Having long since attained the status of powerhouse and looking to transition to dynasty status by virtue of a 2nd national championship, the Dallas Texans U17 Girls squad has assured itself a chance to defend its national title by virtue of sweeping to a U.S. Youth Soccer National League crown recently.

Whatever struggles Ryan Higginbotham’s squad exhibited in the fall during Lake Highlands Classic League and Region III Premier League west play, there was no evidence of weakness remaining during the National League schedule, played over the course of two weekends at the CASL Showcase and Disney Showcase in December.

Texans did the business in grand style, running up a record of 6-0-1, scoring 17 goals and allowing just two. Only a draw against Illinois-side Ela Elite kept them from sheer perfection in league play, Texans clinched the title in the final game with a 2-0 win over Eclipse Select in a rematch of last summer’s national title game.

Higginbotham acknowledged that it was a good performance from his side.

“I was very happy. The fall season locally was very tough for us. We had a quick turnaround from nationals and you could see maybe there was a little motivation and drive lacking, to be fair,” he said. “Once the season was over we turned our attention completely toward the National League. The kids trained five days a week for North Carolina and Florida. When you look at our goals for and goals against, it goes back to six weeks of training for that.”

The squad spread the heroics around rather liberally. Amanda Frisbie and Shelby Redman led the scoring effort with three goals each, while Juliann Jeffrey, Alyssa Diggs and Brittany Morgan each added two, and Natasha Anasi, Courtney Smith, Sydney Eppler, Taylor Matthews and Kristen Barg each scored once. U17 WNT player Alexis Harris was her usual giant presence in midfield while Higginbotham credited defensive players Anasi, Smith, Victoria Hoffman, Cortney Simmons and Margaret Gotsacker along with goakeeping tandem Vittoria Arnold and Megan Cherry with being standouts.

“It really is a team effort,” he said. “It’s hard to single anybody out. There are 19 players on the team and you had 12 who have been with the regional team at one point or another.

Courtney Smith, who along with Natasha Anasi makes a very solid central defensive partnership for Texans, said the team is driven in its bid to repeat.

“Any team can win a national championship but to win another would really show that we are a great team,” Smith said. “I don’t know that we lost our focus (after nationals) but I think we are very motivated again and we really worked for this.”

Smith agreed that the defense was key.

“We lost Katie Bass at nationals so we had Cortney Simmons step in and she did well,” she said. “Natasha and I have played together for a long time and Victoria Hoffman did well too. Our keepers do well in instructing us and keeping us together.”


Dallas Texans National League Results – December, 2008

1.    Dec. 4 – in Cary, NC -  Dallas Texans 2, Laguna Hills Eclipse  1
2.    Dec. 5 –in Cary, NC – Dallas Texans 2, Mclean Dragons 1
3.    Dec. 6 – in Cary, NC - Dallas Texans 3, Vardar 0
4.    Dec. 7 – in Cary, NC - Dallas Texans 4, Challenge 92 0
5.    Dec. 31 – at Disney - Dallas Texans 4, Blue Valley Stars 0
6.    Jan. 1 – at Disney - Dallas Texans 0, Ela Elite 0
7.    Jan. 2 – at Disney - Dallas Texans 2, Eclipse Select 0


Dallas Texans U17 Girls Roster:

Goalkeepers: Vittoria Arnold, Megan Cherry
Defenders: Katie Bass, Cortney Simmons, Courtney Smith, Margaret Gottsacker, Victoria Hoffman, Natasha Anasi
Midfielders: Sydney Eppler, Kristen Barg, Juliann Jeffrey, Madison Whitehead, Nina Anderson, Alexis Harris, Taylor Matthews
Forwards: Amanda Frisbie, Shelby Redman, Brittany Morgan, Alyssa Diggs