Written By: Cassidy Hettesheimer | WPSL Correspondent

 

This past offseason, the Southeast Conference grew to nine teams, versus last year’s six, making it the third-largest conference in the WPSL— and upping the stakes of winning a conference title. 

Three of the Southeast Conference’s nine teams kicked off play this weekend, but there’s still 34 regular-season conference games left to play. This year’s Southern Conference winner will host the South Region playoffs, so take a look and see who might be hosting the South Region’s best teams for win-or-go-home competition, come July.

 

Nashville Rhythm FC

The defending conference champion, Nashville Rhythm FC, is the favorite to repeat as the Southeast Conference’s top team. The 2022 WPSL semifinalist is slated No. 1 in the WPSL’s South Region Preseason Top 10 and No. 4 overall in the WPSL preseason rankings. 

Nashville’s offense is something scary when it’s firing on all cylinders. The Rhythm finished with 39 goals in eight games— fourth in the WPSL. The Rhythm’s 2022 leading goal scorer, Keito Ido, is no longer on the roster, but three out of Nashville’s top five goal scorers return this season: Molly Grant, who bagged seven goals in 2022; Yuki Watari, who tallied six goals; and Raegan Kelly, with three goals. Watari and Kelly are also creators for the Rhythm, with six and nine assists, respectively.

Southeast Conference Best XI goalkeeper Maddie Elbro also returns for the Rhythm. Defensive Player of the Year Becca Campbell won’t be on Nashville’s 2023 backline, but Angela Steidl, Ellie Belcher, Kinsten Evans and Brenna Swiger all bring prior experience as returning defenders.

With the addition of several new players from Nashville and surrounding cities like Franklin, Tenn., the Rhythm will look to complement its solid returning core and defend its title against the conference’s new challengers.

 

Charlotte Eagles

If there’s another heavy favorite to vy for the Southeast Conference title, it’s the Charlotte Eagles. A shift in conference alignments combined teams from last year’s Carolinas Conference into the this year’s Southeast Conference— including the Charlotte Eagles, which soared as Carolinas Conference champions in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

The Eagles, ranked No. 10 in the WPSL preseason rankings and No. 4 in the South Region, finished 7-0-0 in region play and scored 45 goals last season. Their defense only allowed three goals in conference play. Charlotte’s already begun the 2023 season in similar fashion, defeating Soda City FC 4-0 on Saturday, May 13.

Liberty University midfielder Briana Myers scored twice in Saturday’s game, and forward Madelaine Rhodes recorded two assists. Rhodes is a returner that has played an instrumental role in each of the Eagles’ three consecutive Carolinas titles, but Myers is a new addition for the team. Last season’s top two leading scorers are not rostered this year, but the Eagles faced roster turnover last season, losing its 2021 leading goal scorer and starting goalkeeper, and still repeated as conference champs. 

Taylor Bryan, Faith Adams, and Rhodes, who each scored twice in 2022, all return for the Eagles. Goalkeeper Anna Rexford returns alongside key members of Charlotte’s defense— aiming to continue last year’s impressive defensive stand.

 

865 Alliance

This team is familiar, though the name might not be. Last year’s Southeast Conference second-place finisher, TN Force FC, is competing under a new name this season, with the Knoxville club FC Alliance. TN Force FC finished 6-1-1 last season and was the only team to beat Southeast Conference champs, Nashville, in the regular season.

The team has head coach Laban Defriese and several TN Force FC players returning to form a core group for 865 Alliance this summer— including last year’s leading goal scorer, Allison Hansford, who tallied eight goals for the team as it made the jump from the WPSL’s U21 league to the senior league. 

865 Alliance’s roster may be on the younger side, but with its commitment to providing opportunities for local talent, the team is bringing in a roster with many teammates with preexisting team chemistry.  Nyla Blue, Liv Stott, Becca Roth and Brinley Murphy have competed together for Bearden High School, a local program that’s won two state championships— and gone undefeated— in the last two years. 

Other players are recent grads committed to SEC programs, like University of Tennessee commit Clair Payla, University of Kentucky Commit Reese Wilson, and the aforementioned Murphy, who will attend the University of Southern California after being named United Soccer Coaches High School Player of the Year last year.

This season, keep an eye on the chemistry of these local players and former teammates in Southeast Conference competition.

 

Women’s Football Club of Charlotte

Charlotte is two-for-two with strong WPSL teams. Last year, the Women’s Football Club of Charlotte finished second in the Carolinas Conference. It’s the second of three teams making the jump to join the Southeast Conference from the Carolinas, and it started out strong with a 7-0 win over Soda City FC on Sunday, May 13. 

Outside of giving up nine goals in two games versus the high-scoring Charlotte Eagles offense, the WFCC backline only allowed three additional goals last season. Last season’s Carolinas Conference Defensive Player of the Year, goalkeeper Kaylin Slattery, returns for WFCC this season. Two of the three honorees on the 2022 All-Conference backline played for WFCC, so we’ll look to see if WFCC can replicate that defensive success and lock it down in the back this year— especially against high-scoring offensive attacks from its Charlotte counterpart and Nashville.

Local Charlotte youth player and University of Kentucky midfielder Maddie Eastman bagged three goals in WFCC’s first game against Soda City FC. Three goals in one game is the most of any WPSL through the first two weekends of play and earned Eastman South Region Player of the Week honors. Eastman will be one to watch this summer as WFCC looks to upset the two defending champions in the conference.

Chattanooga FC

Chattanooga FC finished fourth of five teams in last year’s Southeast Conference with a record of 1-6-1, scoring six goals and giving up 23 along the way. However, with a passionate fan base and an interesting mix of players on this season’s roster, Chattanooga will be looking to return to its 2018 conference-winning form.

Chattanooga fields a roster with international players from a variety of different countries. St. Lucia’s four-time National Footballer of the Year, Krysan St. Louis, will look to replicate the offensive firepower from her hat trick-debut for St. Lucia’s national team. Kedie Johnson from Trinidad and Tobago, Mara Grutkamp from Germany, Nadiia Ivanchenko from Ukraine and Grace Bicker-Roberts from England will add to Chattanooga’s international arsenal of talented players.

Stateside, Chattanooga is welcoming players from Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and Texas. Last season’s captain and Southeast Conference Best XI honoree Anna Lanter returns to lead the backline, and her sister, Summer Hernandez, who played for Chattanooga in its WPSL debut in 2013, is back up top for CFC. Goalkeeper Caroline Johnson also returns.

CFC Academy players and alumnae include Ana Silva, Bailie Dull, Brady Livingston, Addie Chapman and Avery Engels.

Perhaps more than any other team in the conference, Chattanooga blends a diverse mixture of local and international talent, returners and new signees, plus young academy players and experienced veterans. It will be exciting to see if the oldest team in the Southeast Conference can blend these players’ strengths together to compete for a conference title.

Atlanta Fire United

Atlanta Fire United is half of the pair of new expansion teams based out of Georgia. Last summer, AFU competed in another amateur league under head coach Domenic Martelli but will compete in the WPSL for the first time this summer. The team is looking to make a statement in a competitive Southeast Conference.

Founded in 1980, AFU is a historic youth organization in the Atlanta metro and a founding member of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). Martelli said that AFU hopes to tap into strong local youth soccer talent to build its roster this season.

Read more about Atlanta Fire and its expansion here.

 

Georgia Impact

Just 30 miles from Atlanta Fire United, Georgia Impact’s WPSL team will take the field for the first time in Canton, Ga. this summer. Robert Roddie will serve as head coach of the squad that’s quickly connected with its community through partnerships with groups like the the City of Canton and jersey reveal events at a local brewery. 

Like Chattanooga FC, Georgia Impact has brought a mix of international, youth and college players together. Players with ties to England, Iceland and Northern Ireland will compete for the Impact— including English centerback Ellie Russell who has pro indoor soccer experience playing for the Columbus Rapids in Columbus, Ga. Teammate Brooke Shank also has pro experience with Santa Teresa CD Femenino, competing in Spain’s third division of women’s soccer.

Meanwhile, five Impact team members are current or former Kennesaw State University players— just 20 minutes from Canton. Other trios and duos come from Reinhardt University, Georgia State, the University of West Alabama, Truett McConnell and Marshall University. Twin sisters Marah and Farah Tayeh are Marshall grads that combined for 27 goals and 16 assists in their last two years.

A strong contingent of homegrown Georgia Impact youth players— current and former— also appear on Georgia Impact’s roster. 

Again, like with CFC— the Impact will be looking for these talented players to “click” quickly in a short summer season.

There’s more about Georgia Impact’s expansion here, too.

 

Soda City FC

Last season, the team based out of Columbia, South Carolina, finished 0-7-0 in the Carolinas Conference, giving up 51 goals and only netting three. However, 2022 was Soda City FC’s first year competing in the WPSL, so the club will look to see if it can build on its previous season to find its first WPSL win in 2023.

Soda City FC’s season began on Saturday, May 12, with a 4-0 loss to its former Carolinas Conference competitor, the Charlotte Eagles, then a 7-0 loss to the Women’s Football Club of Charlotte the next day. Soda City FC’s next two matches are against expansion teams Atlanta Fire United and Georgia Impact, an opportunity to take advantage of its season of WPSL experience under its belt.

Soda City FC boasts local high school talent and local college players from universities in Spartanburg, Columbia, and other local South Carolina cities. That includes twin sisters from Sumter, South Carolina: defender Hannah Kovalcik and midfielder Abagail Kovalcik, who also play together at Southern Wesleyan University.