GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – The climate planning for Jillian Ellis and the U20 Women’s National Team fell victim to a freak cold front that dropped temperatures to the 40s in central Florida this weekend, but judging by an intrasquad scrimmage the team played Sunday, everything else is going perfectly in the runup to the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament.

That event will be in a decidedly warmer Guatemala later this month, and for the rest of this week Ellis and her staff will be making a final analysis to choose the 20-player roster for that event. On Sunday, the team played a spirited intrasquad scrimmage which featured some great goals.

vPerhaps the best came from Boston College’s freshman standout Vicki DiMartino, who is being converted to left back for the U20 team. Di Martino advanced up the left flank with the ball and hit a cracking shot from 30 yards out that goalkeeper Bianca Henninger with no chance to stop it, putting the Blue team up 1-0.

{mosimage:300}DiMartino looked like a natural at the left back spot, but said afterward she is brand new to it and still learning

“It’s a new position. I watch a lot of English Premier games and Jill helps me out a lot,” she said. “She shows me films on what to do. It’s coming together well. It’s a lot of work and it’s different, but I like it. The formation we play allows me to attack and leaves the outside open for me to get up and attack which I like. The attacking part is what I’ve always done.”

Position conversion is a norm for any youth or full national team, but Ellis was pleased with what she saw from her players in Sunday’s bounce match, and agreed that DiMartino has learned especially fast.

“This is such a talented group of players it’s always exciting to watch them play. We’ve converted a lot of players. The players are playing out of position but they are all doing a good job. The rest of this week we just want to work on getting everyone on the same page,” she said. “Vicki has been awesome. She has such great attacking instincts, she has an outside shot. She’s new to defense but we felt we didn’t have a clear left back. We’ve taken some players and moved them but it’s working out.”

The 2nd goal for the Blue side came from Nebraska’s Morgan Marlborough on a rebound effort. Marlborough scored goals at will in college this year, and with her 2nd of the night Sunday, a well-placed lob on an assist from Portland’s Charney Burk, showed she is making a strong bid for the tournament roster despite this being her first national team camp.

“I got a really good pass from Charney so I just took a left-footed shot and it went in,” Marlborough said. “I feel pretty good about everything. I’m just trying to go out and work hard and have fun and see what happens from there.”

UCLA’s Sydney Leroux, a star at the last FIFA U20 World Cup, where she helped lead the U.S. squad to the championship, scored two goals in the scrimmage for the team clad in pennies. Leroux showed the same predator’s instinct in front of goal that served her so well for Ellis’ UCLA team this fall.

Some other standouts in the scrimmage from this perspective included defenders Crystal Dunn, Amber Brooks and Rachel Quon, midfielders Samantha Mewis, Christine Nairn and Jenna Richmond, plus forward Teresa Noyola.

The team will be in camp until Jan. 8.

Pennies Starting Lineup
GK: Bianca Henninger (Santa Clara) (Taylor Vancil (Louisville))
D: Camille Levin (Stanford), Lucretia Lee (UCLA), Amber Brooks (North Carolina), Kendall Johnson (Portland)
M: Samantha Mewis (UCLA verbal), Kristen Mewis (Boston College), Christine Nairn (Penn State)
F: Teresa Noyola (Stanford), Tiffany McCarty (Florida State), Sydney Leroux (UCLA)
Sub: Casey Short (Florida State)

Blue Starting Lineup
GK: Adrianna Franch (Oklahoma State)
D: Rachel Quon (Stanford), Crystal Dunn (North Carolina verbal), Toni Pressley (Florida State), Vicki DiMartino (Boston College)
M: Elizabeth Eddy (USC verbal), Katy Frierson (Auburn), Zakiya Bywaters (UCLA), Jenna Richmond (UCLA verbal)
F: Morgan Marlborough (Nebraska), Maya Hayes (Penn State verbal)
Sub: Charney Burk (Portland)