All-Europe
Six from Ramstein lead girls soccer squads
Four-time selection Emma Murray, a Patch midfielder, headlines the 30-player 2012 girls’ All-Europe soccer team.
Murray, who made the second team in 2009 and the first team the following two years, was one of seven returnees from the 2011 first team picked last week by a panel of coaches chaired by DODDS-Europe athletic coordinator Karen Seadore. Murray, Ramstein’s Mackenzie Crews, and AFNORTH’s Kaley Harless made the first team as 2010 sophomores, and they were joined on the 2012 first team by 2011 holdovers Melissa Fry of Heidelberg, Tori Gilster of Patch, Alexandra Mack of Naples and Josie Seebeck of Ramstein. In addition, 2011 second-teamer Caroline Rivera of Patch moved up to the first team this time around.
The selection panel chose five former All-Europeans for the 2012 second team – Vicenza sophomore Alex Frank, a first-teamer in 2011; Patch’s Ellie Welton, a first-teamer in 2010 who missed much of 2011 with an injury, and 2011 second-teamers Layna Lowe and Amber Veranen of Heidelberg and Caroline Wiley of Marymount International School of Rome.
Division I champion Ramstein placed the most players in the Top 30 – six – among them the only freshman on either team, first-team defender Kat Seebeck. Three sophomores, Naples forward Isabella Lucy and repeat choices Gilster and Frank, made the cut, along with seven juniors.
Most notable among the third-year players were two of the three Division III representatives on the teams — Samantha Cubbler and Kaia Pierce of Menwith Hill. Senior forward Alexandra McVicker of D-III champion Brussels was the other small-schools choice.
Division I schools commandeered 17 of the 30 slots; unbeaten Naples led the Division II teams with four players, three of them – Mack, Alex Foley and Katie Waller – on the Top 15.
Here are the 2012 girls’ All-Europe soccer teams:
First Team
Player | School | Grade | Position |
Mackenzie Crews | Ramstein | 12 | Stopper |
Jasmine Doll | AFNORTH | 12 | Goalkeeper |
Alex Foley | Naples | 12 | Defender |
Melissa Fry | Heidelberg | 12 | Halfback/ goalkeeper |
Tori Gilster | Patch | 10 | Defender |
Kaley Harless | AFNORTH | 12 | Forward |
Rachel Hook | Kaiserslautern | 12 | Goalkeeper |
Alexandra Mack | Naples | 12 | Forward |
Ally Murphy | Kaiserslautern | 11 | Midfielder/ forward |
Emma Murray | Patch | 12 | Midfielder |
Terri Leigh Obermiller | Ramstein | 11 | Goalkeeper |
Caroline Rivera | Patch | 11 | Midfielder |
Josie Seebeck | Ramstein | 12 | Midfielder |
Kat Seebeck | Ramstein | 9 | Defender |
Katie Waller | Naples | 12 | Midfielder |
Second team
Player | School | Grade | Position |
Liz Burden | SHAPE | 12 | Forward |
Rebecca Coleman | Ramstein | 12 | Midfielder |
Katie Cooper | Vilseck | 12 | Midfielder |
Samantha Cubbler | Menwith Hill | 11 | Midfielder |
Alex Frank | Vicenza | 10 | Forward |
Layna Lowe | Heidelberg | 11 | Halfback |
Isabella Lucy | Naples | 10 | Forward |
Alexandra McVicker | Brussels | 12 | Forward |
Teresa Muldoon | SHAPE | 12 | Defender |
Kaia Pierce | Menwith Hill | 11 | Goalkeeper/ midfielder |
Lauren Rittenhouse | Patch | 10 | Forward |
Amber Veranen | Heidelberg | 12 | Defender |
Alexis Vermeire | Ramstein | 11 | Defender |
Ellie Welton | Patch | 12 | Goalkeeper |
Caroline Wiley | Marymount | 12 | Midfielder |
Selection panel — Karen Seadore, DODDS-Europe athletic coordinator; Ricardo Buitrago, Ramstein; Brian Daly, Kaiserslautern; Melinda Durham, Naples; Tom Manuel, Patch; Shawn McCarthy, Sigonella; Tracy Thornburgh, Vilseck; Shawn Whitehurst, SHAPE.