REDMOND, Washington — In the brief history of the ECNL, no team has ever pulled what TopDrawerSoccer.com has, today, so loftily dubbed the “Five-Fecta.” That is, no team has won all five championship trophies stretching from the U14 to the U18 age levels.

It’s far too early to determine whether the Michigan Hawks’ U15 squad is capable of becoming the first. But the stars are beginning to line up for the comically deep squad to kickstart a hearty discussion.

Just a year after winning the U14 national title, the Michigan Hawks U15s continued barnstorming through the ECNL Playoffs here Sunday with a smashing 5-0 win over the San Diego Surf. This was no pushover Surf team, either. The Hawks took apart a team that lost just five games in the regular season and entered the tournament on a heater. The Hawks’ impossibly talented team took them down with a practiced ease.

It helps that this team boasts the No. 2 IMG Academy 150 recruit for the 2018 class in Alexa Spaanstra, who’s already pledged to Virginia(w). Spaanstra put in two goals, including a penalty early in the first half, but even she was outdone by attacking teammate Camryn Evans, who rang up a hat trick.

The Hawks run a three-player front line that mostly looks like Evans in the middle, Spaanstra arrayed wide right and the quick-footed Madison Donley on the left. Those three gave Surf fits, notably when Spaanstra floated deeper to overlap on Evans, and the two rammed possession through the middle channel. There aren’t many defenses in the nation that can cope with that kind of concentrated firepower, if there are any at all.

Evans kicked off the scoring with a purely struck one-touch volley about 35 minutes into the contest, and Spaanstra doubled it just before half with a well-struck penalty. Evans scored twice more in the second half, and Spaanstra rounded out the blowout with a curling lofted shot from 18 yards.

The Hawks have a long way to go to capture four more national championships, a nearly impossible ask for any side. But they set the foundation for a run last year, and they’ve certainly lived up to the billing in Seattle.

West Coast FC 4-3 Sporting Blue Valley U17
A back-and-forth, high-scoring game between West Coast and Blue Valley was one of this week’s best matches so far. Both teams played contrasting style of attacking football that resulted in plenty of opportunities on each end.

West Coast preferred to work the ball from back to front, using defensive midfielder Meghan Shaver as a fulcrum to move attacks from side to side and try to break down the Blue Valley defense. The Californians controlled most of the match, scoring in the seventh minute when Leah Cernicky put away Victoria Henderson’s pass at the end of one such move.

But a couple simple yet incisive vertical attacks from Blue Valley reversed the deficit with two goals in three minutes after the half-hour mark. First, Addisyn Merrick scored off a diagonal ball from Morgan Hensley, then Hensley got down the line to assist Bailey Childers on the subsequent effort.

West Coast tied the match and then retook the lead before halftime. Mirroring her opponents’ direct play, center back Reid Morrison skipped everybody with a long ball to center forward Ann Blackwood in the 35th minute. Then, Valentina Soares Gache hit a long, looping shot to the back post from outside the penalty area to make it 3-2 just before halftime.

The teams traded goals again in the second half, Alyssa Seitzer tying it off another Route 1 long ball from central defender Sinclaire Miramontez in the 83rd minute. Blue Valley continued its vertical attacks, picking the ball off in midfield and connecting simple one- and two-touch passes through the defense in transition.

West Coast could have had more opportunities, but its decision-making on the ball in attack was just slow enough that Blue Valley stifled it. Dramatically, West Coast would still score the final goal just five minutes from time to win it.

Soares Gache hit a long shot that bounced off the crossbar and straight to the ground, and Olivia Ware met it with a simple put-back header under pressure as the ball made its return to earth.

FC Dallas 3-2 Albertson Fury U16
In keeping with the theme of the weekend, Albertson found an early goal in this one. Five minutes into a physical match, Catherine Gambino put away a penalty to give her team the early lead.

The rest of the first half was played primarily between the penalty areas, punctuated by the referee’s whistle and other challenges that should have drawn the whistle. Neither coach remained particularly satiated through the rest of the game in light of what they thought was too much leniency from the man in the middle.

Dallas took control midway through the half and nearly equalized just before halftime, but first-half Fury goalkeeper Erica Lorenzana was equal to Sophia Fondren’s free kick from a dangerous position toward the top corner.

The Texans would equalize just seven minutes into the second period. Another long shot from Fondren handcuffed substitute goalkeeper Mackenzie Kagan, who parried it right into Maci Schoonover’s path for an easy tap-in.

Three more goals followed before the end of the game as teams began to feel the effects of a humid day in the Northwest. Dallas took its first lead of the match on a neat touch and shot from Ariel Díaz in the 60th minute, but Albertson forward Bridget Patch equalized by knocking in a corner kick 10 minutes later.

With just two minutes to go, Dallas won another dangerous free kick in the attacking third, and it made the most of its opportunity this time. Morgan Smocovich opted for a short pass just in front of the line of Fury defenders, where Danielle Murguria turned and fired into the net from outside the 18-yard box.

Albertson pushed for another equalizer late on, earning multiple set pieces in stoppage time and even sending the goalkeeper into the opposing penalty area, but Dallas’ defense rose above the chaos. It took Dallas a while to get into the game, but it left itself plenty of time after giving up an early goal to pull off the comeback victory.

TSC Hurricane 2-0 Charlotte SA U16
Arkansas raided TSC Hurricane for prospects, and watching their contest on Sunday it isn’t hard to see why. The Razorbacks have three verbals on this Hurricane U16 side, and all three had outsize roles in the team’s deserved victory. It might’ve been more had it not been for

Charlotte’s resolute and organized defensive display.
There’s little question Parker Goins was the player of the match. The Hurricane forward was a nightmare for CSA’s defender’s, which struggled to cope with her pace and vision. She cut open the back for a goal in the opening moments of the match to throw CSA onto the back foot, and her attacking menace was never fully dealt with. But she wasn’t the only Arkansas commit running riot. Nayeli Perez was Goins’ running partner at forward for most of the match, and her agility made her tough to track. And the third prong of the Arkansas Trio, Taylor Malham, scored the final goal.

For its part, CSA did well to keep the match from spiraling despite a lack of substantive chances in front of net. Credit a stern back line and a quality keeper from allowing the match to become out of control. Also, defensive midfielder Kimber Haley for shielding the back line well.

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