Girls Academy Playoffs: Sunday, Funday

OCEANSIDE, California - The Girls Academy brought the fun on a sunny Sunday in Southern California. The headline games were in the U19 and U13 age groups as those two had the semifinal round games. FC Bay Area kept the dynasty alive and advanced to the final in the U19 age group over TSJ FC Virginia. Sockers FC claimed the other sport in the title game on Monday with a 4-2 win over Colorado Rush. Colorado Rush bounced back in the U13 age group with a win in the semifinal. Rush will face Houston Dash in the championship game on Monday. The U16, U15, and U14 age groups were also in action on Sunday. PrepSoccer highlights some standouts from the games below. [player_tooltip player_id="33320" first="Jocelyn" last="Travers"], FC Bay Area 07 - The left back lived up to her reputation on Sunday. Travers is part of the U.S. Youth National Team in this age group, and she looks the part of the best left back in the country. She is intelligent in her positioning for support. She times her tackles well. She is very good in duels and uses her body well. She did not get forward much from the left back spot, but she did hit a few good passes down the line to send the winger in. Madi MacDonald, NEFC 07 - The NEFC goalkeeper made two great saves in the second half in the scoreless draw against FC Bay Area, which was the result that clinched NEFC's spot in the next round. MacDonald was in the right spot to make the save on a powerful header from Mariah Betancourt. She also made an “any means necessary” save with her leg on a close shot in the second half. Vanessa Aguilar, FC Bay Area 07 - It's easy to see why the Mexico national team is interested in Aguilar. She has quick feet and good vision. In the first half, she forced NEFC to play wide to avoid giving her chances on the ball. She is a bright talent and a name to know for the future. Kyah Montano, NEFC 07 - Montano makes winning plays. The best example was in the second half when NEFC was trying to kill off the last few moments of the game, Montano was still chasing down every pass and pressing the center backs. She made a great slide tackle to block an outlet pass and picked the ball off the foot of a defender on another opportunity. Montano did not get a ton of service, but she was still involved in the play because she kept working throughout the game. Milla Lee, FC Bay Area 07 - Lee was a standout for her play in the attack for FC Bay Area. She was electric in the first half. She drew a pair of fouls for free kicks in the attacking half. She took the scoring opportunity for herself both times, but she just overhit the strike and put both barely over the bar. She can play as either a winger or a center forward. She has a good first touch, and does well with pressure on her back. Faye Battersby, NEFC 07 - Battersby had to do a bit of everything to help her side see out the result. Playing as a center back, Battersby was a bit of a clean-up machine as she made sure nothing got past her. On the ball, she strikes it cleanly and hit some good direct passes when the opportunity was available. She is a player to know for the future, as a top defender from the class of 2025 from the Northeast. Mary Bauchou, FC Bay Area 07 - Bauchou was called on to make a good save in the second half and she answered the call. The FC Bay Area goalkeeper is very good with the ball at her feet and she is fine playing under pressure. Center backs Eloise Stone and Leilani Cortez-Ramirez were also standouts for FC Bay Area. [player_tooltip player_id="33395" first="Tess" last="Barrett"], NEFC 07 - Barrett did not have her best game, as she looked slightly hampered. The thoughts and intentions were still there as she seemed to be looking for the right passes whenever in possession. She also provided a few good balls on set pieces. Annie Comella was a dangerous winger who came off the bench in the second half. Layla Tomezak, Nationals Girls Academy Blue 07 - Tomezak and her Nationals teammate got the party started early on Sunday in the group-winning victory over NYSC. Tomezak scored the opener on a great one-touch finish from near the top of the box. The midfielder scored again when no one on NYSC stepped up to slow her down and she dribbled into the box for an easy placed finish. [player_tooltip player_id="23024" first="Aubree" last="Ciampa"], Nationals Girls Academy Blue 07 - Ciampa had a great finish on a shot from 25 yards out that went into the upper 90. [player_tooltip player_id='56308' first='Lily' last='Pantaleo'] and Lilliana Dushaj were also standouts for Nationals in the attack. Sophia Enwright, Nationals Girls Academy Blue 07 - Enwright shut down a lot of chances for NYSC. She was in the right places and made the clean tackles to keep NYSC quiet through much of the day. Sofia Atehortua, NYSC 07 - The qualities that Atehortua showed in a losing effort have to make college coaches excited about the 2025 recruit. She kept working despite the scoreline, and she was creating things against a very good Nationals side. Natalie Chudowsky and Amelia Dougherty were also players who had standouts moments for NYSC. [player_tooltip player_id="27574" first="Mya" last="Townes"], TSJ FC Virginia 07 - Townes had an incredible performance for FC Virginia in the wild win over Lamorinda. She scored a couple of goals in the second half with just using her pace to get past the defense and finishing the chances. She probably could've had a couple of more, but that's is overshadowing an unstoppable performance from one of the top forwards in the country in this age group. Eden Dombek scored a goal late to ice the game for TSJ FC Virginia. [caption id="attachment_48752" align="alignright" width="275"]<img class="wp-image-48752 size-medium" src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/06/AliciaMeincke-275x300.jpg" alt="TSJ FC Virginia 07 [player_tooltip player_id=" width="275" height="300" /> [player_tooltip player_id="27596" first="Alicia" last="Meincke"], TSJ FC Virginia[/caption] [player_tooltip player_id="27596" first="Alicia" last="Meincke"], TSJ FC Virginia 07 - The attacking midfielder showed off nifty footwork as she worked around defenders near the end line before putting in a nice cross in the first half. It felt like the midfielder was always in the right spot to create a chance for her side. Nadia Young, Lamorinda 07 - The attacking midfielder nearly willed her team into a result in this game. She scored a great goal with her left foot from 25 yards out. She is right footed. She had another goal in the first half as she got on the end of a cross from No. 9. Young is a player to know for the future. Pavitra Karnati, Indy Premier 07 - Karnati had a great game in goal in the 2-0 win over Lonestar on Sunday. She was active off her line and made smart decisions on when to leave her goal to come cut out a pass. She also did well punching away a cross. [player_tooltip player_id="22292" first="Ellie" last="Hill"], Indy Premier 07 - Hill was a standout in the attack for Indy. She was skillful on the ball and did well linking with her teammates. When she had space behind, Hill could turn her defender and get off to the races. When she is running downhill, she's tough to stop. Maria Reyes, Lonestar 07 - Reyes did well at center back against a very good Indy Premier team. She was excellent in her position to cover and made some key tackles. [player_tooltip player_id="26356" first="Shelby" last="Hollywood"] and No. 18 were also standouts for Lonestar. Lily Jeakle, Nationals Girls Academy Blue 08 - Jeakle will run through a wall to score, and it does not matter what the score of the game is when she does it. There is a competitive fire in this player that resonates well with this Nationals Team, which won their quarterfinal game 6-0 on Sunday. Jeakle, of course, scored off an assist from Micayla Johnson who was another standout from Nationals. Johnson plays the attacking midfield role a lot like [player_tooltip player_id="26810" first="Jaedyn" last="Shaw"], which is very high praise. Conamora Ndana, Nationals Girls Academy Blue 08 - Ndana is the boss of the Nationals defense. If you happen to get past the midfield, she is there to shut it down. The ball got stuck under feet twice in the first half, but she was still able to navigate around tackles and keep possession for her side. Her recovery speed is mesmerizing too, for the few times teams are able to get behind her. She is already on the national team pathway with call-ups to identification camps, and she should continue to be prioritized at that level. McKenna Clouston and Hope Pierfelice were also standouts for Nationals. Ava Boettcher, Colorado Rush 08 - The players who keep working even when things aren't going their way are some of my favorites and Boettcher is certainly one of those players. Her team had a rough performance against a talented Nationals side, but she worked her tail off and tried to create chances with just effort players. Molly Vapensky, FC United 06 - FC United claimed a big win over TSJ FC Virginia on Sunday. Vapensky recorded the shutout in goal with Lindsey Ciss scoring the lone goal. Maddie Smith, SJEB FC 07 - Smith scored three goals for her SJEB during the showcase event as her team went 2-1 in Oceanside. Callie Tumilty, FC United 07 - Tumilty scored all three goals as FC United picked up a win in the final game of group play to advance to the quarterfinals. FC United goalkeeper Emeline McClenahan recorded the shutout in goal.