From July 11 through July 15, FC Dallas Youth’s ECNL teams took on the country’s best in the ECNL National Championships. Both the U-15s and U-23s finished third in the nation out of 74 ECNL clubs. For the U-23s, it was only their first season of competition.
The U-14s had a solid season as well finishing 13th in the nation out of 74 ECNL clubs. The team finished 2-2 on the weekend after losing their opening match against FC Virginia on a penalty kick. After dropping their second match to Colorado Rush, the team bounced back to beat Carmel United and Charlotte Soccer Academy to close out the weekend.
The U-15s finished third over the weekend. The ladies won the 3rd place game, beating the Dallas Texans 1-0 on a goal from Caylon McMillan. Outstanding performances by Addison McCain, who had four assists on the weekend, Ciara Donnelly, Val Morris, and Jada Holmes helped FC Dallas best all other teams from the Texas Conference. The team only lost two games all year and their only loss at nationals was to eventual champions Eclipse Select out of Chicago.
The U-23s finished third in the nation in the ECNL's inaugural U-23 season. The team recorded one win and one loss in bracket play, losing 3-2 in the opening game to eventual champions Eclipse Select. US U-20 & Notre Dame defender Taylor Schneider scored the first goal and Texas Tech standout Allie Murphy scored the second on a penalty when North Carolina signee Sarah Ashley Firstenberg was taken down in the box.
The team bounced back in game two defeating Ohio Elite 4-0. SMU defender Courtney Smith opened the scoring in the first half to give FC Dallas a 1-0 halftime advantage. The team then scored three in the second half with goals from Stephanie Anasi (Creighton), Caity Heap (Texas Tech), & Rachel Shipley (Texas A&M). The ladies lost to FC Wisconsin Eclipse, 2-1, in the semis playing a man down after a red card 20 minutes into the game. The hoops lone semi-final goal was scored by Duke standout and NCAA All-American Natasha Anasi.
