Last month, the U.S. Under-16 Women’s Youth National Team opened a series of four matches at the Mondial Montaigu Football Tournament in France. The international squad of the country’s top young female players joined teams from Portugal, Norway, France, Japan and Mexico in the six-team tournament.
Two members of the Southlake Carroll Lady Dragon Soccer Team — midfielder Kennedy Fuller and forward Zoe Mathews — represented their country and Southlake well, bringing home the championship title. In the first game, Kennedy wasted little time getting the USA on the scoreboard with an assist after finding a teammate inside the penalty box for the team’s opening score in just the third minute of play. Then 15 minutes later, Kennedy put a one-timer to the back of the net for the team’s second score in the 18th minute. The team beat Portugal 4-1.
Kennedy struck early again in the tournament’s second match, scoring the game’s opening goal on a penalty kick in just the second minute of play. She followed up with two more assists within the first 20 minutes as the USWNT-U16 took a decisive 4-0 win over Norway.
Zoe added a goal of her own in a 3-0 win in a friendly match with France in a championship game preview. In the finals against France, the U.S. was outshot eight to 11, but ultimately won the game and the tournament with a 1-0 win after Alexandra Pfeiffer scored off of a Kennedy Fuller assist in the 54th minute.
A team captain, Kennedy tallied three goals and three assists while earning Best Player honors for the tournament.