You can do your own lookups. There are many examples. I will not post here simply because identifying specific nl or rl teams leads to disparagement of them. Look it up yourself. The difference is not that great if at all |
So, no examples. Got it. |
Great Falls 2010 (RL) beat Brave (NL) at Bethesda Cup. |
U19 Bethesda RL beat Pitt Riverhounds at Bethesda. |
BRAVE 08 (3rd Place in MA) beat Arlington RL (2nd place in VA North) 2-1 at WAGS. It’s not like top RL teams are getting run off the pitch in most circumstances. |
coaches can shift to very defensive tactics when playing more talented teams to keep the score low. sometimes you can score off a PK, corner, or counterattack and win the game even if it's ugly and just bunker in with 9 field players and leave the fastest player up. It's possible to beat a better team that way. |
I don’t have to look since I already follow closely. Depends on the RL vs NL matchup. I agree that top RL teams can compete with bottom NL teams but that is it, especially in our region. The only exceptions are maybe the top 5 RL teams in the US, Solar, DKSC, Blues and a couple randoms. In the past year this is the record of RL vs NL teams in our area: 11s - Zero 10s - Zero 09s - One (GFR over last place Riverhounds NL) 08s - Zero 07s - Zero Counted roughly 22 matchups RL vs NL. Four were two ties. All wins and ties came against bottom of the table ECNL teams. Summary RL vs. NL 2-16-4 Now you know why tournament coordinators don’t schedule RL vs NL very often. That isn’t very competitive. Don’t shoot the messenger. |
Nobody looks at U19, lol! |
In 2022??? |
Taking one result and using that as an example will never paint a full picture. I don’t think top RL teams would get run off the field. I actually think top RL teams could finish mid-table or lower if in NL. Outside of the top one or two teams, it is a steep drop off and most teams would be at the very bottom of NL. That Arlington 08 RL team also lost 2-0 to the 08 Union NL team in the past year. |
Bethesda Cup alone had 4 boys rl wins v nl and 3 girls clearly nl teams as a rule are selected via competitive tryouts so are deeper in talent and athleticism typically athletes develop, coachs are an x factor, how a team plays as a team v a collection of individuals matters it is all pretty meaningless |
probably should have added rl teams probably lost more to nl than they won at Bethesda just didnt bother looking |
A poster asked for examples and got some, so now let’s move the goalposts, right? This is the only qualifying criteria for a RL team in a match up with a NL team:
- only Northern VA - no U19s - 2023 results only - no RL teams playing “too defensively” - no RL teams that have lost to another NL team What else?? Girls only? No guest players? No games played in rain? Im sure we need more qualifiers, lest someone else find an example of a RL team somehow doing something against an NL team. |
+1 also the comparison is not fair because the nl teams practice more and are worn out by the commutes, additional work, and pressure to constantly compete for roster spot - it is really unfair to compare add in the rl teams are more rested from less travelling, have more fun, less pressure, and a chip on their shoulder - so you can see NL teams should just be spotted 2 goals |
Girls and Boys are two different subjects completely. I was under the impression we were talking girls only. Complete transparency, I don’t know anything about the boys side of the debate. Your biggest tell is how kids from leagues go to D1 schools. Pretty sure we know how that stat turns out right? Oh and don’t tell me college coaches don’t know what they are looking at coming from parenting maybe a couple of kids playing soccer. That’s narcissistic and foolish. /Girls Debate Boys carry on |