A Day of Chilly Weather in the books for the NEPS

Sheldon Shealer/ESPNHS
Clear Lake (Houston, Texas) keepers warm up prior to the team's opening match against Coppell (Texas) at the National Elite Prep Showcase at Texas Christian University.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- When POWERADE FAB 50 No. 4 Ursuline (Dallas, Texas) and No. 18 American Heritage-Delray (Delray Beach, Fla.) met Thursday in the opening match at the National Elite Prep Showcase, something had to give between a pair of teams that were a combined 27-0. It ended up being American Heritage-Delray’s defense.

Boston College commit Jana Jeffrey had a goal and one assist and Candace Johnson delivered a strong performance to lead Ursuline (11-0) to a 3-0 victory, handing American Heritage-Delray its first loss in 18 matches. “This was a bit of an eye-opener for us,” Delray coach Steve Burgess confessed. “We’ve had a good run in Florida for the last eight years or so, and now we’re getting to see what it’s all about at this level.”

For Ursuline, the result starts to make amends for last year’s showing at this event, where the then highly regarding private school program hobbled to a 1-3 showing and fell from the national rankings. “Last year, we didn’t do well here,” said Johnson, whose centering passing early in the match led to a goal by Kellie Schnurr, before Johnson scored a goal of her own. “We wanted to make a statement this year with a decisive win.”

Throughout the day, ESPNHS will update the top team and individual performances from Thursday’s opening round.

PLAYER OF THE DAY
Jana Jeffrey, Ursuline Academy: The Boston College-bound forward assisted the team’s second goal and scored the third as the Bears humbled American Heritage-Delray 3-0.

IMPACT FRESHMEN
Mayra Pelayo, American Heritage-Delray: Pelayo is a technically sound player who demonstrated great skill on the ball. Coach Steve Burgess said Pelayo is still getting used to the speed of play since the high school game is filled with players two and three years older. Pelayo plays club soccer for magicJack.

DAY 1 Results CLICK BELOW
http://nationaleliteprepshowcase.blogspot.com/p/2012-schedule-as-of-12111.html