ECNL Girls Playoffs: Five Texas Center Backs to Watch

<p>After nine months of Conference Play, the ECNL Girls League is set to enter crunch time, with the playoffs taking place this week, from June 22-28, in Seattle, Washington, for the U13-19 age groups.</p>   <p>As many as 350 teams from the entire country will play at the 60 Acres Soccer Park, in Redmond, with the goal of securing a spot in the ECNL Girls Finals, which will be held in Richmond, Virginia, in July.</p>   <p>Among these teams, there are several sides from Texas, who will try and take the Lone Star State to the Finals. Here are some center backs from Texas who will be tough to beat in the playoffs:</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Villarreal played a major role for the Dallas Texans 09 team that ranked sixth in the Texas Conference with nine wins, five losses and one tie, qualifying for the Champions League. A forward converted into a center back, she brings the best of both positions to the field, displaying the quality on the ball and the creativity of an offensive player and the defensive instincts of a defender. Villarreal uses her size extremely well to perform defensive actions and is also very mobile every time she needs to track back. She also has great quality and vision with her passing. </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/Cxgw6RSLKvW </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Sexton's Sting Dallas Royal 09 team was third in the Texas Conference with a campaign of 12 wins, two losses and one tie and will be in the Champions League playoffs in Seattle. Playing as a right-sided center back, she anchors their backline, giving a lot of stability to the team and providing coverage for the offensive plays. Sexton has a really high soccer IQ and is excellent with her decision-making when playing defense, especially with how she uses her body to fight for space and win possession. Because of her quality on the ball, she refuses to play long and force plays, always find efficient passes that help the team's buildup.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/futbol_ava/status/1794815262622904759 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">A state champion with Prosper, Mahon is one of the best center backs in the Lone Star State and plays a major role in her Solar SC 08 team that dominated the Texas Conference with 12 wins, two losses and one tie and will be in the Champions League. Capable of playing as a right back too, she has the full package when you think of a center back as she's physical, mobile and extremely intelligent. Mahon is strong in 1v1 duels and is very rarely caught out of position, being able to recover in no time when that happens. She's also as solid as it gets in possession, hitting excellent passes out of the back and being capable of driving it forward and joining the team's attacking efforts when they play ultra-defensive opponents.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://x.com/NXTLevel_FUTBOL/status/1798331865381876090 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Jaeger is a key defensive piece in her Sting Austin 07 team that got an eighth-place finish in the Texas Conference with seven wins, six losses and two ties and will be in action in the North American Cup. A tall defender, she's very strong in the air and does an excellent job of clearing crosses that target the team's penalty box. Jaeger also does well when she has to defend higher up on the field as she displays good mobility and knows how to use her positioning to push opposing attackers back into their own halves. She has good quality on her left foot and uses it to connect efficient passes out of the back and to create goalscoring opportunities by taking corner kicks from the right.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/05/IMG_4817.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-173246" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Albion Hurricanes FC G07 vs. Sting Austin G07</figcaption></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Yablosnki switched teams during the season and joined the FC Dallas 06/05 side that finished second in the Texas Conference with 12 wins, one loss and two ties and will compete in the Champions League. She added to their backline with her ability to defend in the air and on the ground. Yablonski uses her physicality well as she attempts to make stops, but is also very intelligent when she has to cover ground. She's strong in the air, but also knows what to do when defending in space and is not shy of going hard for tackles when she has to. </p>

After nine months of Conference Play, the ECNL Girls League is set to enter crunch time, with the playoffs taking place this week, from June 22-28, in Seattle, Washington, for the U13-19 age groups.