2024 National Club Championship Concludes with WC Eagles Winning U-19 Girls Division

For three days at the Virginia Beach Regional Training Center and Princess Anne Athletic Complex in Virginia Beach, Va., twenty-four club teams competed in the 2024 U-19 Girls National Club Championship (NCC), presented by YOLO Sportswear. It was a fitting end to the total of nine days of top-level play across three age divisions.

The weekend ended with WC Eagles taking the crown, as the club team from Spring City, Pa. swept the 2024 NCC with a first-place finish in all three age divisions.

After each shutting out their opponent in semifinals, it would be WC Eagles and Texas Pride playing for the title of best in the nation. It ended up being an extremely tight contest between the two talented teams. WC Eagles dominated possession in the first quarter, but the Texas Pride defense was able to keep their opponent off the board, including withstanding a flurry of penalty corners to keep the score tied at zero heading into the second quarter.

WC Eagles kept the pressure on through the next frame, as Texas Pride’s Juliana Boon (Houston, Texas) continued to display her prowess in goal. Finally, WC Eagles broke the stalemate with 4 minutes remaining in the half, when Reese D’Ariano (West Chester, Pa.) weaved through the defense and pulled around the goalkeeper to put her team up 1-0. Neither team would be able to find the back of the net in the third quarter, as WC Eagles held their 1-0 lead heading into the final frame. With five minutes left to play, Abigail Gerdeman (Chester Springs, Pa.) tallied the second goal for WC Eagles after nailing the rebounded ball from D’Ariano’s penalty corner shot.

The bronze medal game would be a rematch from pool play, in which Mayhem claimed a tight 2-1 victory. After back-and-forth play, Windy City took the lead fairly early – just 5 minutes in – when Isabel Morgan (Winnetka, Ill.) scored on a hard straight shot from the top on a penalty corner. The rest of the quarter remained scoreless, as Mayhem had their own penalty corner chance but were unable to get past Windy City’s goalkeeper Eleanor Larsen (Lake Bluf, Ill.) and defensive line.

The two evenly matched teams continued to put pressure on each other, but it was Windy City who tallied the next goal on another penalty corner chance. This time it was Madison Beach (Northbrook, Ill.), who made it 2-0 after grabbing her rebound and taking a reverse hit shot with 2 minutes remaining in the half. Windy City kept their momentum into the third quarter, as Beach dribbled down the baseline and sent the ball up to Katherine Malloy (Lake Forest, Ill.) who put it in for a 3-0 lead. The gap grew to 4-0 in the final minutes of the third frame when Beach tallied her second of the day on a penalty corner.

Mayhem found a spark in the fourth quarter, but it began just a little too late to make a full comeback. Aida Ierubino (Doylestown, Pa.) put one in with 7 minutes to play, assisted by Caitlin Connell (Paoli, Pa.) who came up the righthand side. A penalty corner opportunity with seconds left to play was cashed in by Ierubino. Windy City took home the bronze medal with a 4-2 victory.

USA Field Hockey would like to congratulate all of this year's U-19 National Club Championship teams, athletes and coaches who participated! As well as thank the umpires, technical staff, umpire managers and volunteers who continue to make NCC a success.

(In alphabetical order)

Olivia Anderson, Taylor Bigbie, Erin Callahan, Colleen Conlan, Reese D'Ariano, Haley Elliott, Sofia Ferri, Abigail Gerdeman, Autum Kernechel, Natane King, Soren Izabella Kipphut, Camilla Lutte, Sabrina McGroarty, Reese Milone, Saylor Milone, Eva Nemeth, Nadia Nemeth, Riley Savage, Opal Sparling, Aubrey Turner, Melea Weber, Lilly Wojcik

Head Coach: Jaja Kentwell

(In alphabetical order)

Valentina Baizan, Juliana Boon, Harper Brown, Alexis Burger, Elizabeth Burger, Kaitlyn Chang, Gracey Crawford, Grace Essalih, Montgomery Ferguson, Isabella Hendricks, Hailey King, Alexandra Madrid,  Jackie O'Donnell, Ella Ou, Adair Patterson, Eliza Perrin, Sela Provenzano, Caroline Raynes, Sofia Ruegg, Merritt Skubisz, Annabelle Strange, Josephine Vanhoutan, Chloe West

Head Coach: Kristina Edmonds

(In alphabetical order)

Reese Anetsberger, Ella Beach, Madison Beach, Harriet Burne, Lilly Cimaroli, Gemma Franco, Kennedy Glinn, Kingsley Goldman, Maxine Hekster, Tessa Herbst, Eleanor Larsen, Zoe Larsen, Caitlyn Latimer, Katherine Malloy, Meryl Mesenbrink, Isabel Morgan, Beatrice Ottsen, Caitlin O'Shea, Sonia Pettinelli, Julia Soriano

Head Coach: Mark Morgan

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