Fillies move on after topping reigning champs,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times
Cassadaigua took to the pitch at BVL Stadion Schmalbüren with the reigning RTC World Cup champions presenting the opposition. In a tournament like this, being the defending champion does not carry quite as much weight as it would in other competitions due to the age restrictions and massive roster turnover. It is also something that should not be overlooked, because it proves that the nation is able to develop young talent, and it has the proper coaching and intangibles to get young players to play to their potential. Andrew Arrowsword played a big part in the title two years ago, and is considered by Cenian sources to be a strong candidate for the senior team position, and another long run here with teenagers would be a glowing part of his resume.
On the Cassadagan side, national team manager Brittany Byers is in charge, but that is not always the case. You will often find that there is a rotating pool of managers that CASE sends to these junior tournaments, whether it be Byers or Hannah Shanley, or maybe Jessica Tolson or Amanda Bowman. Byers gets first choice, however, as whenever she wants to take the reins of a junior team, the role is hers and lately we have seen her show a little more interest in the RTC competitions and instead leaving the Di Bradini Cups to others. It would make sense for her to do that with this one, because the pool of players that we have right now for this RTC Cup seems to be on the deepest in quite some time. We've always had that star or two, especially when Lexi McGregor was here not too long ago and flaunting all of her skills. I've mentioned a few times now the "dirty secret" of the senior team, and that is the lack of major up and coming midfield talent especially in the face of Morgan Rosenblatt's imminent stepping down from the role. Arriving just in time are the Engle twins, as well as Rachel Wyman, and with all of them already choosing to play internationally as opposed to within the CSL, Byers isn't going to be able to get the "at home" looks at them as easily as she would other people.
The stage was set for a good game, and we would get that. Arrowsword has favored a style which would suggest a lot of scoring, but it has not really panned out that way (just five goals in three games) thus far, and perhaps that will make people within the Cenian FA wonder why these players have not been as productive putting the ball in the net as you would expect. We saw the intentions of their team, but defensively, the fullbacks of the Fillies often seemed to get a good read on the forwards, and were in the right place at the right time to break up plays. The Tir Snakes had their moments, and broke through in the games 29th minute, primarily due to the work of Aidan Koromin, who eventually set up a player that Lauren Engle will be seeing in Quebec, Sebastian Ellex-Mar, to make it 1-0. It was an evenly played match up to that point, and the equalizer would come ten minutes later with Lauren Engle beautifully arcing a shot into the top left corner to make it all square at one, which is where we were at the intermission.
In the second, the back and forth nature of the game picked up as both teams began to get a little more aggressive. Cassadaigua struck first, taking their first lead of the match on a Connor Elliott goal, assisted by Lauren Engle in the 65th. Eight minutes later, Nova Daneraj took advantage of Krissy Joslin getting caught flat footed in a brief moment of indecision, to get a step on the defender and get a great shot on Becca Goldstein. Becca made a fabulous save, but could not control the rebound and saw it bounce right to Luca Finnall, who was in the right spot at the right time, and he knew what to do with it. Now, we were 2-2. In the 84th, an aggressive push by the Fillies would result in the eventual game winner coming off an unlikely foot: Callie Houghton. With the Tir Snakes a little more focused on the bigger name scorers, the coverage on Houghton was not quite as tight, and she showed that she can have an accurate shot herself. It's likely that Xori Callisto was screened initially and did not get a good initial read on the ball. The lead would hold, and the Fillies are on to the quarterfinals.
Next up for Team Cassadaigua is Khantari, a nation that seemed to be the only one particularly interested in competing out of Group 6, given that they were the only to provide a list of player names from that group. The team known as the Khans took full advantage of that, cruising to a 3-0-0 record over the no-names, with a +6 goal differential. In the first round, at the not very easy to pronounce Olimpienschutziputzimeerschweinchenkartoffelnplatz Arena, they met Hopal, who only went 1-0-2, but it was enough to get the #15 seed. At least this time, Khantari knew the names of their opponent, and dispatched them in an impressive fashion, 3-0. Cassadaigua will be their toughest task yet, but the Khans have full confidence, and when you are young team that has nothing to lose, you will be very difficult to beat. Still, this Fillies team has been playing well, and has some momentum on their side as well.
