ECNL: Ohio teams invade Virginia for weekend matchups

By Jimmy LaRoue

Moving toward the Thanksgiving break, four Virginia teams will host the Ohio teams in the Mid-Atlantic Conference this weekend.

FC Virginia and McLean Youth Soccer will both host Ohio Premier Eagles and Internationals, SC while Virginia Rush and Richmond Strikers will host Ohio Elite Soccer Academy and Carmel United.

For the Ohio teams’ U-15 through U-18 teams, it will be their first matches of the 2012-13 ECNL season.

This weekend will be the last to see all of these Virginia teams at home. The Strikers ECNL teams won’t be back at home until mid-March, as it will play four conference matches on the road and then the ECNL National Event in Sanford, Fla. at the end of December, and after taking January off, will resume with the league’s National Event in Dallas in late February. Following two more road games in early March, the Strikers will finally play five straight at home.

Rush, after this weekend, won’t be back home until early February, with all seven December games–conference and National Event games–on the road.

Here’s the breakdown by age group:

U-14

First place Carmel United (7-1-1) is led by Alexandra Rice, who has 12 goals and six assists on the season, with Taylor Crowe adding six goals and two assists, Hope Van Wagner with five goals and three assists, and Alicia James with four goals and two assists. Carmel United has yet to face the Strikers and Rush, but has a scoreless tie against FC Virginia and a 7-2 win over McLean under its belt.

Second place FC Virginia (4-1-1) is led by Gabriella Gordon’s six goals, while Katie Le has two goals and three assists, and Kaitlyn Small and Casey Kent each have three goals on the season.

Internationals and Ohio Premier Eagles are off to 6-1-3 starts and are tied for fourth place, with McLean in sixth place at 2-3-2. Ohio Elite, at 1-4-3, is just ahead of Rush (1-4-1), while the Strikers, at 0-4-0, will be looking for their first win.

U-15

FC Virginia has started strong in conference play at 4-0-0, shutting out opponents 14-0 and getting goals from nine different players, with Sierra Lam leading the team in goals with three, and Julia Phillips leading in assists with four.

Rush, at 2-2-1, is in second place with both Jordan Marshall and Amanda Charalambous leading the team with a pair of goals each. McLean is 1-3-1 and the Strikers are 1-3-0 going into the weekend.

U-16

McLean and FC Virginia are both tied for the conference lead with 3-1-1 records. McLean is led by six-goal scorer Mia Hoen-Beck, while Stephanie Stahl has three assists. FC Virginia’s leading goal scorer is Maura Aman with three, while Kristina Diana has two goals and assists.

U-17

The Richmond Strikers have yet to give up a goal while scoring 14 in going 4-0-1 in its first five games. McLean has started just as well, also going 4-0-1 and scoring 14 goals while giving up just one. The Strikers are led by Elizabeth Ball’s six goals, while Kylie Hegemier has three goals and two assists. McLean is led by Kalia Wlliams’ five goals and two assists. Emma Shumway has another three goals.

Rush is off to an 1-4-0 start, while FC Virginia is 0-5-0. Each has scored just one goal  in conference play.

U-18

FC Virginia is at the top of the conference at 5-0-0 while scoring an average of four goals per game,. McLean is 3-2-0 in second place, while the Strikers are 2-3-0 and in third. Rush is still looking for its first win of the season.