Update (14-Jan-2020): Stanford’s Katie Meyer is the fourth goalkeeper called-in for this camp. U.S. Soccer’s original write-up for this roster only named three goalkeepers and noted that Harvey might add a fourth. Meyer was a regular call-up during the 2016 U-16 and U-17 cycles (attending 6 and 7 camps, respectively), but has only had a few call-ups since the start of 2017.
Late Wednesday, U.S. Soccer released the roster for the Under-20 United States Women’s National Team’s last full camp before CONCACAF qualifying for this year’s FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. This camp, which runs from January 9th to the 20th, will be the first camp helmed by recently installed head coach Laura Harvey. Of the 25 players called in so far, at least 18 attended the Nike Friendlies camp in December, and just one of the players participated in December’s senior USWNT identification camp: Brianna Pinto of North Carolina.
External Link: New U-20 WNT Head Coach Laura Harvey Calls 25 Players To Pre-Qualifying Training Camp In Florida (U.S. Soccer)
Stanford’s Sophia Smith, another attendee of the USWNT identification camp, is once again unavailable due to a senior USWNT call-up. Curiously, the other two U-20 call-ups of December’s identification camp are absent: Center backs Naomi Girma of Stanford and Maycee Bell of North Carolina. Girma was withdrawn from the identification camp for what seemed to have been a minor injury.Two players are attending their first known U-20 camp of this cycle: Stanford defender Kennedy Wesley, who was the Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year for 2016-2017 (YouTube), and midfielder/forward Mia Fishel, who scored 14 goals in her freshman season for UCLA last year. Both were regular camp attendees during the 2018 U-17 cycle, with each player making the CONCACAF U-17 qualifying roster in 2018. Fishel also made that year’s U-17 WWC roster, starting two matches for the USA.
Another core member of the 2018 U-17 cycle, Stanford midfielder Maya Doms, is attending just her second known camp of this U-20 cycle. Doms, who also started two matches for the USA at the last U-17 WWC, was previously called up for the U-20’s La Manga trip in 2019.
Also attending her second known camp of this cycle is North Carolina goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, whose prior U-20 call-up was for the 2018 Nike Friendlies.
Two regular attendees of the current U-20 cycle who were not listed on last month’s Nike Friendlies roster are back: Defenders Samar Guidry (FC Dallas Academy) and Michela Agresti (Boston College). Both players were core members of the previous U-17 cycle, making the rosters for both CONCACAF qualifying as well as the U-17 WWC.
Four players whose first-known U-20 call-up was December’s Nike Friendlies are attending their second-straight camp: Outside back Shae Holmes of Washington, midfielder Avery Lockwood of Indiana, plus forwards Sydny Nasello of South Florida and South Carolina commit Catherine Barry. Of these four, only Holmes, who recently recovered from back-to-back ACL injuries (essay by Holmes) has more than a few youth national teams call-ups.
The selection of forwards continues to be somewhat puzzling with call backs for newcomers Barry and Nasello, while standout NCAA players Virginia’s Diana Ordonez, who was called in for Nike friendlies, and Santa Clara’s Izzy D’Aquila are excluded.
Of the players called in for the recent Nike Friendlies who are not listed on this current camp’s roster, the most statistically notable absences are Virginia-commit Lia Godfrey and Rutgers-commit Samatha Kroeger, who each attended a total of four U-20 camps this cycle. Godfrey was the youngest player to make the USA’s U-17 WWC roster in 2016 and likely would have made the roster again in 2018, but for an ACL injury.
U-20 USWNT, ROSTER FOR JANUARY 2020 CAMP
Parenthetical Key:
- Current Team (for college players, hyperlink goes to their team profile)
- Hometown
- For players not yet in college: College Commitment, Expected Freshman Year
GOALKEEPERS (4*):
Julia Dohle (Penn State; Scarsdale, N.Y.)
Meagan McClelland (Rutgers; Kearny, N.J.)
Claudia Dickey (North Carolina; Charlotte, N.C.)
Katie Meyer (Stanford; Newbury Park, Calif.)*
*The original version of U.S. Soccer’s roster release only listed three goalkeepers, noting that a fourth may be added. Meyer is that fourth call-up.
DEFENDERS (8):
Michela Agresti (Boston College; Swampscott, Mass.)
Samar Guidry (FC Dallas Acad.; McKinney, Texas; Virginia, 2020)
Shae Holmes (Washington; Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
Smith Hunter (Reign FC Acad.; Seattle, Wash.; Harvard, 2020)
Emily Mason (PDA; Flemington, N.J.; Rutgers, 2021)
Bria Schrotenboer (Michigan State; Holland, Mich.)
Natalia “Talia” Staude (Virginia; Atlanta, Ga.)
Kennedy Wesley (Stanford; Rossmoor, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (8):
Talia DellaPeruta (FC Köln / NTH Tophat; Cumming, Ga.; North Carolina, 2020)
Maya Doms (Stanford; Davis, Calif.)
Katelyn “Katie” Duong (Minnesota; Portland, Ore.)
Avery Lockwood (Indiana; Belmont, Mich.)
Brianna Pinto (North Carolina; Durham, N.C.)
Alexa Spaanstra (Virginia; Brighton, Mich.)
Astrid Wheeler (Concorde Fire SC; Atlanta, Ga.; Stanford, 2020)
Summer Yates (Washington; Pasco, Wash.)
Forwards (6):
Catherine “Cat” Barry (New England FC; Hingham, Mass.; South Carolina, 2020)
Mia Fishel (UCLA; San Diego, Calif.)
Rebecca Jarrett (Virginia; Washington Township, N.J.)
Sydny Nasello (South Florida; Land O’ Lakes, Fla.)
Jenna Nighswonger (Florida State; Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Trinity Rodman (So Cal Blues SC; Laguna Niguel; Washington State**, 2020)
**Announced mid-December 2019. Her original verbal commit was to UCLA.
NOTES AND NOTABLES
Injuries Recap: From the article on the Nike Friendlies roster…
At least three noteworthy players are unavailable due to non-minor injuries:
- Kate Wiesner (Penn State), a likely starting outside back. Wiesner suffered a knee injury during a match versus Virginia on September 15th (collegian.psu.edu). Fellow U-20 player Rebecca Jarrett of UVA was somehow involved.
- Sophie Jones (Duke), the likely starting holding midfielder (“6”). Her unspecified injury occurred around the first week in October (goduke.com).
- Sunshine Fontes (UCLA, redshirt), who started two matches at the 2018 U-17 WWC. Fontes suffered a torn ACL during a high school tournament match in early 2019 (khon2.com).
Unidentified Absences: As noted above, of the four U-20 players called up to December’s USWNT identification camp, only one, Brianna Pinto, will be attending this current camp. The exclusions of center backs Naomi Girma and Maycee Bell lack public explanations.
The U-17 Ten – Of the 15 players called into this camp who were eligible for the last Under-17 Women’s World Cup (born in 2001 or 2002), 10 players made the U-17 WWC roster: Goalkeeper Julia Dohle; defenders Michela Agresti, Samar Guidry, Smith Hunter, Natalia Staude; midfielders Talia DellaPeruta, Maya Doms, and Astrid Wheeler; plus forwards Mia Fishel and Trinity Rodman. Of the other players, only defender Kennedy Wesley was a regular call-up during the 2018 U-17 cycle, making the roster for CONCACAF qualifying.
Just Two U-20 Veterans – Of the 5 players from the USA’s 2018 U-20 WWC roster who are age-eligible for this year’s U-20 WWC, only 2 are attending this current camp: Midfielders Brianna Pinto and Alexa Spaanstra. A third player, Sophia Smith has an excused absence (senior USWNT call-up), while the fourth, Naomi Girma, may be unavailable due to injury. The fifth player, goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, was a last-minute replacement on the 2018 U-20 WWC roster, but has apparently dropped down in the depth list.
A Youthful Imbalance? Of the players called in, just 40% (10 of 25) were born in 2000, with another 10 born in 2001, and the remaining 5 born in 2002.
Uncertain Future Roster(s): With the unexplained absences of likely starters such as Naomi Girma and Maycee Bell and the first call-ups of the cycle for standouts Mia Fishel and Kennedy Wesley, plus the return of Maya Doms and Claudia Dickey, not to mention the change in coaches, there remains a significant amount of uncertainty surrounding the likely roster for CONCACAF qualifying. Of the 20 slots, only about half appear to be locked down. In rough order of probability, by position:
- Goalkeepers: Julia Dohle
- Defenders: Shae Holmes, Natalia Staude
- Midfielders: Alexa Spaanstra, Brianna Pinto, Astrid Wheeler, Summer Yates
- Forwards: Sophia Smith (absent a senior USWNT call-up for Olympic qualifying), Jenna Nighswonger, Trinity Rodman, Rebecca Jarrett
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