ECNL National Events Series Comes to San Diego
One of the major Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) events of the season, ECNL San Diego, kicked off on Saturday, April 12, at the beautiful San Diego Polo Fields. A field of 154 determined and talented teams put on a show of intense competition in front of more than 500 college coaches and scouts. ECNL teams traveled from all across America to San Diego as all eyes turn to the action on the Polo Fields to watch many of the top U14 to U18 teams compete in tough matches that proved the high level of quality among the teams.
The goal of ECNL is to change the youth soccer environment for top female players in the USA, and it has accomplished this by establishing a truly national league of highly competitive teams and elite events. Achieving these results and improving the landscape of player development for girls in America in the few short years it has been in existence is an amazing feat. The first ECNL season began in August 2009 with 40 teams, and the league has grown by leaps and bounds since then.
Perhaps De Anza Force’s national championship GU15 team coach Andres Deza said it best when he explained, “We come down to San Diego to ECNL to play much more competitive games than we are exposed to in our conference. Here is where the top teams come to be challenged.”
“This is bringing the best players and putting them all in one venue,” said Greg La Porte, Associate Head Coach at the University of San Diego, who added that he was at ECNL San Diego scouting attacking players. “The competition is phenomenal. You can’t ask for any better competition.
It is no exaggeration to say that the sidelines were literally packed with scouts and coaches from the top colleges across the country. While some coaches chuckled that they traveled from the East Coast to see a team that was within driving distance perform on the pitch, all agreed the event is the best of its kind.
“It is a great set up,” Quinnipiac University Assistant Coach Stephen Coxon said. “For a college coach it is great, as everything is in one location and you are not driving around all over trying to find fields. Everything is at your fingertips and it is very professionally run. These are the top kids around the country. For a college coach it is like fishing in a barrel. It makes life so much easier..”
“It is just a great bang for your buck,” said UC Irvine Head Coach Scott Juniper. So many great players in one complex, the fields are good quality and the competition is a really high level. This is one of the top five events we attend all year. ECNL has done a great job of putting the best teams and the best players in a single event. There is a limited number of days we have for recruiting and this is a great event We are watching some of our future Anteaters, and we are scouting the U15s, U16s and U17s.”
The top game of Day One was Deza’s nationally ranked De Anza Force GU15 against Doug Swanson’s West Coast FC GU15. It was a battle of Northern California’s top championship team and Southern California’s highly ranked team. The action-packed match was the most entertaining soccer game of the day. Neither team let up for a second and the score at half time was a 1-1 draw.
In the second half West Coast took advantage of several opportunities, in particular a free kick by Marissa Cordero. Sophia Serafin, a former forward who now plays outside right back, showed she had not lost her scoring touch, heading home Cordero’s service for what would be the winning goal. West Coast then added an insurance goal on a penalty kick by Remy Matthews following a poorly-timed challenge by De Anza Force.
While the final 3-1 score was impressive, especially considering De Anza had only given up one goal in ECNL play so far, everyone present knew that it did not clearly reflect the level of competition on the field. It was truly an example of how one or two key events can change the face of a soccer match.
“De Anza is a phenomenal team, great with possession,” Swanson said,” but we stayed disciplined defensively and took our chances when we got them.”
ECNL play continues on Sunday with key match-ups between De Anza Force and host San Diego Surf SC and West Coast FC against Washington’s Crossfire Premier.
