ECNL Girls Playoffs: Five Texas Midfielders to Watch

<p>After nine months of Conference Play, the ECNL Girls League is set to enter crunch time, with the playoffs taking place this week, from June 22-28, in Seattle, Washington, for the U13-19 age groups.</p>   <p>As many as 350 teams from the entire country will play at the 60 Acres Soccer Park, in Redmond, with the goal of securing a spot in the ECNL Girls Finals, which will be held in Richmond, Virginia, in July.</p>   <p>Among these teams, there are several sides from Texas, who will try and take the Lone Star State to the Finals. These midfielders from Texas will play big roles for their teams:</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Cervantes and her Dallas Texans 09 team will play in the Champions League this week after they finished sixth in the Texas Conference with nine wins, five losses and one tie. A very technical player, she pulls the strings for them in midfield and dictates their pace with her intelligent and accurate passing. Despite her significant offensive contributions, she also works hard on the defensive side of the ball and gets to make several stops and to help the team regain possession. Cervantes is also very accurate in dead-ball situations and consistently scores off of free kicks.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.instagram.com/p/C6le_wfu9N1 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Mansour is a key cog in the Albion Hurricanes FC 09 team that will compete in the Champions League in Seattle after ranking fifth in the Texas Conference with nine wins, three losses and three ties. She typically plays a box-to-box role for them and is very active and engaged in the game. Mansour is extremely talented and makes a difference offensively, using her skilled left foot to beat opponents off the dribble in tight spaces and find key passes that no one else on the field saw. She also does solid defensive work for the team, using her great positioning to shield the backline and cut passing lanes.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/04/IMG_4315.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-171565" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Albion Hurricanes FC G09 vs. Challenge SC G09</figcaption></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">In her first season with DKSC 08, Nnamani helped the team produce a campaign of nine wins, three losses and three ties in the Texas Conference and qualify for the Champions League playoffs. She's extremely dangerous in the attacking midfielder role because of how direct and lethal she can be in the final third. Nnamani is very good at finding pockets of space to get on the ball and when she has possession she's a handful to defend because of how easily she can beat defenders with turns and moves while also pushing the ball towards the goal. Because she shoots so well, the midfielder has the ability to create and finish chances at a high level.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Jordan plays in midfield for the Solar SC 07 team that will play in the Champions League in Seattle after cruising in the Texas Conference with a perfect campaign of 15 wins. She plays as a central midfielder for them but is among their main chance-creators with her excellent all-around game. Jordan can pass, dribble and shoot at a very high level and is very good with her decision-making when in the final third. She also does a great job defensively, covering ground in midfield and knowing when to step up to win the ball back.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/paulee89/status/1775389820430193149 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Traub helped FC Dallas 07 finish second in the Texas Conference with an excellent campaign of 14 wins and one loss and will play with them in the Champions League this week. Operating as a defensive midfield, she's excellent on both sides of the ball and is the player her teammates look to get the ball whenever they are in trouble. Although not very physical, Traub is incredibly productive defensively because of how well she reads the game and gets into the right spot to win possession. When she has the ball, she distributes it with tremendous intelligence, always connecting good passes and immediately moving to offer her teammate the option to give the ball back to her in the final third.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-B5U7NqyMk </div></figure>

After nine months of Conference Play, the ECNL Girls League is set to enter crunch time, with the playoffs taking place this week, from June 22-28, in Seattle, Washington, for the U13-19 age groups.