Local youth soccer players Y-Lan Nguyen from Fairfax and Otu Bisong of Herndon recently were named National Youth Girls and Youth Boys Players of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches.
The players earned the honors as a result of their strong play and production in youth soccer with their Virginia Development Academy (VDA) club teams. Bisong plays for a Herndon team and Nguyen for a squad in Woodbridge.
There have been plenty of successful fall sports seasons turned in over the years by Potomac School Panthers private-school varsity teams.
Then came the 2024 high-school campaign — one of the school’s best ever.
Three boys soccer players who helped the Potomac School Panthers win conference championships this fall were rewarded with all-state private-school selections.
Senior forward, top scorer and three-year captain Patrick Ritter was one of a dozen players chosen Division I first-team all-state. Making second team from the high-school squad were seniors Colin Cordell and Marshall Lloyd.
Seven years after its founding, a small, four-team girls soccer tournament remains the same size but has significantly grown in stature.
The event is the Northern Virginia Independent Schools State Invitational, held for teams that play in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and the Independent School League.
The Potomac School Panthers have brought home both regular-season and conference-tournament titles in boys soccer.
And now, players and coaches have their eyes on a possible state crown.
With the postseason under way, the Potomac School Panthers are in a familiar place, having captured one soccer-tournament crown and looking to defend their title in another.
On Friday (Nov. 1), the second-seeded girls high-school team won the Independent School League’s AA Division tourney for the third straight time with a 2-1 overtime victory over top seed Georgetown Day in the championship match at Episcopal High School in Alexandria.
This year, the Potomac School Panthers want to finish the job and win the boys Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference boys soccer tournament.
As they are this fall, the Panthers also were the top seed in the 2023 event as a result of winning the regular-season title, but lost badly, 5-2, to Sidwell Friends in the high-school tourney-championship match.
Multiple postseason tournaments will occur this week involving girls and boys private high-school teams in two different conferences.
In girls Independent School League action, the Flint Hill Huskies, Madeira Snails and Potomac School Panthers will participate in soccer, tennis and volleyball tournaments. In the boys Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference, Flint Hill and Potomac School teams will participate in the soccer tourney.
