VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – This past week, more than 230 of the top elite male and female athletes battled it out at the 2021 Young Men’s and Women’s National Championship at the Virginia Beach Regional Training Center in Virginia Beach, Va. Taking place Tuesday, June 15 through Sunday, June 20, this event served as the initial selection opportunity for both the men’s and women’s Junior High Performance teams and senior U.S. Women’s National Team.

For the Young Women’s National Championship (YWNC), Unity played the Patriots in the 9th/ 10th place match, where a strong start led to a 5-3 victory. Unity scored three goals in the opening frame. The first came a minute in when Nathalie Friedman (Phoenix, Md.) scored. Corey Mayer (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) converted on two penalty corner goals to end out the period. Unity added two more, one in the second and another in the third, through Paityn Wirth (Thompsontown, Pa.) and Leah Crouse (Virginia Beach, Va.). Patriots came back with vengeance scoring three goals within a 14-minute span. With a few minutes left in the third, Olivia Frazier (Cary, N.C.) found the back of the net. Daniela Mendez-Trendler (Reistertown, Md.) added her name to the score sheet and with four minutes remaining, Marykate Neff (Villanova, Pa.) rounded out the scoring.

Next, Brave defeated Pride 4-2 to claim seventh place. Just two minutes into the match, Brave converted on a penalty corner through Riley Donnelly (Doylestown, Pa.). They added another with one-minute to go in the second frame, when Katrina Carter (San Jose, Calif.) scored on a field goal. Pride answered with two goals in the third quarter to tie the game. The first in the 35th minute from Julianna Tornetta (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) and the second in the 43rd minute from Madeleine Zimmer (Hershey, Pa.) off a penalty corner. Locked at 2-2, Brave used two goals in the fourth to secure the win. In the 50th minute Carter tallied her second of the game, while with 90 seconds remaining Jillian Wolgemuth (Mount Joy, Pa.) added her name off a penalty corner.

In the 5th/6th place game Dream topped Spirit, 2-0. The goals were spaced out with the first coming in the opening quarter and the second in the fourth. Megan Miller (Palmyra, Pa.) got Dream on the board off a penalty corner in the 11th minute, for what would be the game winner. Sarah Coyole (Pelham, N.H.) added another in the 49th minute on a field goal.

In the bronze medal match, Liberty took on Honor. A scoreless first quarter saw Liberty score in the 18th minute. Isabella Bianco’s (Berlin, N.J.) straight shot hit the body of the Honor post player, giving them a penalty stroke. Fusine Govaert (Bedford, N.Y.) stepped up and converted for the 1-0 lead. Liberty extended their lead, five minutes into the fourth quarter, when next goal came in the fourth quarter, five minutes in, Hope Haynes (Katy, Texas) sent it into the circle to Lilly Hengerer (Bedminster, N.J.) who passed it across the goalmouth to Olivia Friedberg (Old Greenwich, Conn.) on the left post. Honor answered in the 53rd minute when Alana Richardson (Boxford, Mass.) knocked in a penalty corner rebound. They evened the score four minutes later when Katie Dixon (Cary, N.C.) passed it to Erin Matson (Chadds Ford, Pa.) on the left baseline who sent a backhand cross toward goal that was tipped in by Rina Tsioles (Kingston, Pa.). Time expired sending the match into a shootout. Following the first round of five, the score was tied 2-2 forcing the sudden victory shootout. Honor’s Matson went first and was fouled on the chance and Erin Shanahan (Pasadena, Md.) stepped up for the penalty stroke, but her attempt was saved by Liberty goalkeeper Melissa Nealon (Crifton Park, N.Y.). Govaert converted on her chance to claim the third place finish for Liberty.

The gold medal game, Courage and Freedom played through a scoreless first quarter. They shared goals in the second frame to keep it at a deadlock. In the 11th minute, Courage went up when Emma Way (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) received a long ball into the circle and scored. About a minute later, Freedom capitalized off a deep miss trap after Alexa Hoover (Collegeville, Pa.) applied pressure and exploited. Both teams continued to battle through the third and fourth quarters and as the clock ticked down it looked like the game was going to be decided in a shootout. In the 53rd minute Courage made the most of a penalty corner chance when Kaitlyn Benton (Lansdale, Pa.) deflection it home. Two minutes later, Way got her second of the game hitting it into the net. The game finished with Freedom winning, 3-1.

Following the women’s competition, some awards were presented. An Emerging Player award was given to the best young player, as well as a Goalkeeper of the Tournament and Player of the Tournament. Ashley Sessa (Schwenksville, Pa.) from Courage was named the Emerging Player, Gianna Glatz (Medford, N.J.) from Brave was the Goalkeeper of the Tournament and Erin Matson (Chadds Ford, Pa.) from Honor was the Player of the Tournament.

On the YMNC side, Stripes used a 6-0 win over Stars to claim the gold in the U-16 division. James Callahan (Manchester, Mo.) opened the scoring 90 seconds in on a field goal. Ethan Reynolds (Moorpark, Calif.) added his name in the 11th minute. At the start of the second frame off a penalty corner, Mehtab Grewal (Somis, Calif.) sent a low backhand into the right corner. Trailing 3-0, Stars came out in the third quarter with a succession of penalty corners but were unable to convert. In 33rd minute, Callahan got his second of the game finishing a goalmouth cross. Next off a penalty corner, Grewal sent a drag just off the right post that Michael Fortini (Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.) deflected. To cap off the scoring, Luca Civetta (Key Biscayne, Fla.) scored off a penalty corner.

The Stripes team also won the U-22 division, topping Stars 3-2. After a scoreless first quarter, Stripes capitalized two minutes into the second frame off a field goal. A shot by Reuben Kruger’s (Wilmette, Ill.) tipped off a defender and Danish Singh (Phoenix, Ariz.) tapped it in off the far post. Stars found the equalizer in the 42nd minute after a quick restart was passed to Jason Garrett (Oak Park, Calif.) who found space and sent a backhand into the net. Following back-to-back penalty corners, Stars grabbed the lead in the 51st minute when Cameron Spach (Newbury Park, Calif.) tucked in the rebound off the goalkeeper. With five minutes to go, Stars’ Spach received a 5-minute yellow and Stripes wasted no time capitalizing. Wyatt Katz (Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.) used great individual skill to beat two defenders on the left baseline and scored to tie the game. Another Stars green card gave Spirit a two-athlete advantage and with two minutes to go they reclaimed the lead off a penalty corner. Henzor Motta (San Juan, Puerto Rico) beat the fly and sent it into the net for the game winner.

The men’s awards were given in both divisions. For the U-16 division, Alexandre Beauduin (Princeton, N.J.) was named the Emerging Player, Brett Williamson (Moorpark, Calif.) was the Goalkeeper of the Tournament and Mehtab Grewel (Somis, Calif.) was the Player of the Tournament. For the U-22 division, Leo Baumgardner (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) was named the Emerging Player, Benjamin Thesiing (Fillmore, Calif.) was the Goalkeeper of the Tournament and Michael Mendoza (Monument, Colo.) was the Player of the Tournament.

Results

DIVISION	TEAM 1				TEAM 2

Sunday, June 20, 2021
Women (9th/10th)	Unity	5	Final	3	Patriots
Women (7th/8th)	Brave	4	Final	2	Pride
Women (5th/6th)	Spirit	0	Final	2	Dream
Women (3rd/4th)	Liberty	3	Final 2SO	2	Honor
Women (1st/2nd)	Courage	3	Final	1	Freedom
Men U-16	Stars	0	Final	6	Stripes
Men U-22	Stars	2	Final	3	Stripes

USA Field Hockey would like to thank Hometown Sports Productions for providing live stream coverage during the YMNC and YWNC. Rewatch today’s games and other matches on USA Field Hockey’s YouTube.

For more information including rosters, schedule, results and more, check out the YMNC and YWNC Event Page.

#YMNC 2021 | #YWNC 2021

2021 YMNC & YWNC: Day 5 Review

IMAGES TAKEN BY MARK PALCZEWSKI

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