Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer’s ODP teams are traveling this weekend to participate in friendlies hosted by New Jersey Youth Soccer on Saturday and Sunday.
The boys will play Saturday and the girls Sunday at two locations: Jackson Justice Complex in Jackson, N.J. and Maria Gatta at Oceanport in Oceanport, N.J.
The friendlies will mark the first games for the teams since the start of the 2023-2024 ODP season.
“I think this will be a great experience for us,” said Peter Morisco, Lehigh Valley U13 Boys coach. “Jersey is my home so it will be fun to play against them. I know they’re a good program and I’m hoping we can disrupt them and play a good game with them.”
The Lehigh Valley U13 teams had their third training session of the season at Alumni Field in Catasauqua on Sunday night in windy and wet conditions.
“The rain was kind of a downside but we look good,” said Bryce Custer, a Hex FC player in his second season with ODP. “I’m looking for us to play good and get a win in New Jersey.”
Like the boys team, the Lehigh Valley U13 girls team is transitioning from 9v9 to 11v11.
“We’ve got some new players here, a majority of our team are returning players,” said Dom Cuomo, Lehigh Valley U13 Girls coach. “I’m looking forward to seeing how we integrate ourselves from playing in a 9v9 system last year to an 11v11 system.”
Both Lehigh Valley U13 teams scrimmaged against the U14 teams on Sunday night. Ayriana McFadden, who plays for Penn Fusion, said she appreciated the challenge of playing against older girls.
“It’s really important to me because we shouldn’t have it easy,” McFadden said.
Games will kick off at the two New Jersey sites from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. each day. Eastern New York teams will also be participating in the friendlies.
“I’m just really looking forward to playing with my teammates,” said Alex Stauffer, a Lehigh Valley U13 Boys player from Hex FC. “It’s fun to meet new people and to travel together.”