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.
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.
