Stillwater to Stillwater – St Croix Legacy make the WPSL National Finals
The host stadium of the WPSL National Finals, Neal Patterson Stadium on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK, is only a 90-minute ride from the site of the Central Region Playoffs in OKC. However, since there is a week between these two rounds, Central Region winners St. Croix Legacy returned home to the ordinary lives that players at this level have to balance before they reprised their road trip. That meant an 11-hour trip South on the 12th from Stillwater, MN, to Oklahoma City and an 11-hour trip North on the 14th, followed by another 22-hour round-trip this week. On the pitch, it has been the speed of Amara Smith up front and the flying saves of Hadley Johnson which have powered Legacy’s run to Oklahoma State. Smith is leading the playoff field with four goals from three games.
Their opponents, Sporting CT are the tip of the Middletown Youth Soccer system. They went 9-0-1 in their debut season of WPSL competition to top the Northeastern Conference and then destroyed Niagara 1812 9-0 in their regional semifinals before a more competitive 2-1 win in the East Region Final. They are led, on and off the pitch, by 12 year professional and current player-coach Tiffany Weimer.
Coming from the South region are Chattanooga FC (800 miles east in Tennessee). They finished the regular season 5-1-1 and won their regional playoffs conclusively, 3-1 against Arlington Soccer Blue and then 4-0 against Louisiana Krewe Rush. Annick Lolita Manga Zouma is the joint second highest scorer left in the playoffs with three goals.
They will play defending national champion California Storm, based just outside of Sacramento (1700 miles to the west of Stillwater, OK). Storm are looking to become the league’s first ever back-to-back champions, and to win a second in three years. Their regional path was similar to SCT, with a 7-0 victory in the semifinals. They took an early two-goal lead in their regional final and rode it to the trophy. Lauren Kenny has three goals for the champs.