Halpern grew up in Middlesex, New Jersey.[2] Her father, Eric, was an assistant coach for her high school team at Rutgers Preparatory School.[3] In her sophomore year in 2022, she scored a career-high 51 goals and helped the team to the first of three consecutive Non-Public B state titles.[4] She was named the NJ.com Player of the Year in 2023 after leading Rutgers Prep to the national No. 1 ranking for the first time.[5] After missing the start of her senior season at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, she returned to lead the team to a perfect 23–0 record.[4] She was again named the NJ.com Player of the Year in 2024 and received the Gatorade National Player of the Year and United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Year awards.[6] She scored 180 goals during her four years at Rutgers Prep, second-most in New Jersey high school history behind Laura Kerrigan.[7] With youth club PDA, she earned ECNL All-American honors three times.[8] She was ranked by TopDrawerSoccer as the No. 5 prospect of the 2025 class.[2]
College career
Halpern enrolled early at the University of Virginia in the spring of 2025.[4] That summer, she played for Paisley Athletic in the USL W League and was named the league's Young Player of the Year after scoring 8 goals in 8 games.[9]
