GA Playoffs Texas Team Preview: HTX 10

<p>After almost ten months of action, the Girls Academy League season is entering its final stretch, with only the best teams from each conference still alive in the battle to win the national title.</p>   <p>A critical moment of the season will unfold from June 18-23, in Norco, California, where the league playoffs will be held. 36 teams will compete in the U15, U16, and U17 age groups, with eight advancing to the League Finals, which will be held in Richmond, Virginia, from July 9-12. The U19 age group has only 12 teams in contention and will have the national champions crowned in Norco.</p>   <p>Six teams from Texas qualified to compete in the playoffs and will be in action in California over the next few days. In the days leading up to the event, we'll preview them:</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">HTX 10</h2>   <p>The team from Houston ranked second in the competitive Frontier Conference. HTX played 17 league matches, earning 13 wins, two losses and two ties, for a total of 41 points.</p>   <p><strong>Their Opponents</strong></p>   <p>HTX were drawn into the GA Playoffs Group I. They are set to face Washington's Spokane Shadow, Colorado's Broomfield Soccer Club and Florida's IMG Academy in their first matches in Norco.</p>   <p><strong>Their Squad</strong></p>   <p>HTX have [player_tooltip player_id='218285' first='Makenna' last='Woicikowfski'] and Nicole Meixeiro as goalkeeper options. Their backline has a combination of Marisol Rascoe, [player_tooltip player_id='295162' first='Channing' last='Rodgers'], [player_tooltip player_id='377181' first='Kylee' last='Ward-Sisco'], [player_tooltip player_id='350800' first='Charis' last='Burdick'], [player_tooltip player_id='222218' first='Charlotte' last='Elliott'], [player_tooltip player_id='377179' first='Quinn' last='Jones'] and [player_tooltip player_id='349779' first='Carlie' last='Marek']. [player_tooltip player_id='210644' first='Kiana' last='Puna'] leads their midfield efforts, helped by Sophie Borjon, Natalie Chappell, Alessandra Hernandez and [player_tooltip player_id='295189' first='Madison' last='LeBlanc']. Their attack has [player_tooltip player_id='210625' first='Rhea' last='Steil'], [player_tooltip player_id='295193' first='Alexia' last='Huber'], [player_tooltip player_id='278380' first='Kendall' last='Homs'] and [player_tooltip player_id='295188' first='Hadley' last='Robert'].</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/DPrj6SLgceo/ </div></figure>   <p><strong>Players to Watch</strong></p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Rodgers plays as a right back for HTX. The team typically plays with a back three, which fits her offensive-minded style very well and gives her the freedom to consistently push forward and support the attack. Rodgers does a great job of staying wide and helping stretch the field and is very dangerous when she gets the ball on the wing because of her impressive dribbling ability. She can beat opponents in tight spaces and also thrives at attacking the space behind the backline out wide, keeping opponents under constant pressure. Rodgers also does well when she brings the ball inside and has the vision and the quality to deliver excellent final passes, be it from the end line or the central region of the field.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/C_Rodgers13/status/1990235771266342945?s=20 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Chappell plays as an attacking midfielder for HTX. She does a great job of connecting the midfield with the attack, showing impressive vision and intelligence to make plays in the final third. Chappell likes to operate between the lines and doesn't need much time to scan the field and find the best option. She is very quick on the ball and has no trouble creating space when closely defended, typically following up on it with passes behind the backline. Chappell also finishes well from outside the box and has the confidence to attempt shots when she finds the space to do it.</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=i82P-d_AWWM </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Steil leads the line for HTX as a forward. She's their main attacking player and is a true all-around forward, being capable of making an impact in many different ways and of getting involved in basically everything they do in the attacking half. She moves very well off the ball, attacking the space out wide when available and dropping to get on the ball in the midfield to orchestrate plays. She's very difficult to stop when in possession because she shields the ball very well and has very close control of it. Besides making an impact as a playmaker, Steil is also a lethal finisher who's very calm in front of the goal and can hit incredible shots from outside the box.</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=XCL0F8lyybI </div></figure>   <p></p>

After almost ten months of action, the Girls Academy League season is entering its final stretch, with only the best teams from each conference still alive in the battle to win the national title.