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Cohesive AFU U14s Forge Ahead, Garner Group C

12/11/2016, 2:45pm EST
By CHARLIE CORR - charlie.corr@uslsoccer.com

Schwartz brace leads Atlanta against FCV as club improves to 3-0-0 at SYL Finals


Super Y League / Atlanta Fire United's Abby Schwartz tallied twice Sunday

BRADENTON, Fla. – Atlanta Fire United’s U14 Girls might not be the most physically imposing group competing at the 2016 Super Y League North American Finals at IMG Academy. Instead, the squad relies on toughness, possession and other intangibles.

AFU earned a 2-1 victory against FCV Annandale Elite Loudoun on Sunday to win Group C with a perfect 3-0-0 mark. Leading the way was Abby Schwartz, who tallied both Atlanta goals.

“We’re a bit of a smaller team,” Schwartz said. “So it’s really physicality that gets us sometimes. We can have the run of the play, but sometimes the physicality will get us, but we fought really tough and stayed strong.”

Schwartz was a constant threat Sunday, and by the second half the goals started to come. Andrea Riddle set up the first tally with a cross from the right toward Schwartz and FCV’s goalkeeper, with the AFU attacker winning the battle. Then Tori McKool played a good through ball to Schwartz who found some space in the middle and did the rest, slotting into the goal to notch a brace.

The goals were a welcome sight after posting 1-0 victories in the first two group matches.

“Our first couple games, we fought really hard, but it’s nice to step it up and get some goals and secure a win for us,” Schwartz said. “We’re going to the semifinals tomorrow, which will be great. We struggled a little bit early, but everybody came out in the second half and fought really, really hard.”

FCV made a game of it when center back Makenna Mann stepped up with a clutch header off of a corner kick to cut Atlanta’s lead to one later in the second half. Mann’s efforts came up a little short, but the goal and her hard-nosed battles against Schwartz stood out down the stretch.

“She was really tough,” Schwartz said of Mann. “She’s a really solid center back. It’s always good for a challenge. You want to work to win, so it was a really good challenge for me to go against her. She did really well. Kudos on that header goal, that was really good.”

Schwartz said that the team has found some strong cohesion during the SYL Finals, and maintaining that connectivity has ultimately paid big dividends during this stretch.

“It’s a really good team,” Schwartz said. “You can play and know what the other person is going to do next. The passing and moving makes it a lot easier than trying to do everything on your own. The team works really well together, and I really think that helps me too.”

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