ECNL Playoffs Day 3 Standouts

Another incredible day for some footy for these young ladies. A bit hotter today then yesterday as temperatures reached a high of about 80 degrees. The fields at 60 Acres Soccer Complex are beautiful but definitely play a little slower than what most of these girls are used to. Teams who like to keep possession definitely suffered from more turnovers in build up. Teams who play a bit more direct definitely have the advantage out there especially when the wind picks up which it did through the day. There were some excellent performers today from the games I watched and here are a handful of them.    Swarts was a handful out there today in her sides 5-0 victory over Mustang to help her Charlotte SA squad advance to the next round. She ran channels, pressed the backline, scored her teams first goal and was a constant threat throughout the game.     Blackwell was the midfield engine for her Charlotte side. She made one positive play after another for her side on both ends of the field. Blackwell is a fluid mover with exceptional athleticism. She can get the ball on the half turn and facilitate play while also making something happen on the dribble. Loves getting stuck in as well makes her opponents life miserable out there.     Wyche scored a well taken goal for her [program_tooltip program_id='283311' first='Dallas' last='Texans'] side against [program_tooltip program_id='283434' first='Pleasanton' last='Rage']. She is a problem up top, puts herself about and chases down every loose ball. Has a good burst of pace and has all of the physical tools to grow into a great player.     I was impressed with her performance against the Texans today. She hugs that left touchline and is a massive threat when she gets going on the dribble. Rameshkumar is able to get to the byline or cut inside to rip a shot and the more space she has to dribble into the more success she seems to have. Her ability to get out of a bind in tight spaces is impressive as well.     Incredibly talented player with an excellent left foot. Fantastic vision, great ball winner, amazing decision and an exceptional athlete. Like any big time midfielder she gets it done on both ends. She was the main architect of her sides 7-1 drubbing of Concorde Fire to advance to the quarter finals.     They call her Barca out there and you can see why. She plays like a Barcelona player. Incredibly technical and combines passes with her teammates exceptionally. Ortiz finds pockets of space and can control even the most difficult entry passes. This Solar team is going to be a problem and Ortiz will play an instrumental role in this teams success moving forward.     The MVLA attacking player scored a good goal in her sides 3-1 loss to Sting. She was a constant threat offensively, anytime she got going on the dribble she seemed really dangerous for MVLA. Whenever she was in a foot race with an opposition defender she go there first. If she keeps refining her game the sky truly is the limit for this young talent.     Maguire is an absolute pest up front for Sting Royal. She got a great assist in this game but more impressively from my perspective was her unrelenting work rate up front on both sides of the ball. She scrapped and clawed for every loose ball made run after run even if she didn't get the ball and won a ton of fouls to help her side advance to the next round tomorrow. Big time player with a very bright future.     Stewart battled today for her MVLA side albeit in a 3-1 loss. She is excellent in 1 v 1 situations and makes very good decisions on the ball. You can play a very high line with her back there because she has speed to burn. Super high ceiling for this young talent.     Cleary has a ton of upside. She is a beast in midfield winning every 50-50 that came her way against MVLA. Excellent on the half turn and slipping her teammates through. She scored an excellent penalty to settle the game at 3-1. This Solar team can go all the way.     Absolute monster in midfield for her La Roca team today. The defensive midfielder uses her height and length to her advantage winning every aerial duel and a ton of tackles. She is the field general out there as play seems to flow through her offensively and she organizes her troops on defense showing excellent leadership.     Scored the best goal of the day from a free kick 30-35 yards away from goal that she struck with her laces that screamed into the top right corner of the goal in the first 10 minutes of the game. That was just the beginning for her she dominated the game with her exquisite touch, dribbling ability and vision. She always seemed to be 3 steps ahead of her opposition finding space and then playing the ball before anyone could get near her. You can definitely see why she is verbally committed to Notre Dame so early in recruiting.     This Eclipse team has a special midfield with Guzman and Thomas playing together. They are so in sync and always know where each other are going to be. Guzman is a half turn queen and super composed on the ball. Never seems rushed or bothered out there.     Rebman was very impressive on the left side for the Minnesota Thunder today against Eclipse. She really embraces contact and really makes opposition attackers feel her. Plays with no fear and bombs forward in transition making things happen in every third.     Bieser had an excellent run out for [program_tooltip program_id='283641' first='De' last='Anza Force'] against Ohio Elite today albeit in a 2-1 loss. She anticipated play well and made a handful of excellent tackles. Her distribution was consistent and she won a ton of headers.     She makes the extraordinary seem normal. Two goals today from Macualay to help her side advance into the next phase. Recently committing to USC Macaulay continues to impress. She has so much upside skill, power, speed, athleticism, grit and competitiveness.

Another incredible day for some footy for these young ladies. A bit hotter today then yesterday as temperatures reached a high of about 80 degrees. The fields at 60 Acres Soccer Complex are beautiful but definitely play a little slower than what most of these girls are used to. Teams who like to keep possession definitely suffered from more turnovers in build up. Teams who play a bit more direct definitely have the advantage out there especially when the wind picks up which it did through the day. There were some excellent performers today from the games I watched and here are a handful of them.