Mockingbird Girls '92: Ohio Elite Showcase
Friday, February 20Ohio Elite Showcase - Game Reports
Game #3 Sunday, February 22. Mockingbird 2 -- PFA Xtreme 1
A win is a win I guess, but this game was a tough game to watch. The weather conditions were brutal with the 15 degree wind chill but at least the girls weren’t drenched. To add insult to injury the girls’ play didn’t seem up to par – not sure whether it was the conditions or a reappearance of their occasional exasperating tendency to play to the level of their competition. And yes, my pen was still frozen!
For the first fifteen minutes, Mockingbird with a strong wind at their back had the run of play with the Xtreme rarely advancing beyond midfield. Mockingbird had two or three strong chances but nothing went in. Then in the sixteenth minute the Xtreme made a long run down the left and sent a long shot to the far corner past Kayla. At the 25 minute mark in this shortened contest the teams switched sides and Mockingbird was down 1-0 and facing a strong headwind for the second twenty-five.
Kaitlin equalized the match with a long, unassisted shot in the 28th minute. The two teams battled evenly for the next several minutes until Ben switched formations to add another attacker with around fifteen minutes left. This opened up the game but also gave the Xtreme a few openings. Then in the 50th and final minute, Lindsey, off a pass from Jordan, got the game winner sending a long shot from the far left corner of the penalty area to the upper right hand corner.
With this result the girls earned 21 points which placed them third of sixteen teams in the top seeded Vapor group behind Ohio Premier North with 26 and CSA Panthers also with 21 but fewer goals allowed.
Game #2 Saturday, February 21. Mockingbird 3 -- Cleveland FC 0
No notes again this time. Not only was the ink in my pen still frozen but it’s tough to keep a dry notepad when it’s snowing on you. This was the worst weather conditions I can remember the girls playing in, with 32 degree temperature, snow and an occasional wind gust. About the only saving grace was that the wind was nowhere near as strong as forecast.
CFC played in the MRL Premier last spring but was relegated since they had only one win --- unfortunately that one win was a 2-1 victory over our girls. Mockingbird opened strong and for about ten minutes looked solid but then momentum shifted and CFC had the better of play for the next 20 minutes or so. However, there were no real strong threats from either side that I can remember. Late in the half Cate broke free dribbling down the left side and sent a pretty ball across the goal to Spenser on the far side for the 1-0 lead. With just seconds left in the half Cate almost doubled the lead as she broke free down the center and chipped it over the onrushing goalie but unluckily it just cleared the crossbar.
The girls started strong again in the second half but this time kept CFC on their heels. The dagger came about the fifteen minute mark as the girls went goal line to goal line in what has to be their prettiest team goal ever. It started with Kayla as she released to Chloe around the left corner of the eighteen. Chloe took a couple of dribbles; split two defenders and sent a pass forward to Lizzie who fed Jordan around midfield. Jordan hit Alex running in the center of the field around thirty yards out and Alex, in turn; hit Chelsea perfectly in stride streaking forward at the eighteen. Chelsea then finished strongly past the goalie as she came out to meet her. This goal took all the energy out of CFC, who had already played earlier in the morning. It was all Mockingbird the rest of the way. Late in the game, Kaitlin made a very nice one on one move near the end line just a few yards from the post to beat her defender. She sent a ball across the goal to Spenser who had an easy finish for her second goal and the 3-0 final. Very late in the game, Kayla made a great save to preserve the shutout as CFC's strongest player had broken through the defense inside the eighteen.
Game 1 Friday, February 20, 2009. Mockingbird 1 -- CSA Elite Panthrs 1
Don’t have much to report or write … I didn’t take notes because the ink in my pen froze :).
Pretty even match well played all the way through. One team or the other tended to have control of play for a while depending on the mix of the players on the field. Both sides had their chances and the Panthers had two strong strikes, one in the first half and another in the second from distance that hit the cross bar but Mock had their chances also mostly on combinations near the goal.
Panthers opened the scoring about 32 minutes into the match with an excellent finish from just outside the 18 on a semi breakaway that Sydney couldn’t quite catch up to and contain. Kayla had no chance as it was beautifully place in the upper left corner.
Mockingbird rebounded well however and continued to press the attack. They were rewarded with about two minutes left in the half as Sydney, now in the center midfield made a nice pass to Lindsey breaking down the left side.
The second half was scoreless but play was back and forth and each side had opportunities. It was a fun match to watch, cleanly played and hard fought by both sides with the level result probably the right one. These two teams will have a rematch in April at the Crossroads of America Showcase.
Friday, February 6
Ohio Elite Showcase - Directions
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Town & Country Soccer Complex
1018 Town Drive |
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Thursday, February 5
Ohio Elite Showcase - "Scouting Report"
The brackets have been published for the upcoming Ohio Elite College Showcase. We are in the "Vapor" group and will play:
- Cincinnati Soccer Academy U17 Elite (formerly MTSC Panthers).
- Cleveland Futbol Club from Strongsville, OH which is a far southwestern suburb of Cleveland.
- PFA Xtreme (formerly ISC Xtreme) from the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA.
Looks to be a well matched bracket.
Game #1: Fri. Feb. 20 - Cincinnati Soccer Alliance U17 Elite
Here's the club website: Cincinnati Soccer Alliance
Here's the team's website: None found yet.
They are currently ranked number 3 in Ohio South and #18 in Region II by NationalSoccerRanking.com.. while Soccer Girls has them at number 3 in Ohio South and and #30 in Region II. They are the current OS State Cup Finalist losing to CUP Red 2-0 in the championship game last spring. They finished second in last spring's First Division playoffs which earned them promotion to the Premier League this spring We have never played this team. At least according to the various ranking services this appears to be the most challenging match.
Here's the Got Soccer team page for some game scores and other information.
Game #2: Sat. Feb 21 - Cleveland FC
Here's the club website: Cleveland Futbol Club
Here's the team's website: Cleveland FC U17
Here's the Got Soccer team page for some game scores and other information.
Game #3: Sun. Feb 22 - PFA Xtreme
Here's the club website: Premier Football Academy
Here's the team's website: PFA Xtreme
They are currently ranked number 3in Pennsylvania West but unranked in Region I by NationalSoccerRanking.com. while Soccer Girls has them at number 3 in PA-West but unranked in Region I.
Here's the Got Soccer team page for some game scores and other information. Some games against common opponents include a 2-1 loss to DSA Black and a 1-0 loss to Cleveland FC.
Wednesday, February 4
Ohio Elite Showcase - Schedule
Complete tournament schedules can be found here.
Click here to see some information about the Town and Country facilites where all three games will be played.
| Fri. Feb 20 | 6:40PM | CSA U17 Elite | vs. | Mockingbird | T&C #2 |
| Sat. Feb 21 |
4:20PM | Mockingbird |
vs. | Cleveland FC |
T&C #1 |
| Sun. Feb 22 |
1:00PM | Mockingbird |
vs. | PFA Xtreme |
T&C #2 |
Friday, August 1
Ohio Elite Showcase - Accepted Teams
Here is the list of accepted teams. There are 33 teams accepted; breakdown by state:
- Ohio South 11
- Ohio North 6
- Indiana 7
- Kentucky 5
- Illinois 3
- Pennsylvania West 1
Nine of the 33 are ranked in Region II and 5 are in MRL Premier. Likely we will end up matched with teams we've played before.
Here's link to the list of college coaches, both men's and women's that will be attending.