Forwards to Follow at Aggieland Friendship Cup

<p>As the start of the 2026-2027 club season approaches for the ECNL and the Girls Academy Leagues, teams in Texas have spent the last couple of weekends competing in scrimmages and friendly matches as they prepare for their first league matches between the end of August and the start of September.</p>   <p>This weekend, teams from both leagues will have a great opportunity to test themselves as one of the most traditional preseason tournaments in the Lone Star State, the Aggieland Friendship Cup, will take place in College Station. Set to be played on Saturday and Sunday at Veterans Park, the event will reunite 164 teams in the U13-U19 age groups.</p>   <p>Prep Soccer Texas will be in College Station over the weekend following the action, but before the event gets started, we wanted to introduce you to some of the most promising prospects who will be in action. Check these forwards out when they are on the field:</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Santana will be with the Lonstar Austin Red U16 team that will play against Rise SC U17 and Sting black U16 in College Station - she also plays for [program_tooltip program_id='283457' first='San' last='Antonio City SC']. A Dominican youth international, she's a talented wide player who can play a winger or an outside back and offers a lot offensively. Santana is very good at combining with her teammates out wide to make plays, releasing the ball at the right time and showing great movement off the ball to immediately become a passing option. She also likes to get into the penalty box and does a good job of converting the chances she gets.</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=r9CcDwXHKh4 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Barrow's [program_tooltip program_id='283243' first='Albion' last='Hurricanes FC'] U17 team is set to face [program_tooltip program_id='278668' first='Lonestar' last=''] Austin Red U17 and [program_tooltip program_id='342634' first='FC' last='Westlake'] U19 over the weekend. A USYNT regular, she's a complete forward who combines tremendous quality on the ball and a remarkable work rate. Barrow can be used more centrally or on the wings and is a handful for opponents with her well-rounded game, which allows her to hurt opposing backlines in different ways. She's very difficult to stop when isolated 1v1 out wide and also thrives when operating more inside and connecting with her teammates. The forward is an elite finisher, too, showing calm and confidence in front of the goal and the confidence to fire shots from difficult spots.</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/DQFdpHsCYJy/?img_index=2 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">De Paz is part of the Rise SC U19 team that will be able to test itself against Lonestar Austin Royal RL U17 and Lonestar San Antonio RL U19 in the event. A high-energy, hard-working winger, she can be used on both sides and keeps opponents under pressure with her high-energy game. De Paz is very direct on the ball, delivers great crosses into the box and is also a goalscoring threat herself, firing great shots from the edge of the box and consistently getting into great spots in the final third. She also offers significant defensive contributions, pressing opponents up high and dropping back to support her teammates work off the ball.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/11/2J4A0070_2af5d6.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-340015" /></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Cunningham and her [program_tooltip program_id='342634' first='FC' last='Westlake'] U19 team will play against [program_tooltip program_id='283282' first='Challenge' last='SC'] U17 and [program_tooltip program_id='283243' first='Albion' last='Hurricanes FC'] U17 in the next couple of days. One of the top forwards in the entire state, she brings together everything an elite striker needs and makes great use of her weapons to keep opponents under pressure and score goals. Cunningham is physical enough to battle defenders inside the box, but also thrives in space, using her pace and dribbling to make runs on the wings and centrally. She's very good at converting chances, showing great technical resources and remarkable composure in front of the goal, but also likes to get involved in creating them, dropping deeper to get on the ball and combine with her teammates.</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=lqwB3_MfMr8 </div></figure>

As the start of the 2026-2027 club season approaches for the ECNL and the Girls Academy Leagues, teams in Texas have spent the last couple of weekends competing in scrimmages and friendly matches as they prepare for their first league matches between the end of August and the start of September.