PDA Take 3rd Spot in Overall ECNL Club Standings

ECNL

PDA Take 3rd Spot in Overall ECNL Club Standings

The second annual ECNL National Championships wrapped up last weekend in Aurora, Colorado and proved highly successfull for the PDA Girls with the U15 Slammers taking 5^th place, the U16 Celtic taking 12^th and the U17 Charge falling in the National Championship game and taking 2^nd overall in the ECNL. The finals match was televised live on ESPN U. These strong showings placed PDA in an impressive 3rd place in the overall Club Rankings out of 52 of the top clubs in the country. Last year, in the ECNL’s inaugural year, the PDA finished 1^st in the overall club rankings.

AURORA, Colo. (July 19, 2011) – The 2011 Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) National Championship came to a close Saturday at Aurora Sports Complex in suburban Denver as teams from four different clubs earned ECNL National Championships, three additional teams won Challenge B National Championships, and Eclipse Select SC (Ill.) was crowned the overall ECNL National Club Champion.

Videos:

Day 1: Highlights

Day 2: Highlights

Day 3: Highlights

The event, held July 14-16, was the culmination of the second season of the ECNL and included 164 of the country’s top female youth soccer teams representing all 52 current member clubs in what is one of the most prestigious events of the year. The teams were competing for age group championships and promotion and relegation between the Challenge A and B flights in each age group for the 2011-12 season.

“The ECNL National Championship was a tremendous success and once again displayed the high level of play that exists in the league,” said ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken. “This event will be the pinnacle of female youth soccer competition in this country for the future.”

Highlighting the final day of competition was the U-17 ECNL National Championship Game between top-seeded San Diego Surf (Calif.) and No. 2 seed PDA (N.J.), which was carried live on ESPNU and ESPN3. In a tense game, San Diego Surf found a late goal from Stephanie Hamilton to give the club its first ECNL National Championship.