ECNL Girls National Finals: 08 Midfielders to Watch

All roads lead to Richmond, Virginia for each of these players as the ECNL Girls National Finals kick off this week. This group of young ladies will be aiming to hold their own and steel their nerve in the midfield to help their team lift the trophy and become ECNL National Champions in 2024.    Effort and execution led Koszorus and XF Academy into the National Finals, and they will be looking to continue their quality form in Richmond. Three shutouts and a slew of goals exhibited the strength of Koszorus and the XF midfield abd we can expect them to create further offense and opportunities.     Villalpando is a part of a high performing San Diego Surf midfield that produced a plethora of quality offense and concerted defensive efforts during their time in Seattle. She will be looking to increase the defensive efforts as they earned shutouts in their first two matches, but gave four goals in the latter half of the National Playoffs.     Cecil effectively is the counter balance to Villalpando, pushing the offense forward for Surf and helping to generate chances and goals for her squad. She will definitely be required if they are to make it all the way to hoisting the trophy.     Another Surf midfielder responsible for their offensive success, Rodriguez has made her bread and butter through the passing game. She finds her teammates with ease and makes the task look simple. She will be another key cog for Surf when they take on De Anza.     There seems to be no end to the midfield talent for this Surf club. May adds another layer to this club's ability to keep pressure applied over the course of a match, so watch for her impact as Surf rotates the core in the center of the park.     Farmer features in a midfield group that is effective on both sides of the ball, creating a large quantity of offensive scores and chances while turning back opposing offenses with a high rate of regularity. She is the focus for De Anza Force as they go forward, and will need to be at her best for her team to succeed this weekend.     Another cog of the De Anza Force, McCormick featured as a top player in Seattle where her side earned three shutouts and went undefeated all the way through the National Playoffs. Expect strong contributions from her in Richmond.     So Cal Bles was another squad with three shutouts and an undefeated stretch in Seattle, and Henry was a key contributor to those feats. So Cal proved they can both score as needed and defend when warranted, with Henry and her teammates playing at their highest levels into the National Finals.     Clabaugh was a contributor to a group that scored 18 goals in four matches and blazed through group play. Some might suggest they want to concede a bit less, but when Penn is going forward, there's not many better, so Clabaugh and Co. might not need to heed that advice.     George has the opposite conundrum of a number of her compatriots in the middle of the field, as she and her Real Colorado teammates refused to concede a goal throughout their time in Seattle. That being said, it will be interesting to see how George and her teammates respond if another team is able to put one into their net. Granted, that's a big if.

All roads lead to Richmond, Virginia for each of these players as the ECNL Girls National Finals kick off this week. This group of young ladies will be aiming to hold their own and steel their nerve in the midfield to help their team lift the trophy and become ECNL National Champions in 2024.