Soccer quartet from for Holland-area schools leads Michigan Rangers to club national title game.
Four friends from four different schools playing for a national championship.
That doesn't happen often, but for Sydney Wilcox, Macie Moore, Emma Margaron and Jordyn Klaasen, it was an historic club soccer season - and for three players, their final game - on national TV.
The quartet, representing Michigan Rangers, played in the USYS National Championship, the under-19 club national tournament, in Orlando, Florida, falling 3-2 in the finals.
"Nationals was such a cool event to be apart of as my last youth club soccer experience. I was so proud of our team to make it all the way to the national finals, we weren't sure that was going to happen but as we kept winning I think our motivation kept growing to get there," said Margaron, who just graduated from Holland High School and will attend the University of Michigan this fall. "We all come from the local Holland high schools and playing against each other to hugging each other after National Championship goals was so cool. I think being apart of the Rangers team that made it to nationals was a testament to all the hard work we have put in over the years. I had played with Macie a long time but getting to know and become friends with Sydney and Jordyn was so fun."
Wilcox, an elite defender and West Ottawa graduate, is headed to Miami (Ohio) this fall. She and Klaasen were part of the national title team a year ago.
"The last tournament was amazing such a great to play at nationals together. The end wasn't what we wanted, but we where all just thankful to have made it that far with this team. As most of us were seniors, we knew that the final was going to be our last game forever, so it was very high emotions," Wilcox said. "Even though we lost, it was such a great experience with this team and I know they will forever be a family to me."
Moore starred at forward at Zeeland East and will attend Grand Valley State this fall.
"It was a great experience playing other outstanding teams from around the country and making it to the final game was great," she said. "We were on ESPN u and it was fun to hear from so many friends and families who watched us."
Klaasen, an all-state player from Zeeland West, will continue her career at Ball State University this fall.
"It was a really cool and fun opportunity to play with my friends one last time before we all left for college," Klaasen said. "We made it pretty far in the tournament and it was special to get that far with everyone. Macie, Emma, Sydney and I have gotten close this year and it has been really fun to play against them these past four years - but it was even more fun to play with them this last season."
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’[email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Soccer quartet leads Michigan Rangers to club national title game
Category: General Sports
