Battle for Texas at Girls Dallas Cup
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FRISCO, Texas – Last year, Dallas Cup added a girls competition to the historic international youth soccer tournament. The inaugural year of the competition included four age brackets: U19, U18, U17, and U16. Local club Solar SC stole the headlines…
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Continue ReadingFRISCO, Texas – Last year, Dallas Cup added a girls competition to the historic international youth soccer tournament. The inaugural year of the competition included four age brackets: U19, U18, U17, and U16.
Local club Solar SC stole the headlines in 2021 by taking home three of the four trophies in the Dallas Cup girls competition. This year, Solar is trying to do it again.
Following the semifinals on Wednesday, Solar is on pace with three teams earning a spot in the championship game on Friday in the U17, U16, and U15 age groups. However, rival FC Dallas matched Solar and also sent three teams to the championship game: U19, U16, and U15. And another local club, DKSC, managed to send two teams to the championship games as well in the U17 and U19 age groups. The battle for Dallas is on for Friday at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco.
The youngest age group at the event had the most drama during the semifinals on Wednesday. Solar SC’s U14 team joined the competition in the U15 age group, and advanced out of pool play. The reward for making it out of pool play was a game against the Solar U15 squad in the semifinal round. The older Solar team is a perfect 19-0 in the ECNL this season, and includes a plethora of players with youth national team experience.
Wednesday’s meeting had all of the trademarks of a classic and lived up to the billing. The Solar U14 team came out on the front foot with a handful of chances in the first half. One of the key points from the games over the last two days has been getting a goal while playing with the wind at your back, and Solar U14 was clearly trying to do that early on in the game against Solar U15.
Solar U14 notched that opening half goal and had a 1-0 lead at the break, but the younger group also missed a number of chances as well. Solar U15 goalkeeper Olivia Geller Olivia Geller 5'9" | GK Southlake Carroll | 2025 State #56 Nation TX came up big when called upon as the feisty younger team came out swinging.
The Solar U15 team weathered the storm and scored twice in the second half with Dezeriah Scott Dezeriah Scott null | F State #252 Nation TX notching the go-ahead goal. Despite playing into the wind while trailing, Solar SC U14 still had a chance at an equalizer late in the second half on a penalty kick. But like the theme for the game for the Solar U14 team, they were left ruing the missed chance as the attempt from the spot went over the bar. The Solar U15 team advanced to the championship game and will look to do the club proud on Friday.
The all-Solar battle was only part of the drama from the U15 age group. On the adjacent field, FC Dallas ECNL took on Sting Dallas Black for the other spot in the championship game. FC Dallas and Sting have already played twice this season in the ECNL with each team winning one game so the semifinal figured to be a close battle. It lived up to the hype.
FC Dallas, with the wind at their back, scored in the first half on a goal from Holly Storer Holly Storer null | F State #52 Nation TX , assist from Izy Traub. Sting answered in the second half on a goal from the penalty kick spot. With the squads level at 1-1 at the end of the game, they went directly to penalty kicks to decide the victor. FC Dallas goalkeeper Shelby Coleman Shelby Coleman M TX was the star of the show with a couple of saves in the shootout to help her team advance to the final.
In the U16 age group, Solar SC 06s are going for the repeat at the U16 level after winning the tournament while playing up an age group last year. Solar defeated DKSC 2-0 on Wednesday with Aly Guthrie Aly Guthrie null | M Prestonwood Christian Academy | 2025 State #108 Nation TX scoring the game-winner early in the contest off an assist from Kennedy Fuller Kennedy Fuller 5'5" | F Southlake Carroll (TX) | 2024 #1 Nation TX . Brooklyn Miller Brooklyn Miller null | M Prosper (TX) | 2024 State #198 Nation TX tallied the insurance goal in the second half off an assist from Sophia Cedeno.
FC Dallas will join Solar in the final after they beat BVB International Academy Texas 2-0 in the other semifinal. Jaden Thomas Jaden Thomas F Hockaday (TX) | 2024 State #33 Nation TX and Juliette Rayo Juliette Rayo null | M Rockwall (TX) | 2024 State #143 Nation TX scored the goals. Amanda Adams had the assist.
The U17 and U19 semifinals lacked any drama. In the U17, Solar SC rolled to a 7-0 win over FC Dallas. DKSC trounced Sting Dallas Royal ECNL RL 8-0 in the other game. In the U19, FC Dallas beat Solar SC ECNL RL Grade 3-0. DKSC rolled to a big win over Everton College (England) in the other game. The winning teams will meet on Friday in the championship games.
The rosters might look slightly different on Friday for some of the advancing teams. Texas high school soccer is still on-going with the state semifinals scheduled for Friday. The aforementioned Olivia Geller Olivia Geller 5'9" | GK Southlake Carroll | 2025 State #56 Nation TX is the starting goalkeeper for Southlake Carroll, which takes on Westlake on Friday. Zoe Matthews Zoe Matthews null | F State #30 Nation CA , Abigail Mills Abigail Mills 5'10" | D Southlake Carroll | 2025 State #34 Nation TX , Hannah Jordan Hannah Jordan null | M Southlake Carroll | 2025 State #19 Nation TX , Parker Wilkerson Parker Wilkerson D TX , and Kennedy Fuller Kennedy Fuller 5'5" | F Southlake Carroll (TX) | 2024 #1 Nation TX are also part of the Southlake team. All six players either play for the Solar U16 or U15 team. Fuller, a freshman, is enjoying a stellar debut campaign with 23 goals and 15 assists in 17 games for Southlake.
But on Wednesday, all that matter was getting the club team to the championship game. The team performances were noteworthy on the day as getting to the final was the goal for everyone in the semifinal round. But there were college coaches roaming the sidelines and quite a few individual performances stood out from the games.
Mackenzie Mize Mackenzie Mize D TX , Sting Dallas Black U15 – Mize was one of the best center backs on the day. She is a 2026 so it’s a long way off for her in the recruiting journey, but the fundamentals are there for a very good defender in the future. She was tasked with slowing down a talented FC Dallas attack. Mize did well on duels. She used her body to separate the attacking player from the ball and regained possession for her side. She is a name to circle for the future. Ava Leonard-Garrett Ava Leonard-Garrett D State TX was also a standout for Sting.
Cassidy Horton Cassidy Horton M Argyle | 2026 State TX , Solar SC 08 – It wasn’t the best game of soccer for either the Solar 08 or Solar 07 team on Wednesday. Playing against your own club is always tricky and both the teams and players are fully capable of a better showing. That said, the field was littered with the top players in the country in the 2025 and 2026 grad years. Horton gets a special shoutout because she was active in creating chances in the first. She had a good showing in the midfield. Defender Miranda Black Miranda Black D TX made an outstanding play defensively late in the game to stop a breakaway. She had a bad angle on a recovery run to stop a forward with the ball at her feet. Black executed a perfect slide tackle to stop the move cleanly.
Morgan Paley Morgan Paley GK McKinney North (TX) | 2024 State #85 Nation TX , Solar SC 06 – Paley recorded the shutout in goal on Wednesday with Cameron Byrd Cameron Byrd null | D Mansfield | 2025 State #53 Nation TX , Bella Pasion Bella Pasion D Lebanon Trail (TX) | 2024 State TX , and Micayla Decker Micayla Decker null | D Lebanon Trail | 2025 State #154 Nation TX also having standout performances.
Ally Pinto Ally Pinto M Flower Mound (TX) | 2024 State #160 Nation TX , DKSC 06 – Pinto finished the event with seven goals in four games. She showed well against the Solar squad with her skill on the ball and her directness in the attack. Reganne Morris Reganne Morris F TX was also a standout for DKSC.
Ali Brandt, FC Dallas 05 – It was not an easy day in the office for the FC Dallas goalkeeper, but she made a fantastic save early on in the game. She had a diving one-had block on a quick reaction to a close shot. It takes quite a bit of athleticism to pull that type of save off.
Ariana Anderson Ariana Anderson null | GK Frisco (TX) | 2023 TX , Solar 05 – The score is not going to show it, but Anderson made a big difference in the win over FC Dallas. She made two saves on shots from Taylor Cheatham Taylor Cheatham F Hebron (TX) | 2023 State #44 Nation TX when the game was scoreless. Both were powerful shots that would have snuck past most goalkeepers, but Anderson met the task on both efforts.
Hattie Patterson Hattie Patterson F Highland Park (TX) | 2023 State #42 Nation TX , Solar 05 – Patterson impressed me on Wednesday with her passing. She is a left footed center back who is excellent on the ball. She hits her passes with good accuracy and pace, which is key to how Solar wants to play.
Emma Yolinsky Emma Yolinsky F Prosper (TX) | 2024 State #7 Nation TX , Solar 05 – It was another day in the office performance from Yolinsky with two goals and an assist. Callie Conrad Callie Conrad null | F Lake Ridge (TX) | 2023 State TX chipped in with a goal and two assists. Charlie Codd Charlie Codd F Midway (TX) | 2023 State #40 Nation TX had two goals too.
Shanti Weddington Shanti Weddington null | F Timberview (TX) | 2023 State #37 Nation TX , DKSC 05 – Weddington and DKSC cruised to a win on Wednesday. Weddington had a great goal in the first half. Bresaidies Mosley Bresaidies Mosley D Ranchview (TX) | 2023 TX and Faith Graves were also standouts for DKSC.