Wisconsin Soccer Central

The FC Wisconsin Eclipse Under-17 girls team raced out of the gates at the Elite Clubs National League playoffs in Redmond, Wash., scoring four first-half goals in their North American Cup group opener against Florida's Orlando City YS.

That set the tone for a tremendous weekend, as the team won its group and earned one of eight berths in the ECNL National Finals, which are July 13 to 17 in Richmond, Va.

Goals by Steph Fabry (Milwaukee DSHA) and Briana Jaeger (Milwaukee DSHA) off corner kicks provided the first two goals in the 4-1 victory in the June 26 match, while Allison Jacobson (Shorewood) and Mariah Downs (Whitefish Bay) finished off the scoring in the decisive opening half.

A day later, Gaby Dorsey (Hartford) and Downs gave FCWE a two-goal lead against Continental FC Delco, but the Pennsylvania side pulled level by halftime. Fabry, though, finished off a deflected shot by Christina Feller (Milwaukee DSHA) and Jacobson added an insurance goal in the final 10 minutes of a 4-2 victory. The win clinched the group title for FCWE when the day's other pool match ended in a tie.

With its spot in the National Finals already secured, FC Wisconsin Eclipse (12-13-3) closed out the playoffs with a 1-0 loss to Texas' Solar Chelsea on June 29.

The other seven teams in the North American Cup finals are New York's East Meadow, Pennsylvania's FC Bucks, Ohio's Internationals, Minnesota Thunder, St. Louis Scott Gallagher, St. Louis Scott Gallagher-Metro and the Utah Avalanche.

The schedule hasn't been announced, but the Under-17 North American Cup matches are set for 8 a.m. Central July 13, 14 and 16 and 8:45 a.m. July 17. The North American Cup is one of two competitions in the ECNL postseason, with the Champions League for the top finishers.

• The club nearly had two teams at the North American Cup Finals, as the Under-16 team headed into its final group match needing a win to qualify. But after a 1-0 victory over Ohio Elite and a 1-1 tie against against Connecticut's SoccerPlus Elite, two goals late in the first half gave California's San Juan SC a 2-0 win and the group title. Mary DeWalt (Slinger) finished off a nice passing sequence with a late goal in the opener against Ohio Elite and Adi Johnson found the equalizer the next day for FC Wisconsin Eclipse, which finished the season 12-10-5.
• The FCWE Under-15 team (6-16-3) lost all three of its pool games, falling to the West Florida Flames and California's Strikers FC by 2-1 scorelines and closing out the season with a 2-0 loss to Ohio's Internationals SC. Katie Slater (Milwaukee DSHA) scored against the Flames, who netted a last-minute game-winner, while Michaela Hoard (Mequon Homestead) converted a penalty kick against the Strikers.