Diego Surf\r\nMichigan Hawks 3-2 Freestate Soccer Alliance\r\nPDA 1-0 FC Stars of Massachusetts\r\nLonestar SC 1-2 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy\r\nDallas Sting 1-0 So Cal Blues SC\r\n\r\nIn tomorrow morning’s quarterfinals, Eclipse will meet a confident KCFC unit which rolled to a 17-0 record in Midwest Conference play, sweeping aside their regional competitors with 69 goals scored and just 7 allowed. Slammers FC face Mustang in a tasty all-California matchup, Michigan Hawks battle a PDA side which still has yet to lose an ECNL match this season and Ohio Elite will look to keep their Cinderella run alive against the battle-tested Dallas Sting.\r\n\r\nToday’s losing teams will regroup for consolation games at midday tomorrow. U-16 Flight B teams have been arriving in Chicago throughout the day and will begin play on Thursday afternoon.\r\n\r\n;\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thesoccerwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Co-Rush-v-Sting-U15-ECNL-final.jpg\" "\\"Colorado")
<\/a>\r\n\r\n;\r\n\r\nWednesday<\/strong>, 7:00 p.m. EDT:<\/strong> Congratulations to Colorado Rush Under-15s, who edged past Dallas Sting 1-0 to earn their age group’s Flight A national championship at the Waukegan SportsPark this afternoon. After combining to score their team’s winning goal in yesterday’s 1-0 semifinal win over PDA, Rush’s dynamic duo of Jordan DiBiasi and Rylie O’Keefe were the difference-makers again today, as DiBiasi served up a cross for her close friend to finish off in the first half.\r\n\r\nSting nearly pulled level just before halftime as Natalie McDonough clanged a blast off the crossbar, and the Texas team applied plenty more pressure down the stretch as Rush sat deep and defended for long periods. But coach Wes Hart’s side weathered the storm and secured their second victory of the season over Sting, having handed the Dallas powerhouse one of its two regular-season losses back at the ECNL National Showcase Event in San Antonio in February.\r\n\r\nJimmy LaRoue spoke with several of the protagonists afterward and will be posting a more detailed report on this match later. In the meantime, stay tuned for a rundown of today’s scores in the U-16, U-17 and U-18 competitions which kicked off today.\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thesoccerwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Arsenal-FC-ECNL-U14-champs.jpg\" "\\"Arsenal")
<\/a>\r\n\r\n;\r\n\r\n;\r\n\r\nWednesday, 1:30 p.m. EDT:<\/strong> We have a winner in the Under-14 final’s all-Southern California clash — Arsenal FC defeated San Diego Surf 2-0, delivering a national championship to the 24-year-old club based in Temecula, Calif.\r\n\r\nCourtney Gazmarian and Marissa Everett provided the goals for Arsenal, who finished just two points behind the frontrunning Surf in the ECNL SoCal Conference’s regular-season standings.The ongoing windy conditions here in northern Illinois played a role in Arsenal’s opener as Gamzarian tracked down a long ball from teammate Nicole Leggio that might otherwise have soared out of play, handing their team a halftime lead that was backstopped by Everett’s late clincher.\r\n\r\nThe ECNL’s top two U-15 teams now have their moment in the sun, with the A Flight title tilt between the skilful, giant-killing Colorado Rush and a very athletic Dallas Sting squad currently underway.\r\n\r\nBy the way, for those keeping tracking of such finer points, the two ECNL Flight A championship finals so far have featured a no. 10 seed defeating a no. 5 seed (U-14) and a no. 7 seed facing a no. 8 seed. Both of these would seem to hint at balanced competitions where upsets are possible and sustained quality is required in both league and knockout situations.\r\n\r\nWednesday, 10 a.m. EDT:<\/strong> Today marks perhaps the busiest day of National Finals week here in Waukegan, with Under-16, U-17 and U-18 teams kicking off their respective quests for top honors while the U-14 and U-15 levels wrap up their respective competitions, headlined by Flight A championship finals featuring San Diego Surf vs. Arsenal FC and Colorado Rush vs. Dallas Sting, respectively. Here’s our look at those two tussles:\r\n\r\nECNL U-14: SoCal Conference rivals Arsenal, San Diego Surf punch tickets to final<\/a>\r\n\r\nECNL U-15: Dallas Sting, Colorado Rush to meet in championship clash<\/a>\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, U-15 Flight B crowned its champs yesterday:\r\n\r\nECNL U-15: Wash. Premier outlasts Minn. Thunder Academy to take National Flight B title<\/a>\r\n\r\nStay tuned…lots more to come!\r\n\r\nTuesday, 3:30 p.m. EDT:<\/strong> it’s warming up at the Waukegan Sports Park, and that’s not just talk about the weather.\r\n\r\nThe action on the fields have heated up as well, as Under-14 and U-15 teams have punched their tickets to the national finals tomorrow.\r\n\r\nIn U-14s, Arsenal FC held off PDA 1-0, while San Diego Surf advanced to the final over Mustang 3-2 in penalties after playing to a 1-1 tie in regulation and overtime.\r\n\r\nIn U-15s, Dallas Sting won convincingly, 4-1 over Crossfire Premier. Sting will face Colorado Rush, 1-0 winners over PDA.\r\n\r\nThis afternoon, we’ll see the U-15 Flight B final, with Washington Premier play Minnesota Thunder Academy.\r\n\r\nThe ECNL National Finals on the front page of the Lake County News-Sun, noting the event’s impact on the local economy. The story notes that with 8,000 players, it is the largest event that has ever been hosted at the Waukegan Sports Park.\r\n\r\nTuesday, 7:30 a.m. EDT:<\/strong>Good morning, and welcome to Day 3 of the ECNL National Finals. Here’s a few things for your morning reading that feature some of the great action from yesteday:\r\n\r\nECNL U-15: Washington Premier advances to Flight B final against Minnesota Thunder Academy<\/a>\r\n\r\nECNL U-15: A familiar scenario plays out as Colorado Rush rallies for overtime win against Eclipse Select<\/a>\r\n\r\nECNL U-15: Two goals a confidence boost for Paige Monaghan in shutout win over Dallas Texans<\/a>\r\n\r\nBe sure to check out the last update below for Day 2’s photo gallery and today’s schedule of games, and check back for updates as the competition heats up. For the most up-to-the-minute updates, follow @theECNL on Twitter.\r\n\r\nTuesday, 5 a.m. EDT :<\/strong> Here’s a look at the Day 2 photo gallery<\/a>. Once again, there’s lots of action across the Under-14 and U-15 age groups, with some overtime and even PKs in some cases, too.\r\n\r\nHere’s the U-14 schedule for later this morning. Times listed are central time.\r\n
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