Potomac DA-ECNL Review: Bethesda-Olney go unbeaten at home to Richmond United

With the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, competition continued apace in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and the Elite Clubs National League for teams in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area.

On the boys’ side, Bethesda-Olney won all three games over Potomac rivals Richmond United, while in the ECNL, FC Virginia and Richmond United’s girls sides looked strong against the Ohio Elite Soccer Academy and Indiana Fire Juniors.

Let’s take a look at how teams from the area got on.

USSDA

Baltimore Bays Chelsea

Under-15/16s 2-6 New York Red Bulls (11/23)
Under-17/18s 0-2 New York Red Bulls (11/23)

Baltimore Bays Chelsea lost on their home turf in the Under-15/16s and Under-17/18s age groups to the New York Red Bulls to stay rooted to the bottom of both Atlantic Divisions.

Brian Saramago and Kyle Casey both scored braces, while Sean Teixeira and Zach Ryan added further strikes for New York in the Under-15/16s game, with previous SoccerWire USSDA Atlantic Division Best 11 nominee Dominic Fullano and Brady O’Connor hitting back for Bays.

Meanwhile, Malcolm Dixon and Juan Sebastian Sanchez found the net for the Red Bulls’ Under-17/18s as they took a 2-0 victory over the home side.

Baltimore Bays Chelsea and Soccer Association of Columbia

Baltimore Bays Chelsea Under-13/14s vs. SAC (11/23)

Bethesda-Olney and Richmond United

Bethesda Olney Under-13/14s 2-0 Richmond United (11/22)
Bethesda Olney Under-15/16s 4-3 Richmond United (11/22)
Bethesda Olney Under-17/18s 2-0 Richmond United (11/22)

Bethesda-Olney came out on top against Potomac region rivals Richmond United in their weekend tripleheader.

The hosts took the Under-13/14s game 2-0 thanks to goals in the first half from Senai Tesfu and Gabe Segal, while they also won the Under-17/18s game by the same margin. In the Under-15/16s age group, Bethesda-Olney continued their playoff push with a 4-3 victory over their United counterparts.

ECNL

FC Virginia

Under-15s 1-1 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy (11/22)
Under-16s 3-1 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy (11/22)
Under-17s 4-0 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy (11/22)
Under-18s 0-2 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy (11/22)

Under-15s 1-1 Indiana Fire Juniors (11/23)
Under-16s 3-1 Indiana Fire Juniors (11/23)
Under-17s 5-0 Indiana Fire Juniors (11/23)
Under-18s 1-5 Indiana Fire Juniors (11/23)

In the ECNL, FC Virginia’s Under-15s drew both their games 1-1. Against Ohio Elite Soccer Academy, Nicole Foley scored the hosts’ only goal, while against the Indiana Fire the home side’s strike came courtesy of Emilene Parham.

In the Under-16s age group, Virginia won both their games 3-1. In the game against Ohio Elite, goals came from Ashley Andersen, Casey Kent and Catherine Kwitnieski, with Lillian Weber notching two assists. The following day, Weber got on the scoresheet against the Indian Fire, joined by Gabriella Gordon and Casey Peterson.

The hosts’ Under-17s took two big victories, starting with a 4-0 win over Ohio Elite in which Katie Le, Tara Morris, previous SoccerWire ECNL Mid Atlantic Best 11 nominee Julia Phillips and Tess Sapone found the net. The following day, Virginia beat Indiana Fire 5-0 thanks to two more goals from Sapone and a hat-trick from SoccerWire ECNL Mid Atlantic Best 11 regular Emily Fox.

Virginia’s Under-18s could not keep the good run going, as they lost 2-0 and 5-1 in their two games, with Gabrielle Charles, Samantha Dewey, Amber Hoot, Sara Osinski and Caroline Ratz scoring for the Fire in the latter victory.

Richmond United

Under-15s 3-0 Indiana Fire Juniors (11/22)
Under-16s 1-1 Indiana Fire Juniors (11/22)
Under-17s 5-0 Indiana Fire Juniors (11/22)
Under-18s 1-3 Indiana Fire Juniors (11/22)

Under-15s 3-1 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy (11/23)
Under-16s 1-0 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy (11/23)
Under-17s 2-2 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy (11/23)
Under-18s 0-7 Ohio Elite Soccer Academy (11/23)

Richmond United enjoyed a rather successful weekend at home to the Indiana Fire and Ohio Elite in their ECNL doubleheader.

United’s Under-15s won both their games, with McKinley Burkett continuing the form that has seen her nominated to SoccerWire’s ECNL Mid Atlantic Best 11 in the past with five goals across the two fixtures. Another previous Best 11 nominee — Paige Franks — notched the other goal for the Under-15s over the weekend.

The hosts’ Under-16s went unbeaten with a 1-1 draw against Indiana Fire and a 1-0 win over Ohio Elite, while United’s Under-17s enjoyed a big 5-0 win over Indiana but drew 2-2 with Ohio Elite. Virginia Jesselson impressed with a brace in the first game and another strike in the second, while Keniya Lee, Taylor Alvey, Brittany Borum and previous SoccerWire ECNL Mid Atlantic Best 11 nominee Carson Pokorny also found the net.

Finally, Richmond’s Under-18s went down to two defeats, with Samantha Dewey completing an impressive weekend for Indiana with a goal in that game.