Updated 30-Sep-2019: U.S. Soccer has quietly published back-dated match reports for the U-23 USWNT’s Nordic Cup matches.
Between August 28th and September 2nd, the United States Under-23 Women’s National Team participated in the 2019 edition of the Nordic Cup, which was hosted by England. The roster of players featured mostly professional players, with UNC junior Emily Fox the only collegiate player. Youth team standout Sophia Smith (Stanford) was in the original roster, but had to be replaced due to a “minor quad injury” (Twitter). Also, NWSL-standout Kristen Hamilton was on the original roster, but was called up to the senior USWNT for its Victory Tour friendlies against Portugal.
Under coach B.J. Snow, who took over from Mark Carr earlier this year, the U-23 USWNT won its first two matches against Norway and England, then drew with Sweden. Jordan DiBiasi scored the game-winner against Norway and had a penalty kick equalizer against Sweden, while Imani Dorsey scored the game-winner against England. Goalkeeper Casey Murphy played all 270 minutes in the three games, only allowing one goal, which came in the final match, against Sweden.
Background: Unlike the U-20 and U-17 teams, which have standard two-year cycles where the focus is on qualifying for and winning a youth FIFA Women’s World Cup, the U-23 WNT has no specific external objective and does not have regular camps. The U-23 WNT is, however, the closest thing that the USWNT has to a “B”-Team and is useful for evaluating and supporting players who have the potential to play for the senior USWNT.
Therefore, overall team results, such as whether win particular matches, or an entire friendly tournament (which they did, this time), do not matter that much, compared to individual player selection for camps, line-up selections for friendly matches, and individual player performance.
The below roster is adapted from U.S. Soccer’s write-up. College team information has been added.
FINAL ROSTER
(italicized players have senior USWNT caps)
Goalkeepers (2):
Emily Boyd (Chicago Red Stars; Seattle, Wash.; California)
Casey Murphy (Reign FC; Bridgewater Township, N.J.; Rutgers)
Defenders (8):
Alana Cook (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA; Worcester, Mass.; Stanford)
Schuyler Debree (Reign FC; Fair Haven, N.J.; Duke)
Brooke Denesik (Biike Kazygurt/KAZ; Anthem, Ariz.; Texas Tech)
Emily Fox (UNC; Ashburn, Va.)
Madison Pogarch (Portland Thorns FC; Hartland, Mich.; Central Michigan / Rutgers)
Erin Simon (West Ham United/ENG; Oakhurst, N.J.; Syracuse)***
Samantha Staab (Washington, Spirit; San Diego, Calif.; Clemson)
Gaby Vincent (Utah Royals; Colombia, Md.; Louisville)
Midfielders (7):
Carlyn Baldwin (Sporting CP/POR; Oakton, Va.; Tennesee)
Jordan DiBiasi (Washington Spirit; Highlands Ranch, Colo.; Stanford)
Julie James Doyle (Sky Blue FC/Fairview, Texas; Baylor)
Haley Hanson (Houston Dash; Overland Park, Kans.; Nebraska)
Cece Kizer (Houston Dash; Overland Park, Kans.; Ole Miss)
Savannah McCaskill (Chicago Red Stars; Chapin, S.C.; South Carolina)
Marisa Viggiano (Orlando Pride; Troy, Mich.; Northwestern)
FORWARDS (6):
Bethany Balcer (Reign FC; Hudsonville, Mich.; Spring Arbor*)
Simone Charley (Portland Thorns FC; Hoover, Ala.; Vanderbilt)
Imani Dorsey (Sky Blue FC; Elkridge, Md.; Duke)
Summer Green (Vittsjö GIK/SWE; Milford, Mich.; UNC)***
Kristen Hamilton (NC Courage; Littleton, Colo.; U. of Denver)**
Hailie Mace (Rosengård FC/SWE; Ventura, Calif.; UCLA)
Paige Monaghan (Sky Blue FC; Roxbury Township, N.J.; Butler)
Sophia Smith (Stanford; Windsor, Colo.)**
*NAIA program
**Replaced by Charley and Green. Smith has a ‘minor quad injury’ while Hamilton was called into the full USWNT for the Victory Tour friendlies against Portugal.
***Three “over-age” players were allowed. (cf. roster rules for the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament)
MATCH SUMMARIES
Update: Official U.S. Soccer match reports are now available for these matches.
Notes (30-Sep-2019): U.S. Soccer’s report for the Norway and Sweden matches have slightly earlier times for the USA’s goals and the substitutions, with their listed times being a minute or two earlier than the NFF’s and SvFF’s. The times below have not been updated. The times for the England match were significantly different, so they have been updated, with the original times crossed-out. The table of minutes has been updated with U.S. Soccer’s numbers.
Video Highlights: Only the Sweden match has online highlights available.
August 28, 2019 – USA 2, Norway 0 (Goalscorers: DiBiasi 20′, Charley 86′)
USA Line-Up: Murphy; Staab, Hanson (c) (Doyle, 72′), Kizer, Cook, Monaghan (McCaskill, 61′), DiBiasi, Dorsey (Denesik, 61′), Mace (Green, 76′), Simon, Balcer (Charley, 61′)
Sources: NFF write-up, with line-ups (in Norwegian)
Added: U.S. Soccer match report
Note: The U.S. Soccer report oddly lists Viggiano as a 45′ minute sub for DiBiasi (rather than 46′ which would indicate a far more common half-time substitution). It also lists Dorsey twice, as a starter and a substitute for Staab. For now, I am crediting DiBiasi with playing a full 90 minutes and ignoring the Dorsey substitution.
August 30, 2019 – USA 1, England 0 (Goalscorer: Dorsey, 35′)
USA Line-Up: Murphy; Fox, Cook (Monaghan, 46′), Staab, Pogarch (Debree, 46′), DiBiasi (Baldwin, 87′ 80′), Hanson (c) (Doyle, 80′ 75′), McCaskill (Viggiano, 80′ 75′), Charley (Kizer, 65′ 75′), Green, Dorsey (Simon, 65′ 63′)
Note: Balcer, Mace, Vincent “listed as unavailable”
Source: Twitter feed of @RichJLaverty (Twitter – Search Query)
Update: U.S. Soccer match report
Note: As originally mentioned, the USA made seven substitutions in the England match, which, based on U.S. Soccer’s match report appears to be accurate.
September 2, 2019 USA 1, Sweden 1 (Goalscorer: DiBiasi, 61′ PK)
USA Line-Up: Murphy; Fox, Staab (Vincent, 73′), Hanson (c), Kizer (Pogarch, 46′), Cook, DiBiasi, Dorsey (Monaghan, 73′), Charley (Green, 61′), Balcer, McCaskill
Sources: SvFF write-up with video highlights, SvFF match report (all in Swedish)
Update: U.S. Soccer match report
Note: Based on the highlights, it appears that Dorsey earned the penalty kick for the USA.
Per, the U.S. Soccer report, as the match ended in a draw, a penalty shoot-out followed the match, which the USA won 6:5. No further details were mentioned.
Table: Minutes Played at 2019 Nordic Cup (Updated 30-Sep-2019)
(sorted by position, then by minutes played)
NAME P. NOR ENG SWE TOTAL Murphy GK 90 90 90 270 Boyd GK 0 Staab DF 90 90 76 256 Cook DF 90 45 90 225 Fox DF 90 90 180 Simon DF 90 27 117 Pogarch DF 45 45 90 Debree DF 45 45 Denesik DF 30 30 Vincent DF 14 14 DiBiasi MF 90 80 90 260 Hanson MF 60 75 90 225 McCaskill MF 30 75 59 164 Kizer MF 90 15 45 150 James-Doyle MF 30 15 45 Viggiano MF 0 15 15 Baldwin MF 10 10 Dorsey FW 60 63 76 199 Charley FW 30 75 59 164 Balcer FW 60 90 150 Green FW 15 90 31 136 Monaghan FW 60 45 14 119 Mace FW 75 31 106
- The only player not to see any minutes was goalkeeper Emily Boyd.
- Six players started all three matches: Murphy, Staab, Cook, DiBiasi, Hanson, and Dorsey.
- The updated minutes do not change the order of most minutes played with each position group.
Also of Note – England’s roster (thefa.com) featured four current collegiate players:
Defenders Georgia Eaton-Collins (University of Florida) and Lotte Wubben-Moy (University of North Carolina), midfielder Georgia Allen (Syracuse University), and forward Alessia Russo (University of North Carolina).
What’s Next: The next U-23 camp will likely not be until spring of 2020. Most of the players at this year’s Nordic Cup will have aged-out of the U-23 zone, so expect a much different roster, most likely primarily consisting of college players too old for the 2020 U-20 Women’s World Cup, as all age-eligible NWSL players will be in pre-season.
Some of the players from this camp will likely be called into senior camps as the USWNT prepares for Olympic Qualifying and beyond, all under a yet-to-be-named new head coach. Of the uncapped players, Murphy (who has already been called up in the past), DiBiasi and Dorsey are some of the more likely call-ups, though with a new head coach, the possibilities are much more open.
A postscript storyline: For the October international window, Alana Cook has been called into England’s camp as a “training player.” More details in the current Roster Round-Up article.
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