Oklahoma City base quickly gravitating toward Energy FC

USL Feature

Second-year USL club OKC Energy FC has grown by leaps and bounds in a short time frame, both on the field and off. As Energy FC prepares for its Western Conference Final against the LA Galaxy II on Sunday, the club knows it will have tremendous backing at Taft Stadium and within the region.

Energy FC President and Owner Bob Funk certainly envisioned this. The pleasant surprise for him is just how quickly everything has emerged.

“I always expected to have a pretty hardcore, dedicated fan base, but I was surprised at the quickness that fans gravitated toward the product,” Funk said. “The brand and the team itself have grown in large part to our team’s involvement in the community. Whether it’s clinics, coaching teams and just being involved and visible; the community has embraced them.”

For more, visit uslsoccer.com.

OKC Energy FC's Evan Newton embodies final piece of puzzle

OKC Energy FC goalkeeper Evan Newton

USL Feature

When OKC Energy FC head coach Jimmy Nielsen was putting the final elements of the team’s roster together for 2015, Evan Newton was not part of the picture.

Nielsen felt all the pieces were already in place heading into preseason, and then several days later he received a phone call from Newton’s agent.

“We had a long chat, and I was pretty far with the roster,” Nielsen said. “Only a few days before he called, I said we’re done for the year. We’re not signing any more players. But when I heard he was available, I chatted with him and we were back and forth. We came to an agreement and knew that we had a rock solid goalkeeper who can win you points.

“He joined us for our trip at the IMG Tournament, flew in, landed at 4 in the afternoon, played a 7 o’clock game and we beat Toronto 1-0.”

For more, visit uslsoccer.com.

TDS: ECNL to U-20 World Cup? Eclipse's Marwede highlighted

Eclipse Select's Hannah Marwede

Top Drawer Soccer highlighted four ECNL stalwarts who could make a push for Michelle French's roster in the next FIFA U-20 World Cup. Among this group is Eclipse Select center back Hannah Marwede. TDS's Will Parchman says:

"When it comes to senior center backs, there are none more accomplished than Marwede, who has the chops to do just about anything you need of a center back in the middle of the park. Her size is the most obvious facet about her game, but there’s considerably more to it than that. This Eclipse side prefers to play it out of the back as much as possible, and after winning the U16 national championship in 2014, Eclipse made it back to Richmond for the ECNL Finals again in 2015 (and finished third in their group).

"Marwede’s leadership from the middle shouldn’t be overlooked. She has pillow feet for her size, and if French decides to mix it up and go more along the ground, she won’t find a better mix of aerial and on-the-ball skills than Marwede. A perfect option either off the bench late as a dead ball threat in the box or simply as the main option in the middle. Her height isn’t to be missed."

For the full article, visit TopDrawerSoccer.com.

New York Red Bulls II's Stefano Bonomo impresses out of chute

USL Feature

New York Red Bulls II forward Stefano Bonomo comes from a line of top-level athletes in his family. Bonomo’s father Paolo, as well as his grandfather who he had never met, were former professional skiers.

Paolo represented Italy’s national ski team, so between his skiing days and devoted interest in his son’s line of work – coaching for a portion of his youth days – Bonomo says he has had the type of tutelage that many others do not have the privilege of receiving.

“He’ll share all types of stories with me, if I need a motivational talk where he thinks I can push myself in a certain area,” Bonomo said. “He’s talked about when he was skiing back in the day and how he lived his life. I can’t thank him enough for how he’s pushed me and has given me a competitive edge.”

For more, visit USLSoccer.com.

Goal-scoring trio of Konig, Fondy and Vincent rewriting USL record books

USL Feature

Goal scoring is the lifeblood of the game, and the 2015 USL season has consisted of a flurry of memorable tallies. The USL record books are being rewritten heavily in this department with three players who have set themselves apart in their run to hold the single-season goal-scoring record.

OKC Energy FC’s Danni König (19 goals), Louisville City FC’s Matt Fondy (18 goals) and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ Rob Vincent (17 goals) represent the top tier of the goal scoring department and are within striking distance of the USL record of 20 goals scored by Orlando City SC’s Kevin Molino during the 2014 season. The remarkable part about this season is that all three players have already reached the top five in the single-season records in this category. They each have five games remaining in their regular-season schedule.

For more, visit USLSoccer.com.

Eclipse trio of Bosco, Gorzak and Redei called in for U.S. U-20 camp

Redei, Gorzak and Bosco

Eclipse Select News Release

Eclipse Select Soccer Club forwards Marissa Bosco (St. Charles, Ill.) and Zoe Redei (Highland Park, Ill.) and midfielder Alissa Gorzak (Naperville, Ill.) have been called in for a U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team camp.

The camp is running all this week through Sunday, Aug. 30, at U.S. Soccer’s National Training Center in Carson, Calif., with Michelle French coaching the 31-player group.

This camp is for pre-college club players as the women’s college season kicked off Friday. French is looking among this group to develop the pool of players who will next look at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea.

For more, visit EclipseSelect.org.

John Harkes eager for challenge at USL expansion side FC Cincinnati

FC Cincinnati's John Harkes

USL Feature

Former U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder John Harkes’ playing credentials are well known: first American to play in the English Premier League, two FIFA World Cup teams, two MLS Cups with D.C. United and 2005 National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, just to skim the surface.

Now the 48-year-old New Jersey native is taking on a new challenge as he prepares for his first professional head coaching position. Harkes will take the reins of expansion FC Cincinnati when the club debuts during the 2016 USL season.

“It’s a special time to be a head coach in the USL and grow this team from the ground up,” Harkes said of the club, which was unveiled Wednesday as the league’s 26th franchise. “It’s an exciting challenge for everybody.”

In the past several months, Harkes grew impressed with the backing behind FC Cincinnati and knew it was an opportunity he wanted to pursue.

“In my initial conversations with Cincinnati, I saw the strength of the ownership group and thought this was an attractive opportunity,” Harkes said. “Over the course of a few months, I was able to get out to Cincinnati, meet with [FC Cincinnati President and General Manager] Jeff Berding and talk about the ownership group. We all know the USL is a rapidly growing league and a competitive league. Once those conversations started I just wanted to be a part of it and grow this product. This is a special time for the people here.”

For more, visit uslsoccer.com.

AZ United's Top hopes qualifying spurs global, club success

Jonathan Top

USL Feature

Arizona United SC’s Jonathan Top has not featured internationally for the past two years, but a call-up to Guatemala’s U-23 national team is providing the Texas native with a grand opportunity.

Top’s Guatemala side is among the seven Central American Football Union (UNCAF) teams looking to advance to the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship, set to be held in the U.S. this October. The two UNCAF group winners earn a spot, and Guatemala was placed in Group B against Honduras (Aug. 13) and Belize (Aug. 15).

“I’m looking forward to this whole process to qualify for the Olympics,” Top said. “We’re going to prepare ourselves for the qualifiers and I’m excited to help out the team, take advantage of this experience and bring that back to Arizona.”

For more, visit uslsoccer.com.