Debbie Keller made her case for future consideration with the U.S. women’s national team in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on Feb. 5 as she scored two goals in four minutes to lead the W-League Select Team to a 2-0 victory over the Elite 16 Women, made up primarily of Division I senior collegiate stars. Keller’s performance was accomplished in front of U.S. coach Tony DiCicco, who was the honorary coach of the Elite 16 “It was the first game I’ve played in about a month and a half, but it was fun,” said Keller. “It could be something; it could be nothing,” she said of her performance in front of her former national team coach. “It just felt good to be out here playing again. It’s cold in Chicago.” A member of the W-League Delaware Genies, she scored both of her goals off assists from U.S. national team member Sara Whalen of the Long Island Lady Riders and was named winner of the game’s Most Valuable Player Award. She has 45 caps for the national team, but has not been training with DiCicco’s team thus far in their preparation for the 1999 Women’s World Cup. “Debbie is a good player,” said DiCicco following the game. “She showed her class in front of goal and she obviously was out to prove that she should be in residency. She played very well, and I think she was deserving of the MVP.” The first goal came in the sixth minute on a cross from the right side and she finished from six yards out into the right corner of the net. Three minutes later, she took a short cross from Whalen and headed it home inside the six. “She put in a perfect ball and put it right on my head,” said Keller of the second of two assists by Whalen. The W-League stars clamped down on Danielle Fotopoulos, the all-time leading scorer in collegiate history, who recently led the University of Florida to the NCAA Division I championship. Staci Wilson, who plays for the Maryland Pride, was the ringleader of the W-League defense. She repeatedly thwarted the collegiate stars’ attacks on goal and was instrumental in helping preserve a shutout for W-League goalkeepers Kim Wyant of the Long Island Lady Riders and Amy Pseja of the New Jersey Lady Stallions. “Actually, I was really nervous because I hadn’t played since the W-League final four,” said the diminuative Wilson. “We shut them out, but they had their opportunities. It was exciting being out there with players that I’ve played against in the past.” “We had a great back four,” said Keller of her defensive-minded teammates. “With Nel [Fettig] and Staci playing together, and Thori Bryan and Christie [Pearce] both with the national team, what more could you ask for?” In the first game of the evening, the NCAA Division I Women got three goals from the University of Florida’s Melissa Pini, while her teammates scored six in the first half en route to a convincing 7-1 victory over the Division II-III-NAIA Women. Pini, a two-time all-Southeast Conference player with 59 career goals, was awarded the game’s Most Valuable Player Award. Along with Pini’s hat trick, the game was highlighted by two spectacular 30-yard goals by Kristen Gay of Nebraska. Two of Pini’s goals came in the first half, the first off an assist by Shauna Rohbock of Brigham Young. The second was set up by Kim Engesser of Nebraska, who later scored in the 43rd minute off an assist from Rakel Karvelsson of North Carolina. The sixth goal of the half came off the foot of Maryland’s Robin McCullough. “You just don’t expect to get three goals in an all-star game,” said Pini, who attended high school in Ft. Lauderdale. “There are so many great players here. I was just happy to be able to score some goals in my hometown with my whole family here.” The Division I Women were coached by Jay Hoffman of U.S. Soccer, while the Division II-III-NAIA Women were coached by Florida’s Becky Burleigh.