Eight WC Eagles Teams Crowned 2011 NIT Champions
Two long National Indoor Tournament weekends culminated in W C Eagles becoming Champions in 8 Pools for the second consecutive year and were the only club to win more than two Pools!!
The U14 swept their Pool winning all 7 games and outscoring their opponents by 61 goals to only 1 against. Our young players drew a lot of attention and compliments for their skills and quick and accurate passing. These young players clearly have a good future ahead of them.
View full results for all of our WC Eagles teams:
U14 Blue, U16 Diamonds, U16 X, U16 II, U16 XI, U16 Black, U19 I
U19 II, U19 Fly, U19 Gold, U19 XI, U19 Blue, U19 White
In the U16 age group W C Eagles swept the top 4 pools, with an incredible record of 27 wins and 1 draw and outscoring their opponents 138 to 22. As the weekend wore on large crowds gathered to watch the U16 Diamonds, who playing with poise, speed, strong defense, and clinical finishing, repeated as National Under 16 Indoor Champions - with eight of the nine players returning to win their 2nd Under 16 National title! Our U16 Blue finished the tournament in dramatic style beating the favored Spirit USA 1 - 0 to clinch Pool B with 7 wins. An email I received this morning from a parent on another team summed up the crucial game "Absolutely the best game any of those girls have ever played. That # 16 (Kali Kilmer) who guarded the Spirit player (USA U17 National Team player Tara Vittese) was the star, but the little number 14 (Millie Stefanowicz) was amazingly skilled, Caleigh played great and controlled, Claire and Emma came up big time and again so calmly, and Lizzie had several saves that were spectacular! I am so glad we stayed and watched!!!!!!! ". In Pool C our White team got off to a good start winning two key games against Mystx and Jersey Intensity on Friday afternoon and kept their momentum in a very difficult pool. Alana Dumus provided the scoring punch to an all-around team effort. In contrast our Gold team got off to a slow start with two 1 - 0 wins with goalkeeper Rebecca Brosious keeping them in the running on Friday, but they came to play on Saturday and Sunday with five solid wins lead by the strong defending of Alison Meszaros and Blake Hamblett and a lot of hard work by our midfield and forwards who kept constant pressure on their opponents.to win Pool D undefeated. U16 Black also had a good tournament in a tight Pool winning four games and coming close in the other three - Ceirra Walton played well in defense, Kelly Goggin showed that she is ready for the next level, and Callie Fisher scored a couple of key goals.
In the U19 W C Eagles Gold, Diamonds, and our Lottery team all came home as Pool Champions. The U19 Gold team lead by Helene Caniglia in defense and Emilie Ikeda in midfield beat a strong East Coast team 3 - 2 in their first game and grew in confidence to come through a difficult Pool with a lot of close games to take home the gold medal. The U19 Diamonds conceded only one goal in their seven games as they went undefeated behind the solid goalkeeping of Ainslie Rhoads and a fine overall team performance. While the U19 Blue conceded Pool A with two hard fought 4 - 3 losses to Mystx and Xcalibur they proved to be one of the top teams in the country leading the Pool in goals for with 37 goals and conceding the least with 11 in their seven games. Our Lottery team rounded out an excellent club overall performance by winning their Pool convincingly. They started by crushing runners-up Horizon 6 - 1 in the opening game and continued their winning ways with consistent performances throughout the tournament lead by Katja Hansen in defense, Louise Chakajian in midfield and the goalscoring of Montana Flemming.
With more and more clubs developing and the competition getting stronger each year, we were extremely pleased to qualify 13 of our teams for the National Indoor Tournament this year. Winning eight pools last year was unprecedented and something we felt would probably not be achieved again - to return home from the NIT with eight Pool Champions once again this year is a remarkable achievement and even more remarkable when we see that no other club won more than two Pools throughout all the age groups. This is a testament to level of commitment of our players, the focus and intensity with which each of our players approach their training during their short time with our coaches each week, and the desire of each player to be the best player they can be.