Girls Under 16 Soccer Misses State-wide Tournament Spot

[Submitted by Coach Rick Caceda]

Officially registered as Malden Youth Soccer GU16, the Malden Everett Football Club (MEFC) played at the Middlesex Youth Soccer's Commission's Cup last weekend, but missed getting a spot at the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions. The team lost an emotional game in the finals to a very talented Tewksbury team 4-0. 

Being Fathers Day, the game was dedicated to teammate Samantha Rizzo's father who passed away earlier this year. Both teams and fans observed a moment of silence before the opening kick off and MEFC wore a patch with David Rizzo's initials.

MEFC fell behind 3-0 in the first half after losing keeper Tina Ascolillo to injury and captain Anita Caceda to flu symptons. The girls came out in the second half determined to make a game out of it. Boy did they ever. The team was on the way to a very ugly loss but showed a great amount of heart, pride and determination to let their opponent know the rest of the game would not be as easy as the first half.

Tina Ascolillo valiently returned to the goal and Anita Caceda displayed tremondous leadership by playing until she could not stand up any longer. Forwards Kayla Ringdahl, Katarina DiPalicido, Krystiana Dimaro and Sydney Carlino pressured Tewksbury the entire second half but could not completly crack the Tewksbury defense. Sweeper Sheryl Steeves turned in the performance of the season as she frustrated the Tewksbury offense time after time and Tina Ascolillo made several saves to keep the score repectable. Fullbacks Maeve Kernan, Chenoa Capasso and Amalia Quesada-Nylen chased and harrased the Tewsbury forwards until the very end. 

The girls made their coaches, family and the towns of Malden and Everett very proud. The team's coaches were Mark Griffin and Rick Caceda.