The FC Wisconsin Eclipse U13-U17 teams competed in the FC Wisconsin Indoor Invitational February 28-March 1, held at Brookfield Indoor Soccer Complex, and came away with 4 tournament championships, and a tightly contested overtime loss in the championship at U14.  

Through the tournament, the 5 FC WI Eclipse teams finished with 16 wins and a +120 goal differential throughout the competition.  As expected, most of the best games came in the tournament finals:

• FC WI Eclipse U17: 6 vs. Chicago Magic U17: 1
• FC WI Eclipse U16: 5 vs. Racine United U16: 0
• FC WI Eclipse U15: 7 vs. FC Green Bay: 3
• FC WI Eclipse U14: 2 vs. Rockford Raptors 3 (Triple Overtime)
• FC WI Eclipse U13: 17 vs. FC Wisconsin Black 0

"Through every game in the event you could really see the club style of play, and the emphasis the players and teams put on possession and playing together," said staff coach Joana Bielefeld.  "As someone new to the club, it was great to see the common themes and mindsets across all the age groups - and to see them execute so well."

"The Winter Invite is a chance for our players to do something different, and play in some fun and more informal competition than the ECNL," said staff coach Andy Lee.  "It was great to play some local Wisconsin teams and to see the players solve new and different problems - like how to break down a compact defense sitting in."

Perhaps the most exciting game of the tournament was the U14 championship, where the U14 FC WI Eclipse team faced a very athletic and physical Raptors.  The game was deadlocked at 2-2 after regulation, and went through a 5 vs. 5 overtime period and a 4 vs. 4 overtime period, before finally being decided in the 3 vs. 3 overtime period.  "The U14s showed great competitiveness in the final, throwing themselves into tackles and being defensively disruptive in many ways that showed the progress of the team mentality from August," said staff coach Vito Parente.  "More importantly, they held the ball for the vast majority of the game - now they need to learn how to translate possession into more chances and finishing."

The FC Wisconsin Eclipse teams now move to a new portion of the year, as some of the older players will join their high schools for spring competition, most will stay with the club and participate in the 2014 Spring Program, and the U13 and U14 teams will enter the busier portion of their competition schedules. Stay tuned for more updates!