Our San Jose Earthquakes U-15 Girls' Academy are coming off a 6-0 win over Placer United in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Semifinals. Their dominant performance should be enough of an incentive to tune into the USSDA Finals but we're here to give you five more reasons anyway.
1. We’re ranked No. 1
The San Jose Earthquakes’ U-15 Girls have been ranked No. 1 in the USSDA since the halfway point of the 2018-19 regular season. The Quakes have yet to lose a single match this season and will look to finish it that way.
2. We made history
The Quakes made their mark in the USSDA record books after becoming the first U-15 team to complete their regular season undefeated. The Quakes currently have a ridiculous 33-0-3 record throughout the course of the 2018-19 season.
3. Six College Commits
It’s rare for athletes to make their college commitments at the ages of 14 and 15 but this seems to be the norm for our girls. Four of our U-15s have already committed to UCLA (America Frias, Kathryn Kelly, Peyton Marcisz, and Julia Saunicheva), one has committed to Stanford (Elise Evans) and the other will join Academy standout Sophie Jones at Duke (Elle Piper).
It won’t be long until more of the U-15s announce their commitments. College scouts were clearly visible and impressed during the Quakes’ semifinal match.
4. Best Coaching staff of 2018-19
At the beginning of the playoffs, the USSDA named our Girls’ Academy staff the Best of the Year in the West Region. Andres Deza, Heath Piper, Erin Ridley and Jovan Yamagishi have installed a tiki-taka passing system in the Academy and the results are showing.
This tactical system gives our girls the confidence to break opponents down with patience, possession and deadly passes in the final third. Our sixth goal in the highlights above is a great example of our coaching staff’s perfectly-implemented system.
5. It’s the freaking final
Do we need to say more? For a Quakes fanbase that demands excellence, our U-15s would be too much fun to watch. They’re running wild with confidence leading into a national final that will crown the best team in the United States.
The Quakes will take on the Colorado Rush at 4:00 p.m. PT on Thursday, July 11 and will be streamed live on U.S. Soccer’s YouTube page. Check it out, you won’t regret it.
