ECNL Dallas: 16s – Forwards
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The top teams in the ECNL Girls League in the country were in Dallas from February 17-19, where the league held its sixth National event of the season. Over 220 teams were in action over the three days of the…
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Continue ReadingThe top teams in the ECNL Girls League in the country were in Dallas from February 17-19, where the league held its sixth National event of the season.
Over 220 teams were in action over the three days of the event and Prep Soccer was in attendance, following several matches a day and taking a lot at some of the top-level prospects in the country. On Monday, we were at the Toyota Soccer Center, in Frisco, where we got to watch 16 of the 50 teams of the 16s age group compete.
We’ve already highlighted the players that stood out in the encounters we got to watch and now we’ll expand that a little bit and list more prospects that left a strong impression, looking at one position at a time. These forwards were highly productive for their teams:
DiMaria was one of the offensive forces in her team SLSG Navy, which got two wins and a loss in three matches in Dallas. Playing on the left side of the team’s frontline, she had the freedom to move in the final third and used it well to find the ball and get involved in most of its playmaking. DiMaria was extremely dangerous when she used her dribbling ability to bring the ball inside from the left into her preferred right foot as it opened up a number of possibilities, which she knew how to explore with her excellent vision and decision-making. The winger was very difficult to dispossess because of her ability to make good decisions on the fly and did well when finishing chances or setting her teammates up.
With Guthrie playing a big role in their offense, Eclipse Select completed a successful weekend in Texas with three wins and six goals scored. She was particularly important when her team wanted to play in transition because she displayed the ability to make strong runs down the flanks. Guthrie is fast, but also has interesting physical skills and shields the ball extremely well when in movement. Her offensive game is extremely well-rounded and the forward proved she can play different roles offensively, dropping deeper to create chances with her passing or playing more centrally and orchestrating smart combination plays.
Highlights
Deras was one of the main offensive options in her Challenge SC team and helped them produce a campaign on two wins and one loss. She spent most of her time in the striker role and displayed great positioning inside the penalty box and also an interesting ability to finish chances. An extremely mobile player, she circulated well in the attacking half to get on the ball and was dangerous when she attempted to beat defenders off the dribble on the wings. Deras also played as an attacking midfielder and proved to be very creative too, generating chances with intelligent passes and combination plays.
Highlights
A new face with Classics Elite this season, Briscoe has significantly increased the team’s firepower – the team had a win and two losses in Dallas. An extremely mobile forward, she’s relentless with her movement and doesn’t stop roaming around until she finds a good spot to get on the ball. Because of her high soccer IQ, Briscoe is a player who can hurt defenses in a variety of ways. She’s very prolific when she drops deeper to operate as a playmaker, finding good passes, but can also be the target of balls sent behind the backline, using her pace and extremely well-time runs to remain onside. Briscoe is also very dangerous in 1v1 situations as she’s very creative with her dribbling.
Morgan Crees
Morgan Crees
Crees’ team Sporting Iowa returned home with three losses and no goals scored, but she showed good promise in the match against Classics Elite. She displayed a very complete game and kept pushing for a goal until the final whistle. Creer is tall and somewhat physical and uses those skills to get the ball around the penalty box and work with her back to the goal. She also had good moments playing in wider positions, displaying good pace to progress the ball and nice dribbling skills to beat opponents.