93 ECNL Alums Dominate NCAA Women’s Final Four
Stanford wins 2017 College Cup filled with ECNL alums.
College Soccer News: The 2017 NCAA Women’s Soccer College Cup took place this past weekend in Orlando, FL, with four teams looking to hoist the championship trophy on December 3rd – Duke University, Stanford University, the University of South Carolina and the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA).
As impressive as the journey each team made to reach the College Cup was, it was equally impressive to see 93 alums from the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) participating in the event.
In the championship game alone 42 ECNL Alums were rostered, including the Pac-12 Conference Forward, Midfielder and Defensive Players of the Year.
“There are thousands of ECNL alums currently playing collegiate soccer, and to also see so many in the Division 1 College Cup speaks to the incredible quality of the development environment provided by the ECNL clubs over the past years,” said Jen Winnagle, Commissioner, Elite Clubs National League.
“ECNL players, teams, and clubs have raised the standards in youth soccer throughout their careers, and they will continue to raise the standard of the game for years to come as they keep developing in collegiate soccer,” said Winnagle.
Stanford University claimed the NCAA National Championship after a 3-2 victory over UCLA in the title game, with four of the five goal scorers coming from the ECNL.
San Diego Surf’s former player Kyra Carusa proved her strength on the field — and so did Andi Sullivan (Bethesda SC), Jaye Boissiere (MVLA) and Delanie Sheehan (West Coast FC) who each notched a goal in the championship match.
Perhaps the star of the match was ECNL alum Catarina Macario – the player who made headlines as a youth soccer player at San Diego Surf Soccer Club and made individual history by grabbing three assists in this NCAA championship match.
Macario is the all-time single-season assist leader for Stanford.
Mark Spooner, Surf SC’ Director of the Girls believes that Macario will one day play for the Red, White, and Blue and help our U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team win great honors on the pitch. Former coach Chris Lemay, who was Macario first coach at Surf SC, always believed Macario had talent.
In 2013, Lemay called Macario the best young female player in the country.
When Lemay was the assistant coach at the University of California, Berkeley he tried to recruit Macario who opted for Stanford in the end. Born in Brazil in October 1999,
Macario broke every record in the history of ECNL in her first season, scoring an unheard of 50 goals in 24 games.
Macario was named ESPNW soccer player of the year just last week, adding to a list of accolades in her freshman campaign.
The “ECNL player” has become an integral part of collegiate soccer. With over 4,000 alums currently playing Division I collegiate soccer, 1,140 in the Power 5 alone, and 41 individual awards earned during the 2017 season, the ECNL continues to identify and develop the top women’s players in the country.
Source: ECNL
