When the high school girls soccer season ended for Sydney Wilcox and Jordyn Klassen this spring, they were just getting started.
It turned out to be a pretty special summer.
It was on to the club scene where Wilcox, from West Ottawa, and Klaasen, from Zeeland West, helped their team, the Michigan Rangers, win the USYS National Championship for U19 girls in Orlando, Florida.
“It was just such an amazing experience to win. We got to be on ESPNU, which was awesome,” Wilcox said. “We just gave it our all. But this is what we worked for our whole soccer careers, honestly.”
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The West Michigan club defeated Fort Wayne United 2-1 in the finals.
“Going into it, none of us expected to go that far at all, but we just kept going. We kept winning and it finally became real. It was an unreal moment that I will never forget,” Klaasen said.
Sydney Wilcox, left, and Jordyn Klaasen helped the Michigan Rangers claim a national club championship.
The team played in honor of teammate Alia Zuidema, who died last year.
“It was about playing for someone you love,” Wilcox said. “That was one of our motivations.”
Klaasen agreed.
“It was really big. Before every game, we talked about working for her and playing the game for her,” she said.
The Rangers had to play five games in six days in Kansas to win the regional. Then the national tournament was also five games in six days in Orlando.
“We went in playing against a decent amount of girls who were older than us,” Wilcox said. “We came into the tournament and played a Texas team that was really strong. We led 2-0 then were down 3-2. Somehow we won the first game 4-3 with some late goals. We were calm with the ball in the second game. We played against the South Dakota team in the semifinals that won it all last year.”
That led to the emotional final.
One of the biggest positives, in addition to the title, was Wilcox and Klaasen getting the chance to play together.
“It has been an honor to play with Jordyn. It is nice to have someone that close on the team. We drive to practice together. She is one of the sweetest girls. It was so great to actually play on her team,” Wilcox said.
Klaasen was equally impressed.
“We have always been friend and played other sports against each other. Finally getting to play with her was really fun. She has a lot of energy and gets us hype,” she said. “It got me excited for the rest of my career and the next level up.”
Wilcox and Klaasen head to their senior years in high school, both having started for their respective teams for the past three years.
“It definitely showed that you can be a leader in many different ways. It was every member of the team that made us great. It wasn’t a team, it was a family,” Wilcox said. “I am excited to keep bringing that competitiveness.”
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Michigan club wins national title, playing to honor late teammate
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Publish date : 2024-08-11 21:02:00
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