California players looking to finish 2024 strong

Thursday was a big travel day for many as from all over the country many landed at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, or pulled in by car, for the massive ECNL event in Phoenix, the one that wraps up the calendar year as club soccer approaches its winter break. These are five players looking to end this part of the club season strongly.   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2024/11/0E71D740-A1FF-421C-A9B5-0A2DD6DBF02A.jpg?w=590" alt="" class="wp-image-271877" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Ronald Beltramo</figcaption></figure>    Beltramo is a very clever, and unselfish player. She is very creative at the No. 9 spot as she shows great vision and has incredible awareness of what is going on around her. She doesn't blindly go for goal, but will look to make the extra pass which leads to an even better opportunity. She is a hard-worker who makes strong runs and will continue to move and run while the play is developing. She is strong and decisive, making quick turns and sudden movements to get free and get a shot on goal, as she is a very strong finisher.     Derby shows fantastic instincts, top notch ball skills and clinical finishing ability. She reads play very well, and ends up winning the ball often because she understands how the play is developing on the pitch. Once on the ball, her subtle shifts and change of directions allow her to get a shoulder past the defender and then she uses good speed to gain an edge and create a scoring opportunity. Once she does, she can use either foot to finish and does so with accuracy and power.     Abedi's stop and start ability is impressive. She is incredibly agile and shifty, showing great quickness and athleticism. She uses her ability to change directions and to go from standstill to moving quickly to beat defenders, free up space and create opportunities. Playing mostly as a No. 11, she is a relentless worker on the outside as she will pressure high, cause mistakes by defenders and then take advantage. She links up very well with the outside back on her side as her combination style of play is really beautiful to watch.     Selvaggio has good size at nearly 6-feet and she pairs that with really good athleticism. She moves incredibly well, she shows quickness and the ability to change directions if her body is going one way and the shot goes another. She's very instinctive and shows wonderful reaction time. She also has very strong hands, so if she gets even her fingers to a ball, she can keep it from going in. Her ability to read attackers and their movements serves her very well when she's in a 1v1 situation or in a penalty shootout.     Esparza controls the pace of play really well, not adapting her game to what is going on around her, but staying within herself. She's very much in control when on the ball as she can beat you with speed and pressure defenders, or she can explore space, let the game come to her and either play a ball or continue down the pitch. She is a physical player, one who is not afraid to take players on, and she is creative in the way she finds opportunities up for herself or her teammates.

Thursday was a big travel day for many as from all over the country many landed at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, or pulled in by car, for the massive ECNL event in Phoenix, the one that wraps up the calendar year as club soccer approaches its winter break. These are five players looking to end this part of the club season strongly.