Jefferson Cup 2025 Championship Division Preview: U16 Boys

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SoccerWire continues its annual article series previewing the Jefferson Cup’s top brackets. In this edition, we take a look ahead at the U16 Boys Championship Division.

This year’s top flight features 12 of the top teams in the country in a showcase style format. (COLLEGE COACHES)

Arlington SA 2009 ECNL: After making the Group Stage of last year’s ECNL National Playoffs Arlington are looking to make greater heights in 2024-2025. They finished off the 2024-2025 Mid-Atlantic Conference regular season with back-to-back wins over Charlotte SA (4-0) and NCFC Youth (8-2).

BVB IA Texas ECNL RL 09 (Eligio): -Finished off the fall part of their 2024-2025 season with three consecutive victories over RISE SC (2-1), Albion Hurricanes (3-1), and Oklahoma Celtic (4-0) to move into third place in the ECNL RL Texas Conference (9-1-3, 30 points). At the U90 Winter Showcase they won both of their matches to finish first in the Red Division.

Charlotte SA Academy ECNL 09: Blanked NCFC Youth 2-0 last weekend to put them right in the hunt for a Champions League spot (5-3-4, 19 points). Their defense has been on point all season, earning ten clean sheets across all ECNL competitions.

Cincinnati United CUP 09 Gold: Despite having just started their season in the National Academy League CUP are already putting themselves in contention to win the Mid-America Conference. They have won three of their first five league matches to pull them into second place. In their three victories they outscored their opponents 13-3.

FC DELCO NAL 09: Earned their first NAL victory on Sunday by knocking off Real Futbol Academy 3-1. They have also had a strong run in Showcase play, going undefeated in all three of their matches at the Penn Fusion Boys Winter Showcase in February in the White Division.

Oakville Soccer Club 2009 Boys OPDL: Swept through the competition at last May’s Umbro Top Rated Showcase in the Elite Red Division, outscoring their opponents 14-3 in their four victories. They have also proven that they are comfortable playing international matches, having won three matches at the EDP Easter Showcase last April.

Richmond United 09 ECNL: Finished off their 2024-2025 ECNL regular season by grinding out a 1-1 draw with Charlotte SA back in April. After dropping a tough match against South Carolina United at the visitRaleigh.com Boys College Showcase in November, they reeled off consecutive victories over Rush Soccer Global Select (1-0) and NCFC Youth (2-1) to finish second in Bracket B of the Showcase Division.

STA 2009 ECNL: Stretched their unbeaten run in the ECNL’s New England Conference to four games over the weekend with a 1-0 shutout victory against East Meadow SC. STA made the Group Stage of last year’s ECNL National Playoffs and just finished off a solid showing at the Penn Fusion Boys Winter Showcase where they earned two shutout victories over LVU Rush and Dominion FC.

SYC U16 MLS NEXT: Currently sitting in third place in MLS NEXT’s Mid-Atlantic Conference (5-2-1, 16 points) SYC are looking to use their time in Richmond to ready their team for the playoff push. Their .63 Goals Against Average is the lowest among all MLS NEXT Mid-Atlantic Conference teams.

VDA 2009 ECNL: Started 2025 on a hot streak, winning all three of their matches at the ECNL Florida Winter National Event by a combined score of 8-0. Their strong run of form continued into the Mid-Atlantic Conference where they knocked off Charlotte SA (1-0) and drew level with Beach FC (1-1) to put them in prime position to earn a Champions League playoff spot.

Wake FC U16 MLS NEXT: Hailing from Holly Springs, North Carolina Wake FC are back at this year’s Jefferson Cup. The club likes to play a high press, high tempo game which will certainly give other teams problems at this year’s competition. The MLS NEXT squad will be one of the teams to beat in this bracket.

Woodbridge 2009 Boys OPDL: Placed second in Group B at the Surf College Cup Best of the Best National Event in November, winning two of their three matches. They bookended the event with two shutouts over Slammers FC ECNL (4-0) and BOCA OC (7-0).