National Elite Prep Showcase; ESPNHS Soccer Challenge

ESPNHS Soccer Challenge

RELATED LINKS: ESPNHS Challenge Overview | Current Team Standings

The ESPNHS Soccer Challenge is a point system for high school teams that take out-of-state competition through various existing tournaments, events and out-of-state trips. High school teams earn points for various levels of competition and opponents, the points are divided by the number of matches played and the teams are ranked based on point averaged. Teams must compete in any of the identified qualifying tournaments and/or play a minimum of two out-of-state matches, which cannot include local competition for schools located near state borders.

2011-2012 Qualifying Events

Note: The list of qualifying events will be adjusted throughout the season as information is received and processed by ESPNHS.

PREMIER EVENTS

Fall
Lady Eagle Invitational, ESPN RISE Pool in Zionsville, Ind. (Host: Zionsville)

Winter
National Elite Prep Showcase formerly the Nolan Showcase in Fort Worth, Texas (Host: Nolan Catholic)

Spring
TBA

REGIONAL EVENTS

Fall
Lady Eagle Invitational, Nike Pool in Zionsville, Ind. (Host: Zionsville)
McDonogh Invitational in Owings Mills, Md. (Host: McDonogh)
Rivals: The Battle for the Blues City in Tennessee (Co-Hosts: Collierville, Houston)

Winter
Tri-Valley Classic in Danville, Calif. (Hosts: Las Lomas, Monte Vista, San Ramon Valley)
Excalibur in Santa Ana, Calif. (Host: Foothill)

Spring
TBA

LOCAL EVENTS

Fall
Alta trip to California
Strongsville (Strongsville, Ohio) at McDonogh (Owings Mills, Md.)

Winter
TBA

Spring
TBA

600+ Wins for Aquinas' Giron

Coach of Note

Carlos Giron, St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)

To put Carlos Giron’s national-best 645 wins in perspective, a rookie coach in Hawaii, playing the maximum 19 matches, would need to piece together 36 straight undefeated, untied seasons before matching Giron’s win total. Daunting? Yep. That's a lot like St. Thomas Aquinas’ program has been for most opponents for 26 years under Giron. Sure, the days of absolute dominance – such as the team’s run of 119 straight wins during the mid-1990s -- may be gone, but that hasn’t changed the fact the Raiders remain a force in Florida Class 5A. Giron has a chance this year to put himself 50 wins ahead of the No. 2 coach on the all-time, Paul Heenehan of Ramapo (Franklin Lakes, N.J.). Ramapo recently concluded its fall season.

A Look Back: All-Time Greatest Nolan Showcase Matches

2003
 Nolan Catholic vs. No. 1 Colleyville Heritage
Colleyville Heritage had Caitlin Kennedy, Jessica Maxwell and Michelle Makasini and were ranked No. 1 in both the FAB 50 and the NSCAA polls. The match was played at Doskocil Stadium at Nolan Catholic and it was back and forth. Colleyville Heritage owned the majority of the play but Nolan Catholic was very organized and got numbers behind the ball very well and attacked very. The first goal came off a set piece about 40 yards out for Nolan Catholic and they were able to flick a ball on for an oncoming Nolan forward, Megan Jagger. The score was 1-0 at halftime and then just into the second half Nolan scored again to go up by two goals - the goal was off a nice entry pass in behind and the Nolan midfielder Savannah Campbell got on the end of it and served the ball nice and low and it was knocked in by Texas A&M standout, Becky Olson. The game was back and forth for the remainder of the game and Nolan was able to hold on to the lead and win 2-0.



2004
 Colleyville Heritage vs. Ursuline Academy
The very next year Colleyville Heritage made it to the final once again but now they were up against Ursuline Academy. This match was the battle of private school's best and public school's best. Ursuline scored early off a corner and really had several other chances as the game went on and Colleyville Heritage could not get their rhythm until about the last five minutes of the match when they put all sorts of pressure on Ursuline and ended up scoring off a counter which was saved and then the rebound found the back of the next for a 1-1 tie. The match went into OT and nothing much happened during extra time so the match went into penalties. The shootout was from the spot and it was a good one - the first two shooters from each team converted and then Ursuline missed. Colleyville Heritage went on to score twice more and had a chance to win the game with their fifth shooter but the Ursuline GK saved the shot. Ursuline won in with the seventh sudden death shooter.



2006
 Nolan Catholic vs. No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas
The match was the 8 p.m. game and the weather was perfect. The match was televised locally and there was a crowd on hand of about 500 people. The matched started with Nolan taking a bit of a beating but then it settled down into a pretty good match where all the play was in the midfield and in the 17th minute Nolan built out of the back and played into the midfield and up to the two targets - the targets played off each other and got in behind and TCU Soccer Buzz All-Central Region, Jackie Torda scored off an assist from current junior midfielder Chelsea Heimann. Nolan finished the half off very string putting together many other string opportunities. The second half St. Thomas was very good - during the first 15 minutes they created about six corners and put Nolan on their heels for most of the half. Nolan did pick it up midway through and started getting themselves into the attack a bit more and that is when St. Thomas struck on their first goal of the match on a counter and then about five minutes later in the 75th minute it took the lead off a corner. Nolan threw everything forward and for the next five minutes created several chances to even the game and in the 79th minute was awarded a penalty shot when the current Nolan junior forward Mallory Baum was taken down in the box and she attempted to spin a defender. Then she was a freshman and took it upon herself to take the game tying penalty as
time expired. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.



2006 
Coppell vs. No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas
This was one of the best games I have seen but the fact that there was no score made it rank below some of the other games. This game was back and forth - St. Thomas Aquinas' Kiki Bosio was all over the place as well as Coppell's Jasmine Avant. The speed of the game was impressive. Not many chances on goal but the midfield play was fun to watch - a lot of creative play, combination play, and hard tackles. The match went into PKs as well and Coppell had a chance to win the game on the fifth shooter and most of the shots were saved by both keepers. The St. Thomas Gk saved the shot and in sudden death St. Thomas, which was led by Caitlin Miskel, won the game on the next shot.

2011 San Clemente (CA) vs St. Thomas Aquinas (FL)
The marquee match Saturday pitted San Clemente and St. Thomas Aquinas in a morning contest that was played in a light drizzle. Aquinas, which had defeated FAB 50 No. 1 McKinney Boyd (McKinney, Texas) a day earlier, was 18-0 and had not allowed a goal all season. The Raiders’ streak was snapped with 9:42 left in the first half when an unmarked Coxe one-timed a shot past the Aquinas keeper. The play started when Farris served a ball from the left wing the top of the 6-yard box, intended for Tessa Andujar. Aquinas’ keeper charged off her line and disrupted the cross, but the ball ended up at the feet of Coxe, who right-footed it into the right side of the goal. Aquinas pressured San Clemente late in the second half, but could not get the equalizer, ending the Showcase with a 3-1 record. By virtue of its win over Boyd, Aquinas was considered the No. 2 team at the event.

Showcase Participants well Represented on the ESPNHS 2011 All-American Team

Winter All-American Lists | First-Team Player Bios | State-By-State Winter All-Stars

Twelve of the 36 players on the ESPNHS All-American Teams participated in the Nolan Showcase in 2011.

The winter high school girls' season might be limited in the number of states that play, but the depth of talent is staggering.

This year's ESPNHS Winter All-America selections, 36 in all, features 33 players who have committed to NCAA Division I programs, one headed to an NCAA Division II power and a pair of juniors who have yet to commit. No fewer than 10 of the players have been part of the U.S. youth national pool.

Five ESPNHS Winter first-team members led their team to state or sectional titles. All 12 players helped their teams into the POWERADE FAB 50 for at least one week this season.

California led the way with 17 selections, followed by Texas with 12, Florida with five and Arizona and Hawaii with one each.

The ESPNHS Winter All-America team is compiled using a combination of players’ high school performance, coaching and media recommendations, and recruiting details. These players hail from winter-playing high school soccer programs. ESPN RISE waits until after all local all-star teams are named before releasing its All-America list in order to provide adequate research time.

ESPNHS Winter All-America Team

Note: Players are listed with position, name, school (city, state), year in school, college commitment (if available).

First Team

F: Lauren Bohaboy, Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Sr., Notre Dame
F: Ally Courtnall, Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.), Sr., UCLA
F: Caprice Dydasco, Kamehameha (Honoulul, Hawaii), Sr., UCLA
F: Katie Johnson, Flintridge-Sacred Heart (La Canada, Calif.), Jr., Southern Cal
MF: Frannie Coxe, San Clemente (San Clemente, Calif.), Sr., Yale
MF: Rachel Price, Melbourne (Melbourne, Fla.), Jr., Florida State
MF: Haley Rosen, Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), Sr., Stanford
MF: Chioma Ubogagu, Coppell (Coppell, Texas), Sr., Stanford
D: Torey Markowitz, Tesoro (Las Flores, Calif.), Sr., UCLA
D: Lauren Schmidt, St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.), Sr., Stanford
D: Meghan Streight, Boyd (McKinney, Texas), Sr., Texas A&M
GK: Julia Kantor, St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Sr., Hofstra
Coach: Kacey Bingham, Pinnacle (Phoenix, Ariz.)

Second Team

F: Tatiana Coleman, West Boca (Boca Raton, Fla.), Sr., Auburn
F: Amanda Elertson, Boyd (McKinney, Texas), Jr., Nebraska
F: Katie Trees, Torrey Pines (San Diego, Calif.), Sr., Duke
F: Brittney Wade, Clear Lake (Houston, Texas), Sr., Tennessee
MF: Alexandra Bailey, Torrey Pines (San Diego, Calif.), Sr., Texas A&M
MF: Taylor Schneider, Carroll (Southlake, Texas), Sr., Notre Dame
MF: Taylor Smith, Ft. Worth Country Day (Ft. Worth, Texas), Jr.
MF: Clarissa Wedemeyer, Grapevine (Grapevine, Texas), Sr.
D: Cassie Callahan, Coronado (Coronado, Calif.), Sr., UC-San Diego
D: Lexi Jordan, Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas), Jr.
D: Natalie Zeenni, Flintridge-Sacred Heart (La Canada, Calif.), Sr., New Mexico
GK: Lindsay Luke, Corona del Mar (Newport Beach, Calif.), Sr., Wake Forest

Third Team

F: Rylie Johnson, Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.), Sr., Coastal Carolina
F: Kelley Monogue, Boyd (McKinney, Texas), Sr., Texas A&M
F: Julie Schumacher, St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Sr., Navy
F: Dara Spital, Gulliver Prep (Miami, Fla.), Sr., Central Florida
F: Lynn Williams, Bullard (Fresno, Calif.), Sr., Pepperdine
MF: Rogan Dolan, Carondelet (Concord, Calif.), Sr., UC Davis
MF: Kylie McCarthy, Torrey Pines (San Diego, Calif.), Sr., UCLA
MF: Allison Smith, Bowie (Austin, Texas), Sr., Texas
MF: Katie Speidel, Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), Sr., Santa Clara
D: Meghan O’Rourke, Torrey Pines (San Diego, Calif.), Sr., San Diego
GK: Lindsay Harris, Westlake (Austin, Texas), Jr., North Carolina
GK: Jackie Kerestine, Heritage (Colleyville, Texas), Sr., North Texas

10 YEARS STRONG - National Elite Prep Showcase Information

National Elite Prep Showcase “10 Year Anniversary”
Formerly Nolan Showcase
January 12-14, 2012
Fort Worth, Texas

COST
The application fee for the event will be $375 per team for all in-state teams and will be waived for out-of-state teams. Payment is due by December 1st, 2011.

Make checks payable to JATO Athletics
Attn: Showcase
P.O. Box 170952 Arlington, TX 76003

HOSTED BY
Nolan Catholic High School & Southlake Carroll

The 2012 National Elite Prep Showcase will bring together the top girls high school teams from around the country. Teams from Texas, California, Florida, Arizona, and Louisiana will be represented. It is a true college showcase for high school soccer. Formerly the Nolan Showcase, the National Elite Prep Showcase is in its 10th year. The Showcase is touted as the top event for high school soccer in Texas if not in the country. Last year’s event featured 6 of the TOP 10 teams in the country and 10 of the 14 teams in the event were ranked nationally in the TOP 30. The National Elite Prep Showcase always helps in producing the Nation’s #1 team. The top players in the country have participated in the event over the past 10 years: US National Team Player, Olympic Gold Medalist, and WPS stand-out, Amy Rodriguez (Santa Margarita), US U-21 National Team Player and UNC’s Jessica Maxwell (Colleyville Heritage), UNC’s Courtney Jones (Monte Vista), the University of Florida’s Jazmyne Avant (Coppell), BYU’s Lauren Anderson (Monte Vista), TCU’s Alex Mechalske (Nolan), TCU’s Ashley Jones (Tyler Lee), Texas’ Kendall Frizzell (Tyler Lee) and University of Kentucky’s Laura Burton (Amador Valley) participated in 08, as well as Notre Dame recruit Jazmine Hall (Marcus). US under-16 National Pool Player, Whitney Jaynes (Plano West) and Lexi Harris (Plano West) were also in attendance. Other notable showcase participants throughout the years were University of Texas standouts Caitlin Kennedy (Colleyville Heritage) and Kendall Campisi (Ursuline), as well as LSU’s Michelle Makasini (Colleyville Heritage), Texas A&M’s Becky Olson (Nolan) University of Virginia’s Caitlin Miskel (St. Thomas Aquinas), Stanford standout Kiki Bosio (Santa Margarita), USC National Champion JJ Johnson (Santa Margarita), Northwestern State’s Alex Rios (Nolan) who helped the Mexican U19 National Team qualify for the World Cup, and TCU’s Jackie Torda (Nolan), Nikki Wilber (Santa Margarita), and Monica Alvarado (Southlake Carroll) who is currently with the Mexican National Team.

2012 Showcase Participants....

List of Teams for the 2012 Showcase...
Allen High School (Allen, TX)
Amarillo High School (Amarillo, TX)
American Heritage (Delray, FL)
Antonion College Prep (San Antonio, TX)
Bishop Lynch High School (Dallas, TX)
Clear Lake (Houston, TX)
Colleyville Heritage (Colleyville, TX)
Coppell (Coppell, TX)
Flower Mound (Flower Mound, TX)
Georgetown (Austin, TX)
Grapevine (Grapevine, TX)
Hockaday (Dallas, TX)
Keller (Keller, TX)
Kingwood (Houston, TX)

Lubbock Monterey (Lubbock, TX)
Marcus (Flower Mound, TX)
Martin (Arlington, TX)
McKinney Boyd (McKinney, TX)
Midland (Midland, TX)
Murrieta Valley (California)
Nolan Catholic (Fort Worth, TX)
Palo Duro High School (Amarillo, TX)
Plano West (Plano, TX)
Rosary HS (Fullerton, CA)
San Angelo Central (San Angelo, TX)
Southlake Carroll (Southlake, TX)
St. Stephen's (Austin, TX)
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
The Colony High School (The Colony, TX)
Tyler Lee (Tyler, TX)
Ursuline (Dallas, TX)
Westlake (Austin, TX)