WILSON, NORTH CAROLINA – Whether it’s the last graduating class where ODP is still relevant as high school juniors and seniors remains to be seen, but the group of 1992 birth year players playing here Friday at the U.S. Youth Soccer Interregional showed a lot.

There was a handful of prominent DI college coaches on hand for the action and what they saw will have them interested.

Region I ODP coach Gordon Miller said the mission for the weekend remains the same as has always been stated for the program.

“We want to continue to develop them because there are still some good players coming out,” Miller said. “We want to mesh the team early since we don’t have them as often as a club team. This is the first time we’ve seen them since August, but we want to continue to give them the opportunity to play against other top players, plus there are a lot of college coaches here to see them.”

In the opening game Friday, Region I and Region II battled to a scoreless draw. A torn up field limited the amount of soccer that was going to played on the ground, but not scoring chances. Region I had the better of the play early and created a few good opportunities, but Region II took over the game in the 2nd, only for some brilliant work from Region I’s Stanford-bound goalkeeper Drew Hutchins and some wasteful finishing from the Midwesterners to keep the game at 0-0.

Hutchins, who has been a mainstay between the pipes for a very talented YMS Xplosion team in the Philadelphia area, saved a penalty in the 2nd half to cap off his exploits on the day.

Other standouts for Region I included Beach FC midfielder Drew Hartell, who showed good technique and composure in the middle and Lower Merion SC defender Olutolani Ibikunle, a Wake Forest-bound player with good reads and quick steps in the back line who also loves a good tackle. Massapequa SC’s Daniel Issroff was active on the flank, showing good acceleration and good feet. His club teammate Matthew DiDomenico is a defender who wins a lot of balls and distributes well out of the back.

The player of the game for Region II was Andrew Farrell. Lined up in the 2nd half as an outside back, Farrell is a good athlete with notable size and speed, but he has a very good pair of feet and showed himself very clever in dealing with long balls played down his side, plus the technique to accurately pick out teammates to start his team back on the attack, rather than just lumping the ball blindly up field.

Farrell, who plays club soccer in Louisville for United FC 1996, said he is comfortable playing a number of positions and added that the team, despite not playing together on a regular basis, adapts well to the new surroundings.

“Sometimes I play center back and sometimes I play on the outside, but I think I’ll play defensive mid for my college team,” Fuller said. “We’re a tight group so we get used to playing with each other pretty quickly.”

That college team is hometown school Louisville, and coach Ken Lolla is getting a good one for sure.

Another Region II player who did well on the day was Kansas native Samuel McCrillis, who is good on the ball and crosses well. Butler(m) recruit Andy Holte is a goalkeeper who plays his angles and communicates well.

The field used for the 2nd game, between Regions III and IV, seemed to be holding up a little better and perhaps that’s why all the day’s goals came from that match. Ian Ramos of Utah club Inter FC banged home a rebound early after Dustin Correa’s free kick was saved by Oklahoma goalkeeper Preston Langholz. Richard Reece’s westerners doubled their advantage a bit later when Ramos played a good pass to Washington’s John Crenshaw, who beat two defenders on the dribble and provided the simple finish.

Lafreniere SC goal-scoring machine Patrick Mullins was at it again near the end of the half, proving a good finish on a setup from Cobb FC’s Michael Derbecker to make the score 2-1 at halftime.

Region IV added two more goals in the 2nd half, while Derbecker scored a goal for Region III to make the final scoreline 4-2 to Region IV.

Crenshaw in particular was good for Region IV, showing skill on the ball, speed on the wing and a real toughness overall. Defensive midfielder Derek Boggs of Inter FC makes smart decisions on the ball and also passes accurately.

For Region III, Triangle FC midfielder Ted Mullin was his usual creative self in the middle of the park, exerting himself fully to be available for teammates’ passes, showing composure on the ball and playing smart and precise passes consistently. Tennessee club FC Alliance’s Nicholas Dykes has a good pair of feet and can cross the ball well, while Alpharetta Ambush defender Matthew Palma positions himself smartly and is good in the air.
 
The teams will be in action Saturday and Sunday as well in conjunction with the NCAA College Cup. Also on tap this weekend are more U.S. Youth Soccer National League games, USSF Development Academy matches Saturday featuring CASL vs. South Carolina United (we will have coverage) and the CASL Shootout which has attracted college coaches from across the country.