Players from top teams at ECNL Phoenix

Top players from two states that boast a lot of them are in Phoenix this weekend, and these six players, hailing from California and Texas, play for three of the top teams in the country. The Beach FC 2006/2007 team, the Sting Black 2008 team and the San Diego Surf 2009 team are amongst the best in the nation and here are two players from each who play a big role with those teams.    Grant is an extremely underrated player. She has the ability to play at all three levels, showing off defensive skills, possession skills and the ability to finish. She is strong in the back, reacting quickly and winning balls. When she pushes up the pitch, she can invert and play in pockets of space in the midfield as her combination play and her one-touch ability are top class. She can also push forward and make overlapping and underlapping runs as she works in conjunction with the wide forward.     A tenacious competitor, Cooper really likes to drive at people from the No. 10 spot. She plays with great energy and purpose. She will take on defenders, and draw a crowd and then when she does, play a perfect ball out wide or thread the needle. She will also attack space with abandon, not giving an inch to an opponent. She runs well, she receives the ball well and if you leave her even a sliver of space, she will put a goal away.     Huynh is absolutely relentless and dogged in her pursuit. Once she locks on to an attacking player, it is pretty much over. She is so agile that she does not get juked easily. She dispossess well and she will be physically. She also gives full effort as she will read a play from afar and sprint to help break it up. She has good foot skills and can move the ball, showing good patience, vision and accuracy and she can really got down the line showing good straight line speed as well as the ability to tuck in and take defenders on in the middle of the pitch. She is a very well-rounded player.     Swain is incredibly athletic as you can see in her movements and the ease at which she plays the game. She is very attack-minded and a matchup nightmare in the midfield because of her explosiveness and her ability to make well-timed runs, to get on the end of the ball and make something happen. She's terrific when moving on the ball (also great off the ball in finding space) and her agility and stop-and-start ability make her hard to defend. She knows when to go for goal or to play a ball to another runner, showing good instincts.     Ward is a fierce competitor, someone who wants to win every ball, who attacks every ball in the air with desire and energy. She really gets after defenders, putting the pressure on them from the word go. She is great on taking them on 1v1, but is also clever in her movement off the ball in finding pockets of space to exploit and creases to make explosive runs through. She's really dangerous in the air when a ball is sent into the box. She's a clinical finisher, good with the ball and an unselfish, creative player.     Henard is a maestro with the ball and she's also very instinctive. She possesses the ball so well, with great technical skills and great composure and she knows when to step to the ball in the midfield, or to occupy a passing lane and be a disruptive force. Her use of her body to hold off defenders and either play a ball with her back to goal or to turn that defender really helps open things up. She's got such great vision and decision making that she is an immense asset to her team.

Top players from two states that boast a lot of them are in Phoenix this weekend, and these six players, hailing from California and Texas, play for three of the top teams in the country. The Beach FC 2006/2007 team, the Sting Black 2008 team and the San Diego Surf 2009 team are amongst the best in the nation and here are two players from each who play a big role with those teams.