Beaver County soccer club fights for national title
MOON TWP. – This weekend, the Beadling West Elite U13 soccer club has national championship ambitions on its mind as the team travels to Wichita, Kansas to compete in the U.S. Soccer Presidents Cup national championships, taking place Friday through Tuesday.
The U13 National Championship team is made up of 15 girls from various schools in the Beaver Valley, including Blackhawk, Central Valley, Moon Area and West Allegheny.
This is not the first time a Western Pennsylvania team has had the opportunity to compete for a national title, as the U15 club Century West was crowned national champions in 2021, becoming the first Western Pennsylvania team to win a national title.
More: Golden Girls: Century West U15 girls soccer team wins national championship
Tyler Blake, head coach of the Beadling West team and assistant coach of the U15 club that won the national title, sees some similarities between his current team and the team he coached just three years ago.
“This group fights all the time, they’re never out of the game and they never give up,” Blake said. “They don’t let anyone get them down and as a team they take care of each other on and off the field and I think that’s what makes this group so special. Together they are more than just their parts, they play for each other and give their best every game.”
Reaching the level of play to compete for the national championship is not an easy goal to achieve and requires the right players and the right chemistry within the team.
Blake has had the opportunity to coach most of his team’s players for over five years, and watching their development over the years and especially this year heading to Wichita has been special for the coach.
“For us, the journey started a few years ago,” Blake said. “About seven of the girls have been on this team for almost five years now. It’s been great to see them be on this team for so long and watch them grow, come to practice eager to learn, get better, improve and always perform at a competitive level, especially this year, the progress they’ve made. We have a great group of parents that support them and get them through everything.”
Blake has made tremendous progress in his group over the course of this season and has seen his team make great strides in all areas of the field.
From midfielders to defenders and goalkeepers, there’s a reason this Beadling club is challenging for a national title – and it’s not just because of the growth of the team, but because of the depth of their squad.
“We have some great goalies,” Blake said. “Samantha D’Alesio has come on well in goal. If you look at our back line, she’s been solid for most of the entire spring. We have about six or seven girls that we can all use inside or outside. Our midfield is dominant in every game, they find a way to win every ball and just start playing. Then there are some of our great goal scorers who always seem to find a way to score goals when we need them.”
The road to a spot in the national championship began a few months ago when Beadling participated in the PA West Presidents Cup, competing against teams from across the western part of the state.
In the tournament, Blakes’ team achieved a perfect 4-0 record, defeating Century Silver 4-0 in the first game, winning 4-0 over Pittsburgh Football Club in the second game, beating Steel City 8-0 in the third game, and securing the PA West Presidents Cup with a 1-0 win over Victory FC in the final.
After a dominant performance in the PA West tournament, Beadling found itself with its back against the wall at the Eastern Regionals. In its first game against Severna Park, Beadling defeated the Maryland-based club 1-0.
After the win, the team lost to Lehigh Valley, creating a win-or-lose situation in the third game and the opportunity to advance to the semifinals.
The Beadling team won 3-0 against Old Bridge, a club from New Jersey, and advanced to the semifinals.
Blake’s team knew what was at stake in their third regional game against the team from Old Bridge, and as the team began to think about heading home, the players rose to the occasion to ensure their national title hopes were not dashed.
“After the third game, there was nothing to lose because the semifinals and finals are win or lose, so the team gave it their all and gave it their all in the semifinals,” Blake said. “Every time this team gets to a championship-level game, they seem to rise to the occasion. This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen that from this team.”
After the team’s victory over Old Bridge, they defeated Victory FC again, this time in the semifinals, followed by a 2-1 victory over Arlington, Virginia, in the final to advance to the national championship.
After the final practice before leaving for Wichita, Morgan Keller, Julianna Lantzty and Lauren Muhanna, three members of the former Century West team that won the 2021 national title, spoke for a few minutes with the Beadling team and gave the players some advice before they left for the national championships.
Kendall Niskach, who attends school in the Moon Area School District, was pleased with the encouraging speech from the girls who won the national title after practice on Tuesday evening.
“It was great,” Niskach said. “It was helpful for me as we prepared for the game, and it was a big help for the team to listen to them.”
Blake knows what his team is capable of and is excited to watch his squad compete against some of the best teams in the country and hopefully bring another national title to Western Pennsylvania in return.
“I expect great things from them,” he said. “They fought hard to get here, they are up to the challenge and I think they will have a very successful weekend and hopefully we come back on Tuesday with a national championship title.”
Beadling will open National Presidents Cup play on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET against Montana Surf.
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