Barcelona Claims 2022 U-19 Nexus Championship

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The 2022 Nexus Championship (NXC), presented by Osaka Hockey, at the Virginia Beach Regional Training Center in Virginia Beach, Va. finished today with the U-19 Girls age division. Barcelona won gold, Athens claimed silver and Squaw Valley took home bronze.

The bronze medal game was a close one between Squaw Valley and Lake Placid. Scoreless through three quarters, Squaw Valley earned a penalty stroke 1:20 into the final frame. Maia Dechiario stepped up and converted the game winner to give Squaw Valley 1-0 win.

The gold medal was another tight contest between Barcelona and Athens. Scoreless after the first quarter, Athens got on the board first in the 17th minute through a quick field goal from Caroline Suko. Barcelona found the equalizer less than 10 seconds before the halftime break off a penalty corner deflect from Camryn Standish. In the 34th minute, Barcelona struck again when Elizabeth Barton got it in front of the goalkeeper and put it in. Five minutes later, Athens evened the score on a penalty corner goal. The game winner came in the 55th minute when Emma Watchilla scored off a backhand for the 3-2 victory.

Over the course of the three days, hundreds of athletes from around the country showed off their skills in front of selectors, coaches and fans as they competed for evaluation to further opportunities in the women's Olympic Development Pathway. Congratulations to all the athletes for their hard work and dedication.

USA Field Hockey would like to extend its congratulations to the following teams on their tournament victories:

Head Coach: Nicole Morgan

In Alphabetical Order: Lucy Adams, Natalie Arnold, Madalyn Baker, Elizabeth Barton, Sophia Baxter, Thea Conomikes, Madison Kim, Virginia Olin, Isabelle Panikowski, Audrey Post, Esther Pottebaum, Julia Ramsey, Brynn Shaffer, Lucy Smith, Camryn Standish, Rachel Thetford, Aubreigh Uba, Emma Watchilla

Head Coach: Kayla May

In Alphabetical Order: Lydia Bennett, Piper Borz, Abigail Burnett, Laetitia Cartellieri, Sara Desousa, Sophie Ermellini, Maya Everett, Lea Good, Victoria Griffiths, Aubrey Ide, Hensley Miller, Nadia Nemeth, Sophia Parker, Grace Pottebaum, Gabrielle Raichle, Hannah Schreckengaust, Kate Siedem, Caroline Suko, Mackenzie White

Head Coach: Joshua Peterson

In Alphabetical Order: Amelia Albers, Kate Burgess, Megan Carpenter, Kaitlyn Chang, Mia Dechiario, Katherine Fiest, Lucy Federick, Natalie Freeman, Abigail Johnson, Ella Kokinis, Anne Marie Krebs, Kate Longo, Kayden Ma, Claire Nockolds, Kerry O'Donnell, Julia Puccio, Regan Worley, Abby Zanelli

In addition, congratulations to Grenoble for winning the Barbara Longstreth Award for Sportsmanship. This award was created to promote good sportsmanship and given to the team that best exemplifies the qualifies of fair play, graciousness in victory and defeat, and respect for opponents and officials. This award is selected by the USA Field Hockey National Futures Championship Umpire and Coaching Staff.

Head Coach: Maggie Young

In Alphabetical Order: Sophia Abraham, Sophie Brants, Lily Cosner, Sloan Davidson, Kylee Del Monte, Madison Evans, Alexa Ganocy, Caroline Golden, Lexi Hirtzel, Hannah Merritt, Payton Muth, Riley O'Donnell, Fiene Oerlemans, Summer Payne, Catalina Rubel, Kate Soldan, Taylor Vaccaro, Rylie Wollerton

A member of the U.S. Women's National Team from 1956 to 1964, Longstreth began her field hockey career at Beaver College (now Arcadia University) in the 1950's where she excelled in both field hockey and lacrosse. As a national team member, she competed in the epic 3-3 draw with England in front of 56,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium during the teams 1962 tour to Great Britain and Denmark. In 1963, she was a members of the USA's International Federation of Women's Hockey Association Conference team for an event that would become the precursor to today's FIH World Cup.
Longstreth continued her devotion to the game as a coach and eventually founded Longstreth Sporting Goods in 1977. Beginning the enterprise by selling field hockey sticks from the trunk of her car at tournaments, she established her company in Parkers Ford, Pa. where it has become the country's leader in speciality sports products for women. She announced her retirement from the company in 2007.

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