A SoccerWire Featured Player since January 2022, Alex Pfeiffer was recently named the ECNL Girls U17 Player of the Year. She helped lead the SLSG Navy 2006 team to the ECNL National Championship title for a second straight season in 2023, and is a rising star in the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team program.
Winning one National Championship is never easy. But winning back-to-back ECNL National Championships requires something special from both the players and the team as a whole. The hunger, desire, and ability to overcome all of the obstacles that are thrown their way can take down any team and requires a special set of players to meet this unique challenge head on. While there were certainly obstacles thrown in their path, Alex Pfeiffer and the St. Louis Scott Gallagher U17 Navy team overcame the odds, capturing their second consecutive national title.
At the start of their 2022-2023 season, SLSG faced a difficult opponent to their title defense: injuries.
“When we started our season last fall, our team had a lot of injuries,” said Pfeiffer. “A lot of people were out so we had to adjust and make changes to our lineup and formations. It was a little scary at first, but as a team we knew we had to trust each other and our coaches that it would work. We had a good season and then a lot of our team went off to play high school in the spring.”
Learning how to adjust and work together was a key theme for the team all season as they continued to battle through injuries in the spring and the high school break. But they persevered, pulling together at a critical juncture in the season and booking their spot in the ECNL National Playoffs.
“When we all came back together to get ready for playoffs, we had new and different injuries than in the fall,” said Pfeiffer. “So once again, we had to adjust and even bring up some other players from other teams to round out our team. But we have become a really strong team over the last few years, we are a family, and we all just wanted to win again so badly, so again, we trusted each other and our coaches and just worked as hard as we could every game to win.”
In the playoffs, SLSG went undefeated in the group stage, winning all three of their matches by a combined score of 12-1. Business picked up in the knockout rounds, where they held off NC Courage Academy in the Round of 16 (2-1), Slammers FC in the Quarterfinals (4-2), and Internationals SC in the Semifinals (2-1). In the National Championship match, SLSG faced a tough opponent in Solar SC, but as they had done all season the team proved their mettle earning their second title 4-2.
Let’s hear it once more for the U17 ECNL National Champions? pic.twitter.com/e5bk0x3scS
— ECNL Girls (@ECNLgirls) July 27, 2023
“This team is unlike any team I have ever been on, we are all super competitive and just want to win,” said Pfeiffer. “But we also have this belief in each other and our club and coaches that we have what we need to be successful I think that is what made this second national championship so special, being a family and believing in each other. Even though we were not at full strength, we all worked so hard to get to that final and winning was just the most amazing feeling. We faced really really hard opponents to get there, but we did it as a team and that is what made it so great.”
For Pfeiffer, that mixture of competition and togetherness is what makes SLSG a great soccer program and was one of the driving factors for her rejoining the club. “Playing for SLSG is like being part of a big family,” she said. “Not just my team, but the atmosphere around our entire club, facility and our fields, you get the feeling everyone just wants the best for the club, their teams, their players. We have shield values, Respect, Tradition, Passion, Humility and Unity. Those are the guiding principles we are taught at the club from a very young age. And within the ECNL program we are taught it is more than just soccer, it matters who you are as a person, both on and off the field.”
Finding the right atmosphere for her to grow and develop has paid off. With SLSG’s 2006 Navy team last season (she is a 2007 playing up), Pfeiffer scored 21 goals and tallied 16 assists during the ECNL regular season and then added 10 goals/sevens assists during the playoffs. For her efforts, she was named the U17 ECNL National Player of the Year as well as the Midwest All-Conference Player of the Year. She wasn’t the only SLSG Navy U17 player to be recognized; Caroline Birkel, Kiley Kukan, and Grace Restovich also received First Team honors while Maison Smith received Second Team honors in the Midwest Conference.
Prior to this season’s honors, Pfeiffer was also a U15 ECNL All-American and has participated in multiple ECNL National Selection Games.
Her success with SLSG Navy has also led to opportunities with the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team. Originally getting her first call-up at U15 , she has gone on to earn seven call-ups for the USWYNT at the U15 and U16 levels. Pfeiffer was a pivotal player for the USWYNT winning the U15 CONCACAF Championship as well as the U16 Mondial Montigu Tournament.
.@AlexPfeiff17 with the game-winning goal in the Mondial Football Montaigu final! #STLSoccer pic.twitter.com/aeeZkWOz8E
— STLSoccerTracker (@StlSoccerTrackr) April 9, 2023
“I had actually just played a game at Soccer Park, I got done with my game, and my mom told me she got an email inviting me to the U15 camp in Chula Vista in March 2022,” said Pfeiffer when asked about receiving her first USWYNT call-up. “I was a little surprised but very happy because I knew that my hard work had paid off. Honestly, every time you get called up is so special and I never take any of these opportunities for granted. Being in the US Soccer environment is so unique, fiercely competitive, but also, I have made some of the best friends at these camps, it is an amazing experience.”
Although her summer was cut a bit short due to playing the ECNL National Championships, Pfeiffer has kept busy both on and off of the field. On the field, she has been working on her juggling, passing off of the wall, and finishing, using skill-based activities that she picked through SLSG’s ‘homework’ program. “I didn’t love at the time, but I am so grateful to have those drills and skills as a foundation and I put together my own routines any time I am working on my own,” she said.
Off the field, Pfeiffer is an avid baker, who learned from both her mother and grandmother (she lists banana bread and brownies among her favorites). She has also learned to cook steak, grilled vegetables, and potatoes from her dad who she describes as, ‘the chef of the family’. At school, she likes to study history and learning about how the problems of the past can be applied to today.
She is also an avid Manchester City supporter and was like many nervously watching the UEFA Champions League Final to see if they could pull off the treble.
“Definitely more nervous for the Manchester City Champions League final,” said Pfeiffer, when asked to compare the experience of watching her favorite team compete for a title versus being on the field for SLSG’s second title. “They had never won Champions League before, and I wanted them to win that and the treble. Obviously, I was nervous for our second championship title match, but I had been there before and sort of knew what to expect. Still nervous because you never know how a game will go but I knew our team was ready and so I just went out and played. That I could control, I could not control what happened with Man City.”
For Pfeiffer, the 2023-2024 season is a big year for both herself and for SLSG. The team will be looking to add a third consecutive ECNL title to their trophy case and with a strong bond between Pfeiffer and her teammates, they are certainly ready for the fight.
