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<p>Glendale, California will be teeming with talented young players as the SoCal version of the PrepSoccer girls ID camp comes to town this Saturday. With talented players from grades 2025-2028, there will be some special players taking part in the drills, the breakouts and the 11v11 scrimmages. Here are names from the 2026 class to watch for this Saturday.</p>
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<p>[player_tooltip player_id='112481' first='Natalhie' last='Baca'], Forward, SoCal Blues</p>
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<p>Baca is a forward who is comfortable traveling all over the pitch as she is very dynamic. She is a tall forward, but one that is in control of her body and moves well. She operates very well in tight spaces, and can maneuver out of trouble with the good agility she possesses. If she comes up the pitch to act as a target forward, she is very good at turning and continuing her run and getting past defenders, putting herself in position to put a shot on frame.</p>
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<p>Irma Damaso, Midfielder, Sporting SC</p>
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<p>Damaso is a good receiver of the ball and she works hard to make sure that she is available for her teammates. She works hard on and off the ball as she is constant movement and action. When she's on the ball she has great quickness and the ability to change directions. She plays a great ball, and a smart ball, as she sees angles that some midfielders don't as she will swing the ball from side-to-side and play a diagonal ball, not always trying to force a ball through the defense.</p>
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<p>Alexis Gamboa, Forward/Midfielder, San Diego Surf</p>
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<p>Gamboa can finish from anywhere on the pitch. She has never seen an angle she is not afraid to try to score from, and she is deadly accurate. Defenders need to be aware at all times and the keeper needs to be on their toes because she can finish from nearly anywhere. She is also very clever as she plays excellent balls into her teammates in the box, playing angles and hitting the ball in ways that others don't. She has good speed, good creativity as she can juke defenders or just use her physical ability to get past them.</p>
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<p>Leah Mata, Forward, LAFC</p>
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<p>Mata has great speed and she likes to use it to put defenders in the rear view. She has straight line speed, but also has agility and quickness as she can use that ability to get past defenders when she's on the ball. She has a good center of gravity and keeps her balance when defenders are physical and she plays with an equal amount of physicality. She times her runs well and she can also score from tight angles as well.</p>
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<p>[player_tooltip player_id='112415' first='Finley' last='Maynard'], Keeper, Pateadores</p>
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<p>Maynard reads play really well and does not over-commit. She is decisive, and knows when to commit to coming out or to stay on her line. If she does stay back, she closes down the angle very well and then uses her athletic ability to make sure she has everything covered. She is a good shot stopper, a good leader and a good distributor. </p>
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<p>[player_tooltip player_id='161398' first='Julissa' last='Moore'], Forward, Sporting CA South</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/07/868DFFF6-D732-47F5-8FE5-D777927FF2A0-crop-937x615-1722012393.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-200414" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: fitzfotos.net</figcaption></figure>
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<p>The last thing you want to see as a defender or a keeper is Moore coming at you. She is so fast, so athletic and so physically imposing that you just know she is going to bring it. She plays physically and can shed multiple defenders, stay on her feet and keep the ball. This allows space for her teammates and when she garners that kind of attention, she plays a ball across the face of goal. When in 1v1 situations, she is going to be able to get a shot off because she is so hard to stop. And when she does get in on goal, she finishes as cool as you'd like. Moore is the total package as a forward.</p>
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<p>Isabel Moreno, Outside Defender, LA Surf</p>
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<p>When Moreno steps into a passing lane to intercept a ball, she already has in mind what she is going to do next, and she does it quickly. If she is pressing high she can one touch and get a shot from distance off, and she will get it on frame, or if going for goal is not an option she plays the ball quickly in order to start the transition. She can use either foot, but her left foot is lethal, whipping balls into the area and giving keepers trouble. She is also a very good defender when tracking back as she has speed, she is brave and is not afraid to get stuck in as she tackles very well.</p>
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<p>[player_tooltip player_id='140340' first='Natalia' last='Ortiz'], Outside Defender/Forward, Heat FC</p>
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<p>Ortiz is an extremely impressive young player. She features for the Dominican U17/U20 national team and she was on the U15 team that won silver at the 2022 UNCAF Cup in Costa Rica. She is in the 2024 U16 ODP pool and has been selected three times for the Nevada ODP team. When you watch her play, you see why. She plays extremely hard, gives full effort as you can see what this game means to her. She can make tackles at full speed, which is not a skill everyone possesses, and she gets them right. She has great speed on the outside, usually featuring on the left side, and gets up and down the touch line incredibly quickly. If you want to see her speed on display, then just watch to see if she gets dispossessed. She turns on the speed and the intensity to win the ball back and does so with aplomb. Ortiz seems to do everything very well. She is a great 1v1 defender, she can possess the ball, she shows calmness, she shows vision and accuracy. She also loves to join the attack and can be a threat in the final third.</p>
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<p>[player_tooltip player_id='177986' first='Leilani' last='Phillips'], Forward, United E64</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/07/IMG_6196-crop-1816x1192-1722012495.jpg?w=800" alt="" class="wp-image-200416" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Candace Hayward-Edwards @burtie.bee</figcaption></figure>
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<p>Phillips is the epitome of calm and cool. She does everything deliberately and without panic. She has the ability to slow the game down and do things right instead of rushing them. She can play as a target striker, with her back to goal and act as a maestro, or she can make excellent, well-timed runs, showing the ability to flatten out or let a defender keep her onside before she accelerates. She can use either foot, she finishes very well as ball placement is something that she is quite good with.</p>
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<p>[player_tooltip player_id='149765' first='Reese' last='Tremper'], Keeper, Pateadores</p>
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<p>Tremper is a physical keeper, one with good size and good presence. She is not afraid to use her physicality in order to get to crosses and corner kicks. She reacts and responds quickly, keeping her head up and remaining aware of where the danger is. She shows the ability to stop shots from point blank range, and she reads shots from distance well. She gets long on balls directed towards the corners, and uses her body well to cover all angles. </p>
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Glendale, California will be teeming with talented young players as the SoCal version of the PrepSoccer girls ID camp comes to town this Saturday. With talented players from grades 2025-2028, there will be some special players taking part in the drills, the breakouts and the 11v11 scrimmages. Here are names from the 2026 class to watch for this Saturday.
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