Dynamic Midfielders at Aggieland Friendship Cup

<p>The 2025-2026 club season is set to officially start within the next few weeks, and teams from all over Texas are currently finalizing their preparations for the upcoming matches and looking to get on the field and compete.</p>   <p>This weekend will mark an important step in the preparation for many teams in the Lone Star State, as they will be fine-tuning their games in friendly matches and tournaments ahead of the start of the season.</p>   <p>Several of them will be in College Station, where the 2025 edition of the traditional Aggieland Cup will be held between Saturday and Sunday. This year, the tournament will feature as many as 170 club teams from the U12 to the U19 age groups, coming from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and other areas, and representing the ECNL, GA and DPL leagues, among others.</p>   <p>Some of the best players in Texas will be competing at Veteran's Park this weekend, and we're presenting some names for you to follow. It will be hard not to notice these midfielders as they work hard in the center of the field for their teams:</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Ortiz is part of the Solar SC G10 team that will play against [program_tooltip program_id='283296' first='Classics' last='Elite'] G10 and [program_tooltip program_id='283497' first='Sting' last='Austin'] G10 in this weekend's event. She just joined the club, moving over from [program_tooltip program_id='283648' first='FC' last='Dallas'], and should add a lot to their chance-creation and quality in the final third with her elite attacking skills. She's one of the most creative and unpredictable attacking midfielders in the class, and her game allows her to hurt opponents in a variety of ways. Ortiz has incredible footwork and is hard to dispossess in tight spaces because of how quickly she manipulates the ball, but stepping back and avoiding her dribbling opens the door for her to connect well-weighted passes to her teammates. Ortiz asks for the ball a lot and can also score goals herself with long-distance shots.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/04/2J4A0240_ad8bb5.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-285374" /></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Puente plays for the [program_tooltip program_id='283317' first='[program_tooltip program_id='280767' first='DKSC' last='']' last=''] G09 team that's set to face [program_tooltip program_id='283397' first='[program_tooltip program_id='278668' first='Lonestar' last='']' last='SC'] Red RL G09 and FC Westlake RL G08/07 in College Station over the week. She's a recent addition to the team, having joined from the [program_tooltip program_id='283311' first='Dallas' last='Texans'], and will immediately become a key piece in their playing system. A center midfielder, Puente does a great job of controlling the pace of the game with her excellent distribution and her abilty to break pressure and create space with quick body moves. She plays defense with a lot of determination and is a very efficient tacklers, who thrives by timing her actions extremely well. Puente knows when to step up and press high and often generates quick transition opportunities for her team after wining possession in the attacking half.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcydz-Nxeik </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Ramirez plays for [program_tooltip program_id='283497' first='Sting' last='Austin'] G09 and will be with the team in their matches against the [program_tooltip program_id='283311' first='Dallas' last='Texans'] G09 and Solar SC G09. She's starting her second season with the team and is a key piece for them in central midfield. Sting have two of the most talented attacking players in the country in [player_tooltip player_id='148139' first='Carolina' last='Reyna'] and [player_tooltip player_id='210623' first='Ella' last='Carr'], but their game simply doesn't work without Ramirez's intense play in the center of the field. She's a defensive workhorse who covers a lot of ground in the center of the field and is always ready to tackle opponents and win the ball, but also has a lot of quality when in possesion, distributing it efficiently, finding excellent passes in the final third and displaying great quality to beat opponents off the dribble.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/02/2J4A0224.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-279864" /></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Heintz and her [program_tooltip program_id='283296' first='Classics' last='Elite'] G08/07 team will have Solar SC G08/07 and [program_tooltip program_id='283311' first='Dallas' last='Texans'] G07 as opponents over the weekend. She plays as a defensive midfielder for them and is very intense with her work off the ball, but is perhaps even more important for the team when they have possession. With her excellent vision, Heintz starts the team's offensive plays after getting the ball from the defenders, and she can either have the team play more directly, finding the attacking players with long passes, or progress the ball with combination plays through the center of the field. Despite not being extremely tall, she appears in great spots in the attacking penalty box in set pieces and often scores off headers.</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=Yan7umDlarU </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Dali will be with the Sting Black G08/07 team that will make the trip to College Station to face [program_tooltip program_id='283282' first='Challenge' last='SC'] G08 and [program_tooltip program_id='283243' first='Albion' last='Hurricanes FC'] G08. A tenacious wide player, she can be used in midfield or in the backline, and can contribute on both sides. Dali does a great job of reading the space in front of her and appearing in good spots to get on the ball around the penalty box and make crosses. She can also beat opponents off the dribble in 1v1 duels, especially by using her first touch to get one step ahead of them. She also works hard off the ball, at times pressing high and on other occasions dropping back and helping her team defend in a lower block.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/DaliMaheera/status/1707242815829266722 </div></figure>

The 2025-2026 club season is set to officially start within the next few weeks, and teams from all over Texas are currently finalizing their preparations for the upcoming matches and looking to get on the field and compete.