ECNL New Jersey: Goalkeepers to Watch

A recent Coastal Carolina commit, Lamanna will be working hard between the posts for her Pittsburgh Riverhounds 06 team. She was one of the top goalkeepers in the division at the ECNL Houston a few months ago and will again have a big influence in her team’s success with her strong play in goal. Lamanna thrives for her positioning, but is also very good at reacting quickly to unpredictable situations and using her reflexes to make stops and keep the ball away from goal. The goalkeeper plays a big leadership role within the backline too, often instructing her teammates and keeping things organized for the team. Lamanna is very quick to get out of goal too and uses her feet well to pass the ball when needed.

One of the standouts of the ECNL Houston Selection Game, Deleon has recently committed to Vanderblit. She’s coming from a spectacular high school season in Texas, in which she had 17 clean sheets and helped Georgetown make it to the State Tournament. The Classics Elite 06 goalkeeper is excellent between the posts, using her tremendous athleticism to make saves not many other goalkeepers would. Deleon’s shot-stopping ability is truly impressive and her acrobatic saves are a true joy to watch, but she’s also very efficient when collecting crosses inside the penalty box and when she needs to step out of her line to challenge opponents. Her reliable play makes her teammates have a lot of confidence in her.

Murphy has established herself as one of the most promising goalkeepers in Texas over the last couple of years and only continues to get better with DKSC 07. Her highlight reels tend to be pretty impressive because of her ability to make acrobatic saves, most of the time using only one of her hands. One of her main strengths is her ability to fully stretch her body and arms and get to balls you wouldn’t expect her to. Murphy is also very strong when dealing with point-blank finishes because of her quickness of movement. She’s very explosive between the posts and plays with a lot of passion and energy.

Kubistek is another goalkeeper from the Pittsburg Riverhounds (she plays for their 07 team) worth paying attention to this weekend in New Jersey. Once you stop to watch her team play, you’ll probably be impressed with her communication with her teammates well before she gets to make a save. Kubistek is clearly one of the team’s leaders and she makes sure to keep her defenders engaged and aware of the game by talking to them non-stop. She’s a very technical goalkeeper, who will make all the technical actions well and will rarely make a mistake. She also understands the game very well and will often play very advanced on the field when her team is in possession to be able to stop eventual fast breaks.

Dinh will be a part of a strong United Futbol Academy 08 team that will compete in New Jersey. She played an important role for her high school team Buford as a freshman and was also very efficient when I saw her in action during the ECNL Houston a couple of months ago. Dinh is not the tallest goalkeeper, but she has very good positioning and reacts well to the plays happening in front of her. She’s very reliable too and plays with good confidence. Also capable of playing as a field player, she had good skills with her feet as well.