This weekend at ECNL Phoenix, Boise Thorns put together a strong weekend, especially at the G07 age group where they came away with a 2-0-1 record on the weekend and only conceded one goal. Max Weber, head coach of the G07 and G08 teams, thought the weekend was a great start for his teams after coming out of their high school season.

“Having the opportunity to perform in the highest platform of girls youth soccer is always an honor for our players, our staff, and our community,” Weber said. “Coming off making the playoffs last year, it was another great stepping stone for them to kind of start our cycle off.”

In addition to the strong weekend from his G07 side, Weber thought the G08 team also did an outstanding job in the atmosphere. With the team just coming out of the high school season, Weber said they had to learn a lot in a short period of time and though they handled that task extremely well in Phoenix

“They’re learning a ton on the fly and did an excellent job taking communication and information from our coaching staff,” Weber said.

The weekend also gave many of Boise’s G05/06 players who have yet to commit to colleges another chance to showcase themselves as they finish up the recruiting process. Weber thought those players as well did an excellent job showcasing their abilities over the weekend and will have tremendous opportunities in the coming weeks.

“We’ll have tremendous opportunities, collegiately, for the players who are finishing up their recruiting process and had the opportunity to play in front of so many college coaches,” Weber said.

Overall, the weekend provided an excellent challenge for all of Boise Thorns’ teams, but Weber believes that experiences like this is what will allow all his players to step into the college environment prepared to thrive.

“It’s just such an honor for them to play against their peers. The things they are challenged with from a playing perspective, emotional perspective and competitive perspective, let alone what our coaching staff is challenged with,” Weber said. “The experience that they get allows them to not be afraid of stepping into what the college environment will be.”

Another team who had a very successful weekend in Phoenix was Tulsa SC. Head Coach Nathan Doll thought Tulsa had the right mentality coming into the weekend and did a good job representing themselves and their club.

“You have a job to represent yourself and represent the club. For me personally, I’m very proud because this is how we want to be represented,” Doll said.

Although there was some pressure this weekend, as well as some tough challenges, Doll was extremely pleased with the way the teams were able to rise to the challenge and turn that pressure into good performances on the field.

“Something we always look forward to when coming to these events is knowing we’re going to get a good test, playing good opponents, and to see them react the way they did and to perform the way they did is something that’s really encouraging and something that they have worked hard for in preparation for this event,” Doll said. “I think there was some pressure, but I think we were able to turn that pressure into fuel and to really rise was good to see.”

Tulsa SC G07 really highlighted Tulsa’s strong weekend, conceding just one goal en route to picking up two wins and one draw. 

“There’s strengths all over the field with this team. The backline, as well as two quality goalkeepers that really have the stability that a good backbone needs,” Doll said. “Also credit to the midfield and forwards for the collective press and knowing when it’s time to drop off so we get people behind the ball and are willing to work for each other.”

Doll believes this weekend can create a snowball effect in terms of momentum and confidence for all three of Tulsa SC’s teams. Knowing that they can compete and be successful against the best teams in the country, will hopefully lead to even more confidence as they go back and test themselves against the best teams inside their conference.

“When you look at the quality of teams we played, now you kind of translate that and you take confidence knowing that we tested ourselves against some of the nation’s best. Now we go to our conference, again, competing against some of the nation’s best, but you still have that experience and recent success that gives you a bit of that, been there done that feeling. It’s good for them to have that snowball of confidence.”