Youth: Lombard, Zwetsch, Carter lift RSL to Disney title

LAKE BUENA VISTA – RSL Florida’s girls under-18 team got a pair of goals in the opening seven minutes from Zoe Lombard and a pair of excellent finishes from Connor Zwetsch in the second half as it rolled to a 5-0 victory against the Clearwater Chargers in the final of the Disney Soccer Showcase on Sunday afternoon at the Wide World of Sports Complex.

Lombard gave RSL the lead in the second minute, capitalizing on an excellent pass by Niki Carter to fire home. Lombard then latched onto a through ball into the right channel in the seventh minute, rifling her shot home from just inside the penalty area.

While Lombard scored the goals, the manner of Carter’s assists drew praise from RSL coach Jim Cote.

“They were just incredible assists,” Cote said. “Two at the beginning if it and then one to Connor at the end.”

Clearwater coach Mike Mannino said he thought giving up the early goals was too big a hole for his side to dig out from, especially against a team of RSL's quality.

“A minute and a half you give up a goal, it’s tough to battle back from, and then they got a second one before we were able to even it up,” Mannino said. “Going down 2-0 to a good team like that, they beat us today, and they were the better team. They deserved it.”

RSL could have added to its lead just before halftime, Arielle Anahory having her shot well saved, but in the 56th minute it became 3-0 as center back Amy Werdine sent a long ball over the top of the Chargers defense that allowed Zwetsch to beat the offside trap. Zwetsch then touched the ball around the advancing goalkeeper before finishing into the empty net.

Carter then set up Zwetsch’s second nine minutes later, an angled ball into the top of the penalty area again putting Zwetsch in behind the Chargers defense before she deftly volleyed into the right corner of the net.

Anahory completed the scoring in the 76th minute giving her side its first Disney title, something which meant a lot to Lombard.

“Especially because this was our last Disney tournament, there’s no qualifier left, it’s good to go out with a win,” Lombard said.

The Brandon Flames girls under-15 team also brought home a title, winning a penalty shootout 5-3 to defeat the Ponte Vedra Storm after the sides had played to a 2-2 tie after regulation and overtime.

The Flames had started strongly, Shea Rhoney going close to giving her side a lead in the first 10 minutes with a shot that was well-saved at the left post. The Flames took the lead from the penalty spot in the 19th minute as a long free kick bounced into the penalty area, and Aubrey Riggins was brought down as she moved in on goal. Caroline Evers stepped up and converted from the spot, shooting low into the right corner.

Jackie Simpson then doubled the Flames advantage 10 minutes later, driving a shot from the right side of the penalty area into the left side-netting of the goal. The finish drew praise from Flames coach Randy Belli.

“She’s a super athlete, and she plays in the center of midfield because she is so strong there, wins every ball and is a good one-on-one defender,” Belli said of Simpson. “But she has the ability to smack a ball and get forward, and it was good angle and a good finish. I would like to be able to use her more up front, but she’s such a good defender.”

Ponte Vedra put a scare into the Flames late in the first half when Taylor Valentine fired a fierce shot from outside the penalty area on target, only for Flames goalkeeper Dayton Wetherby to save well diving to her right.

The shot appeared to lift the Storm, and Valentine continued to lead the charge, tying the game seven minutes after the break as her shot from just outside the penalty area dipped underneath the crossbar into the net. Brandon had a chance to restore its two-goal advantage just after the hour-mark, but Evers saw her close-range shot come back off the crossbar.

Valentine then tied the game with 10 minutes to go, striking a free kick from 25 yards sweetly over the defensive wall and into the left corner of the net. Belli said he thought the Storm’s pressure in the second half caused problems for his side, which at times lost its composure and gave the ball away in poor positions.

“Credit to them, they’re a super group of athletes, and I think they caused us problems when they went high pressure, but they kept their backs back a bit so we couldn’t relieve pressure in behind their back four,” Belli said. “Every time we were relieving pressure, it was still in front of their back four, and they were coming at us. We got to the point where we started playing like donkeys and started smacking the ball every time we got it.”

Neither side was able to break the deadlock in overtime, sending the game to a shootout. There, Evers, Kalynne Heyer, Emily Jones, Rhoney and Amber Coca all converted from the spot, while the Storm missed on their first attempt, giving the Flames the title.

“I feel bad for Ponte Vedra to have to drop a game like that,” Belli said. “They’ve won it a couple of years in a row, and it was nice of them to let us have a chance at winning it.”

Youth: RSL, Clearwater U-18s set to meet at Disney

LAKE BUENA VISTA – RSL Florida and the Clearwater Chargers girls under-18 teams will face each other on the final day of the Disney Soccer Showcase after both sides completed pool play with three wins out of three on Saturday afternoon at the Wide World of Sports Complex.

RSL fell behind early against the Farmingdale Freedom, but rallied to earn a 3-1 victory to win Pool B.

The Freedom started well, putting good passing sequences together, and capitalized on a moment of hesitant defending to take the lead in the 11th minute, a low first-time shot finding the bottom left corner of the net.

RSL responded well, though, and in the 26th minute Zoe Lombard worked a good give-and-go with Thea Linkfield, breaking through the Farmingdale back four before firing into the left corner of the net. RSL almost took the lead a few moments later as the Freedom only half-cleared a cross from the left, and Jordan Johnson drove a shot off the bottom of the left post.

RSL controlled the bulk of the game from that point on, with Johnson and Colleen Lynch holding sway in midfield to allow RSL to create scoring opportunities. Niki Carter gave her side the lead in the 57th minute, heading home from close range after a good cross from the left by Ellen Moore, and then Lynch added a third in the 73rd minute on a brilliant shot from over 25 yards out into the top right corner of the net.

“We know she can do that,” Cote said. “She doesn’t think she can do that, but we know she can do that a lot. She has the ability to really hammer a ball and so it was nice to see her get that.”

The Chargers closed out their group play with a 2-0 victory against the Concorde Fire, setting up a rematch from the Showcase Qualifier in September. Then RSL won 2-0 in the tournament semifinals.

“We wanted to get the game against Clearwater again,” Cote said. “It was how it turned out in the qualifier, and it’ll come down to the two of us again tomorrow, so it’s exciting.”

The Chargers girls under-17 team wasn’t able to move on as it fell 4-2 to the Michigan Hawks. The Chargers needed a win to have a chance of winning its group, having drawn their first two games of the event.

The Brandon Flames girls under-15s had already won their group, and closed out pool play with a 0-0 draw against the Dynamo FC from Indiana. The Flames will face the Ponte Vedra Storm on Sunday afternoon to complete the tournament.

Youth: RSL earns second Disney victory

RSL Florida’s girls under-18 coach Jim Cote wasn’t particularly happy with his side’s intensity on Thursday night, even though they came away with victory in its opening game of the Disney Soccer Showcase.

Apparently, his side got the message. On Friday night, RSL’s pace down the wings was the key as it defeated West Virginia United 4-0, setting up a game on Saturday against the Farmingdale Freedom from New York that will determine which side advances as the group winner.

“They knew that I wasn’t happy last night,” Cote said. “The captains got them going without me saying anything tonight, so they were ready to go.”

Thea Linkfield and Niki Carter both had strong performances, and were each rewarded with a goal for their efforts down the flanks. Cote said Linkfield, Carter and Jordan Johnson, who moved from her normal central midfield spot to play out wide at times, were pivotal in getting behind the current West Virginia state champions defense, creating numerous chances.

“They’re a quality team,” Cote said. “I think the pace and field was too big for them. Thea and Niki and Jordan Johnson, they just couldn’t handle the pace of those kids.”

Should RSL win, it could face the Clearwater Chargers, who earned their second win in as many games with a 3-2 victory against Laroca FC from Utah.

Also picking up its second win in as many games was the Brandon Flames girls under-15 side, which used a strong first half to defeat the Greensboro Twisters 5-2, winning its group in the process.

Brandon took a 3-0 halftime lead, but the Twisters rallies to cut the lead to 3-2 early in the second half. The Flames were able to retain their composure, though, and added another pair of goals to put the game away.

“(Greensboro) was good,” Flames coach Randy Belli said. “I don’t think the score was indicative of how good that team is.”

The Flames have now scored nine goals in their opening two games, something that Belli credits to the way the side is executing when faced with good opponents.

“I think a lot of players are stepping up and performing well,” Belli said. “It’s been a solid team effort. We’re getting a lot of goals scored from a lot of different players, and they’re playing well within the system. I think they believe in each other, and they’re pushing hard to be in the right places, make the right decisions and do the right things, and that’s what’s generating all the goal scoring.”

The Clearwater Chargers girls under-17 team was the only local side not to win on Friday, as it earned a second straight tie, 2-2 against the Scorpions SC. That leaves the Chargers in third place in its group, but a win on Saturday against the Michigan Hawks would put them at least into second place in the group and a fourth game on Sunday.

The Chargers could even win them the group should they get the right result in the other game in the group on Saturday.

Youth: Chargers girls can't find winner in Disney opener

LAKE BUENA VISTA – The Clearwater Chargers girls under-17 team earned a tie in its opening game at the Disney Soccer Showcase on Thursday afternoon, but was unfortunate not to come away with a win as it controlled the flow of the game, and the majority of possession, in the second half of its 1-1 tie with the Hibernian FC Express from New Jersey.

“In the second half, we did a much better job of playing the way we normally play,” Chargers coach Sergei Stopak said. “A team that passes, supporting each other, trying to find our rhythm. I thought that was missing in the first half, but in the second half it was there. We were a little unfortunate not to find that final finish, but when you come to Disney, that’s what you expect from the competition.”

Jen Casey gave the Chargers the lead in the first half, but Hibernian tied the game just before halftime. From then on, the Chargers were in control, and scored early in the second half, only to see the goal taken away for offside.

Sierra Lelii was effective leading the Chargers attack, and Stopak thought she had done well in leading the line.

“I really thought she was going to beat that final defender and get that opportunity,” Stopak said. “In fact, we did, but we got too greedy to put it in the net, and we got caught offside for it, but she made a difference out there.”

The Chargers will face the Scorpions SC from Massachusetts in their second game the Scorpions routing the Michigan Hawks 5-1 in their opener.

The Chargers under-18s earned victory in their opening game of the event, taking a 1-0 win against the Ohio Elite Academy.

Elsewhere, the Brandon Flames girls under-15 team trailed at halftime, but after some adjustments were able to earn a 4-1 victory against Albertson SC from New York, Shea Rhoney scoring a hat trick for the Flames.

“(She had) brilliant composure,” Flames coach Randy Belli said of Rhoney. “Just going after the outside back and creating problems for the other team.”

Albertson’s three forwards caused problems for the Flames in the first half, pressuring the defenders and midfielders as they tried to find their passing rhythm, but in the second half the Flames started playing longer, angled passes to stretch the defense and create openings.

“They did a really good job pressuring us in the first half,” Belli said. “We just adjusted our tactics a little bit, started playing some longer diagonal balls because they were really leaving the opposite wide player or forward open, so once we started finding that player, and then settling down and playing a little bit I think the rust came off, and we created a lot of chances.”

RSL Florida’s girls under-18s also won, but the victory wasn’t as easy as the 5-1 score against KUFC from Illinois might make it seem.

“It was a quality team,” RSL coach Jim Cote said. “It was 2-0 at halftime, but they were all over us to start the second half, we just got one ball in behind them and three passes, boom, it was in the goal, then we got another on quickly after that. They were a very good team, we just got the breaks with the goals. I don’t think 5-1 was indicative of the game.”

Cote said he wanted to see better intensity from his side when they face West Virginia United, the defending West Virginia state champions, on Friday evening.

“It’s a big game tomorrow night,” Cote said. “At times we looked very, very good today. The issue with the team is that sometimes we think we’re better than we are, and we don’t play with that level of intensity.”

Youth: East Lake takes Disney title

LAKE BUENA VISTA – Goals from Danielle Gottwik and Riley Narum gave the East Lake Arsenal a 2-1 victory against the Richmond Kickers in the girls under-14 Showcase division of the Disney Junior Soccer Showcase on Sunday afternoon at the Wide World of Sports complex.

“I think that we played better and better each game,” Arsenal coach Diego Viera said. “We’re very proud of this, it’s very important to us.”

East Lake conceded only one goal in the tournament, having defeated the Atlanta Fire in the semifinals earlier in the day 1-0 on a goal by Alex Pallo. Viera said he hoped the victory would give his side more confidence in the future.

“Two years ago, we won Region C and the President’s Cup, then last year we won State cup,” Viera said. “Obviously when you win, things are going better, and the team is gaining in confidence. We’ll see what happens in the future.

The Brandon Flames also advanced to the final of the boys under-13 Predator division, but there were unable to hold a half time lead to the Norcross Fury, losing 2-1 after over time. Flames coach John Clare wasn’t too downbeat after the game, though.

“Overall, it was a good weekend,” Clare said. “I think we accomplished what we wanted to do, played some good opposition”

Jacob Goodall had given Brandon the lead in the 21st minute on a free kick that he curled beautifully into the left corner of the goal. Ben Skinner then tied the game for Norcross. Thomas Traynham then gave Norcross the lad early in the first overtime period. Clare said he hoped his side learnt from their experience.

“If we don’t learn how to win those tough games, then you’re just another team,” Clare said. “I didn’t think (any of the teams we faced) were better that were. Technically, physically, they were about the same as theirs , but they had than mental toughness at the end of the game.

Youth: East Lake, Brandon advance at Disney

LAKE BUENA VISTA – The East Lake Arsenal advanced to the semifinals of the Disney Junior Soccer Showcase’s girls under-14 showcase division with a 1-0 victory against Solar FC from Texas in its final pool game on Saturday morning at the Wide World of Sports Complex.

East Lake, which won the Florida State Cup in the spring, also defeated the Braddock Road Elite from Virginia and ASA Xtreme Elite from Georgia, building their success on a tight defensive unit that held all three opponents scoreless. While led by goalkeeper Rachel Taylor, and anchored by defender Gina Davis, East Lake coach Diego Viera said the side’s defensive record was a tribute to the work all 11 players on the field put in to defending as a unit.

“Gina Davis is a great defender, and it’s a lot of help,” Viera said, “but I think that our first defender is our center forward. It’s teamwork, everybody goes and I get to see in the effort on the field if they are able to be on this team. I can’t have any complaints about that part, so I’m more than happy with the team that I have, and I’m looking forward to seeing the semifinals tomorrow.”

The Brandon Flames also advanced into the boys under-13 Predator division semifinals, going 2-0-1 in pool play to advance. After a pair of victories on the opening day, the Flames drew 2-2 with Birmingham United on Saturday, and will play West Pines United in Sunday’s semifinals.

“Today, we didn’t play particularly well, but the first two games I was particularly pleased with the way that we used our combination play between the forwards and midfielders,” Flames coach John Clare said. “We were able to control the game a lot more, get our backs forward better, that pleased me the most, and the obviously the work-rate, the guys played with a high work-rate and won every 50/50 ball.”

West Pines have appeared very strong so far, a 4-1 win against Tampa’s Fusion Futbol its narrowest margin of victory. Clare believe his side will need to be very disciplined and try to create chances on the counter-attack in order to advance to the final.

“The most important thing is to keep it tight in the back,” Clare said. “We definitely need to keep the midfield compact as we go forward and defend, not get stretched, because they’ve got good, skillful players that if they isolate us 1-on-1 a lot, they’ve got pretty good passing. If we can keep them from getting a good rhythm, disrupt their play, and get the ball up to our forwards to allow them to create some chances for us, that’s going to be the key.”

Youth: Flames move into second after victory against Space Coast

SAINT LEO – The Brandon Flames girls under-15’s got a first half goal by Kourtney Rea, and another after the break by Nicole Naclerio to earn a 2-0 victory against Space Coast and move into second place in the Region III Premier League on Saturday afternoon at Saint Leo’s University Field.

The Flames dominated possession throughout the game, weathering the oppressive heat with good ball movement that had Space Coast chasing for possession. Taylor Decaire had an opportunity saved in the ninth minute, and Rea put a rebound into the side-netting in the 17th minute after a shot by Nacleiro was spilled.

The Flames finally took the lead in the 32nd minute. After Shea Rhoney won possession on the right, her pass found Decaire inside the penalty area, and Decaire fired a low ball across the six-yard box for Rea to finish from close range.

“It felt really good to get that first goal,” Flames midfielder Jackie Simpson said. “It calmed us down a lot. When we get a goal, it’s like a sigh of relief.”

Simpson was excellent in the center of midfield, winning possession and holding Space Coast’s Jackie Stengel in check. She was aided in that by center back Amber Coca, who continually read the game well and came up with key interceptions to prevent Space Coast from attacking cohesively and limiting the number of shots goalkeeper Dayton Wetherby had to face.

“They’re two special players,” Flames coach Randy Belli said of Simpson and Coca. “Amber Coca herself is not a fast player. If you put her on the line with any other player on the team, she’s probably going to lose, but she reads the game on a different level. She’s a very intelligent player, she’s always in good position.

“Jackie is probably the best one-on-one defender I’ve ever coached, including the college level. I think her ability to track players back and win balls off them even though they’re in front of her, I’ve never seen anybody like that, so those two have listened, gotten better and improved, and their thought process is just on a different level.”

That was evident in the second half, as the Flames either held possession or didn’t allow Space Coast much opportunity to break out of their own half. Having been told to try to shoot more from distance, the Flames finally added a second goal two minutes from full time as Naclerio took a quick free kick from Aubrey Riggins 25 yards out and blistered a shot in off the underside of the crossbar. The goal was Naclerio’s first in the 11-game league season.

Second place in the league doesn’t automatically advance the Flames to the Southern Regionals in Baton Rouge, La. next summer, but they would be eligible for the berth if two things went their way. First, league champion the CASL Spartan Elite from North Carolina would need to win their state title, and the GSA Phoenix, who could tie the Flames with 23 points, tie or lose one of their remaining three games to leave the Flames alone in second place.

The Flames, of course, could also reach regionals by winning the Florida State Cup in the spring. Naclerio joined the team recently, and said that since she had been with the Flames the goal had been to reach the regional tournament.

“I know everyone on this team has worked hard at every practice because we just want to go to Southern Regionals,” Naclerio said.

Youth: Flames on verge of Region III Championship berth

Brandon Flames girls under-15 coach Randy Belli’s principal goal for his team when they began play in the Region III Premier League East in August was that the competition aid the development of their play, and for the side to gain experience playing some of the best teams in the Southeast.

Now, with just one game remaining in the season, the Flames could achieve a significant secondary goal. With a win over Space Coast on Oct. 31, the Flames would put themselves in position to finish second in the 12-team league, and gain automatic entry into the Region III Championships, to be held next summer in Baton Rouge, La.

The Flames picked up a win and a draw last weekend to put themselves a point behind the CSA Predators from North Carolina. The Predators have already completed their schedule, meaning a win against Space Coast would jump the Flames into second place. The only team that could then tie the Flames on points is the GSA Phoenix Red from Georgia, which has three games remaining. Belli said the team is just concentrating on getting the result it needs, putting pressure on GSA to close out with three wins.

“I looked at it for a second and was about to evaluate what the tiebreakers and everything were,” Belli said. “But then I just realized we have to win our game, they have to win their games, and we’ll see where it lies at that point.”

The Flames could have clinched their place if they had managed to earn a win against South Carolina’s CESA Premier, but despite controlling the game we unable to finish their chances in a 0-0 tie. The result was disappointing to Belli, who felt his side should have won, but he was still pleased with the way his side played. Fulfilling the principle goal of the season, Belli said he is very happy with the development the squad has shown as the league comes to an end.

“The kids have been playing good soccer throughout, and I think that’s what’s really prevailing,” Belli said. “They’re starting to make good decisions on the ball, and the tactical side of the game has really come out. When you play tough teams that pressure you and pin you in your half for a bit, you really have to be smart to manage it, and the players have really matured over the season, and that was really the goal of us getting into the league.”

Youth: Flames players, coaches benefit from Dutch trip

A trip overseas left some young Brandon Flames soccer players, and their coach, with a new perspective on the game.

Now they're hoping that can translate into boosting their development in the Flames' youth ranks.

Brandon's Assistant Director of Coaching John Clare took the players, all under 13, to the Frans VanBalkom Soccer School of Excellence in Sittard, Holland. There they trained and played against five different teams, each progressively more difficult as they went on.

According to Clare, by the time they got to the fourth game against German club Bayer Leverkusen's under-11 squad, it was evident how good youth soccer was in central Europe.

“They gave us a clinic,” Clare said. “They showed us how to play some soccer. We lost 2-1, but it was still the toughest of all the games we played.”

As much as the players learned, Clare said he may have learned more about coaching from the sessions at the Academy. Most, if not all, youth academy coaches in Europe are former players, all working with professional licenses after gaining certification.

“Their development is tremendous,” Clare said. “Everything was very structured, their coaches from U-11 up are professionals, and you have to have your (coaching) license. Here, we're training kids and we're giving them a lesson but we don't have professional coaches.”

Clare added that the facilities clubs used for their youth training was also leagues ahead of the U.S., with locker rooms, showers, recreation rooms all on site for players and coaches to use. That difference was not lost on player Ian McCauley.

“You get trained well, very well,” McCauley said. “You get [treated] like a professional.”

In addition to the matches and training the players experienced, they also got the opportunity to watch professional matches, travelling to watch FC Köln host Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg in the opening match of the season. The following day, the group went to watch Roda JC face NEC Nijmegen in the Dutch Eredivise.

“It was the first time the kids had seen an atmosphere, you know, one side cheering, the other side cheering teams of that caliber,” Clare said. “[In Cologne] it was 48,000 people, everything in red, the atmosphere was tremendous, and the kids, they’re eyes were just big.”

Player Chris Thatcher said walking up the steps and emerging into Cologne’s RheinEnergie Stadion was unlike anything he had experienced.

“It’s just amazing,” Thatcher said. “Everyone was loud, my eardrums were starting to burst.”

Clare believes that players and coaches could gain significantly by undergoing a similar experience.

“If [coaches and players] would go and spend some time watching what they do, how they train, looking at the different levels, it would give them a little more insight as to where they need to be to,” Clare said. “For me, I walked off the last field and I thought, ‘You know, I’m a pretty decent coach, I’ve got my ‘B’ license and I’m working on my ‘A’ license.’ I walked off the field and I felt like this big, these guys are miles ahead of us.”

Youth: Flames split on Premier League opening weekend

Despite rain and lightning causing disruptions to their schedule, the Brandon Flames girls’ under-15 team split a pair of games in the opening weekend of the Region III Premier League.

The weather in Savannah, Ga. caused the postponement of the Flames’ opener against the Cape Fear Wave on Friday night, making the Flames play a pair of games on Saturday. The disruption didn't seem to affect the squad, though as Brandon controlled the bulk of the game in a 3-1 victory against the Wave.

“We really knocked the ball around them and dominated the possession,” Flames coach Randy Belli said. “They scored late after it was already 3-0, and the game was never really in doubt. The girls really did well, knocked the ball around and played well.”

The Flames were unable to complete the weekend sweep, though, as a pair of late goals gave the CASL Spartan Elite a 2-0 victory. One of the elite clubs in the country, CASL reached the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship game over the summer as the Region III champions, and is currently ranked No.5 in the nation in the under-15 division.

Belli said that he was pleased with the way his side competed, and continued to try to play its game despite the pressure CASL put it under, but was highly impressed with CASL’s quality.

“That team is a class team,” Belli said. “They pressure well, they’re well organized, they put you under so much pressure, they really dictate the pace of the game, and how the game is going to be. I’ve got to give them credit, they were better than us, no doubt about it.”

Belli said that games like the loss to CASL were the reason why he thought competing in the Premier League was going to be beneficial to his squad.

“The best thing for me, and the girls all realize that this is how you get better,” Belli said. “You play the best teams in the country. If we sat around and playing in the local leagues and smacked people around the way we’ve been doing, it wouldn’t make these players any better.

“I don’t like to drive to Savannah, we didn’t get in ‘til 1 a.m. and the girls have school today, but they realize that they’ve committed to being better players, and this is what it takes, to play the best competition.”

Youth: Flames eager for Region III Premier League

BRANDON - In a competition like the U.S. Youth Soccer Region III Premier League, it’s hard enough to compete when you have a full complement of players.

When you’re short-handed, it makes things a bit more difficult. But that’s the situation the Brandon Flames girls’ under-14 side found itself in over the spring, as it competed in the tournament for the first time.

Now, as an under-15 team, the squad has reinforcements as it begins the new season this Saturday against the Cape Fear Wave from North Carolina. After finishing seventh due to tiebreakers, four different teams ended on 17 points, the Flames are looking to make a strong run this time around.

“I think the team expects to do well again,” Aubrey Riggins said. “We played most of the season with nine or 10 players, and we’ve picked up a lot of new really good players, and we hope to have a really good season.”

Flames coach Randy Belli has been impressed by the dedication the side has shown over the summer, adding he thought getting a feel for what premier league competition held gave them added motivation.

“We’ve had a good summer, the girls have been working hard and have come in fit,” Belli said. “They’re serious players, they come in on their own and they know what it takes to play. Having a taste of the region premier league last year, they know what it takes to be competitive in that league, sitting around for the summer is not an option for them.”

The Flames qualified for the competition by reached the State Cup final, where it lost 1-0 to Ponte Vedra. That loss left the squad hungry to achieve more this season.

“It was very disappointing,” Kalynne Heyer said, “but it kept our heads up for this year to come out stronger and not worry about what happened previously. Just let that be part of the past.”

While the side has the opportunity to qualify for next year’s Southern Regional tournament with a top-two finish in the league, Belli said he is more concerned with making sure the side continues to develop and be challenged.

“I think for the girls, it’s exciting,” Belli said. “For me, I think what we draw from it is the competition is what helps the kids develop, and in the end all I care about is how good they are when they are 17, 18 and can go to college. We’ve just happened to win a lot of games now, but we never emphasize winning, it’s all about developing so they’re the best player at 17, 18.”