Melrose soccer stars Haleigh Butler, Kristin Randolph and the Mass Premier Soccer U16 Lady Knights took second in the U.S. Club Soccer National Finals, July 26-30 in Waukegan, IL.
The Woburn-based club features several girls from the Greater Boston area including Butler and Randolph.
The girls faced the best teams from Virginia, Illinois and Mississippi in the tourney. The Knights secured a pair of wins and a tie, which propelled them to the finals against a very strong California squad. California ultimately prevailed in the championship round.
Despite the loss, the Knights still managed to finish the season as the fourth-ranked U16 girls team in the state, 76th in region 1, and 183rd in the country. The Knights previously won the Northeast Regional Tournament three weeks earlier in Hammonton, N.J. The U16 division features more than 1,200 girls.
Butler and Randolph have been playing soccer together both on their town and club teams since the age of 10. Both are entering the junior years of high school, with Butler at Arlington Catholic and Randolph at Austin Prep.
Representing the Mass Premier Soccer U16 Lady Knights were: Front row (from left) Maddy Shaw (Wakefield/Austin Prep), Alana Bolas (Needham), Haleigh Butler (Melrose/Arlington Catholic), Deirdre Macrorie (Winchester), Caroline Burke (Reading/Brooks Academy), Erin Kimmelman (Woburn), Jillian Small (Reading) and Kyra White (Needham). Back row: Kristin Randolph (Melrose-Austin Prep), Claire Ferguson (Winchester High), Emma Goff (Winchester-Brooks Academy), Kim Cosgrove (Boxford-Masconomet), Kelly Hartsough (Wilmington), Sarah Comtois (Lowell), Allie Claroni (Reading), Head Coach Karl Southwick (Head Coach). Missing from photo: Alexa Poulin (Tewksbury/Central Catholic), Alexa Cicolini (Methuen), Molly Whitman (Concord Carlisle).
For additional information on MPS and the Lady Knights and Knights soccer programs and teams for all ages, please contact Andy Prosser at aprosser@mpsbr.com for boys, and Karl Southwick at ksouthwick@mpsbr.com for girls.