A trio of local soccer players were part of a national championship program this summer, playing for the Players Development Academy Wildcats out of Zerepath.
East Brunswick’s Lauren Esposito and Arielle Tagger, along with Old Bridge’s Katherine Johnston, played for the under-15 girls team that captured the national championship last month after a brilliant summer season.
The Wildcats won the Region 1 Premier League to go on to the Region 1 Championships that were held July 3-7 at the University of Rhode Island. Upon winning the Regional Championship in their age group, they went to the Snickers National Championships that were held July 23-27, in Germantown, MD.
After playing teams from each of the other three regions in the country, the final game was against the Sorreno Golden Eagles from Arizona (Region 4) with the winner being the National Champion. With the 1-0 win, the PDA Wildcats were the national champs. In addition, the team was also awarded the Adidas Fair Play Award at both the Regional and National Championships.