Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Cardinal Gibbons’ Young top player
Goal-scoring forwards often get the spotlight on the soccer field, but a local defensive star earned state-wide recognition on Wednesday.
Cardinal Gibbons senior defender Maddie Young was voted Florida Dairy Farmers’ Miss Soccer, the organization announced.
“Maddie was the nucleus of our backline, but she was the calming effect of our team,” Cardinal Gibbons coach Margo Flack said. “Knowing that she was back there, gave everybody comfort and she wasn’t scared to attack out of there also. She is such a skilled player and having her on the field with the ball on her feet changed the momentum.”
Young was named the Sun Sentinel’s Broward County Class 5A-2A player of the year on Sunday after leading the Chiefs to the program’s first state championship.
“When we got to states, there was no doubt,” Young said. “It is awesome that we are the first girls’ soccer team at Gibbons to win a state title and it is my senior year. I am happy to leave a mark. Getting a [state championship] banner is really cool. I am happy to be leaving high school with something.”
Young scored one goal in the Chiefs’ title run, but she was the anchor of the team’s strong defense, which allowed only nine goals in 15 games. Young is a Florida Gators commit.
Young is the sixth Broward County player to win the award for the top player in the state since it was first presented in 1993. She joins St. Thomas Aquinas alums Gina Foster (1996) and Alexis MacKenzie (1998), former American Heritage stars Holly Ryder (2002) and Melanie Monteagudo (2014, 2015) and former Stoneman Douglas standout Brianna Schooley (2005, 2006) as local winners.
Flack was a finalist for the all-classification coach of the year award, and she finished second in the voting.