USL Pathway Spring Classic Recap: NC Courage and Indy Eleven win U20 titles

TAMPA, FL – The final day of the 2025 USL Pathway Spring Classic finished with silverware for both NC Courage and Indy Eleven as they lifted the trophy in their respective U20 Elite Division championship matches at the Tournament Sportsplex of Tampa Bay.

In the U20 Women’s Elite championship, the NC Courage Academy U20 team secured a decisive 5-0 victory over Chattanooga Red Wolves SC with an early goal setting the tone in the 13th minute from forward Rylee Keeley. Riley Kennedy then scored in the 26th minute before Keeley secured her brace just before halftime for a 3-0 lead. An own goal and strike from Lawson Hopkins early in the second half secured the 5-0 victory for NC Courage to lift the inaugural USL Pathway Spring Classic trophy.

“We’ve said the whole weekend to embrace expectations, and our expectations have been to come in and dominate every game in-and-out of possession and be happy with our performance and results,” said NC Courage Academy Director David Maddren. “The team have done a brilliant job doing some unbelievable, high-level things, and we’ve embraced our expectations and put in a brilliant performance.”

Reigning USL Academy Finals winners Indy Eleven continued their dominance in USL events with a 3-0 victory over SSA Swarm in the U20 Men’s Elite championship. Indy Eleven opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a strike from Nikola Ivetic before doubling their advantage just before halftime on a counterattack finished by Benjamin Zec. Edin Cvorovic added the icing on the cake with six minutes remaining the second half to give Indy Eleven its fourth consecutive win in USL spring competitions with the 2022-2024 USL Academy Cups and 2025 USL Pathway Spring Classic.

“We feel pretty confident having experience in these situations after recently being in the Finals in December,” said Indy Eleven Academy Director Kiki Wallace. “I think the guys have been prepared and understood the conditions we’ve been playing in to get the job done today.”

For winning the USL Pathway Spring Classic, both NC Courage and Indy Eleven have secured berths to the 2025 USL Academy Finals this December.

As the only unrestricted youth tournament hosted by a US Soccer professional league organization, the USL Pathway Classic invites clubs from across the country to apply, creating a unique competitive platform for young players to showcase their talent. The 2025 USL Fall Pathway Classic will be traveling to San Antonio, Texas, for the first USL Academy or Youth event held outside of Florida since 2019.