roster – Page 2 – Women's Soccer Express

2025 SheBelieves Cup: Japan roster announced — Washington Spirit’s Narumi Miura returns, Utah Royals forward Mina Tanaka also called up

Updates:

17-Feb-2025: Defender Rion Ishikawa has been withdrawn. (JFA news item)
18-Feb-2025: Angel City’s Miyabi Moriya has been called up to replace Ishikawa. (JFA news item)
19-Feb-2024: Kiko Seike has been withdrawn and replaced with Manaka Matsukubo of the North Carolina Courage. (JFA news item)

(Note: Except for the roster list and table, the names of Japan’s players will be in the Western format, with given names before family names.)

For his first matches in charge of the Japan Women’s National Team, head coach Nils Nielsen has opted for an experienced and mostly foreign-based squad that features just four players from the WE League. Of the 23 players named to Japan’s squad for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup, 19 were members of Nadeshiko Japan’s roster for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Three players, including Washington Spirit midfielder Narumi Miura, have been recalled after extended absences. Miura, who was a member of Japan’s squads for the COVID-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, returns for her first camp since September 2023. The other two players are defender Saori Takarada, who also returns for the first time since September 2023, and Yuka Momiki, whose last call up was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Both Takarada and Momiki had stints in the NWSL, with the Washington Spirit and OL Reign, respectively.

The only other current NWSL player named to the original roster was forward Mina Tonaka of the Utah Royals. Not making the original cut this time were two North Carolina Courage midfielders, who were both members of Japan’s squad for the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup: Manaka Matsukubo and the freshly signed Shinomi Koyama.

Late on February 18th, the Japan Football Association announced that Matsukubo has been called up to replace Kiko Seike.

Both Courage players were called up for Japan’s last camp in October 2024 (jfa.jp), but remain uncapped at the senior level. Nielsen, who has only been in charge since December, has stated that for the next international window, he is planning to bring in more inexperienced players (Japanese news article), so Koyama could be called up then.

Meanwhile, the most questionable player omission from the original roster was recent Angel City signee Miyabi Moriya, especially given that the announced roster has just one player, Hikaru Kitagawa, who is primarily an outside-back. Moriya started at right outside-back in Japan’s last three matches during the 2024 Olympics after Manchester City’s Risi Shimizu suffered an ACL injury in their opening match (Man City news item). On February 18th, Moriya was called up to replace center-back Rion Ishikawa.

In addition to Shimizu, the only other player from the 2024 Summer Olympics not called up is goalkeeper Shu Ohba, who played NCAA soccer for Ole Miss (profile). In her place, the uncapped Akane Okuma, who was Japan’s starting goalkeeper at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, returns for her second straight camp, after first being called up for Japan’s last friendly, which was in October 2024. (No camp was held during the November/December international window.)

2025 SheBelieves Cup: Player Spotlights — Australia

Although the Matildas roster for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup includes plenty of veterans, there are several players worth mentioning that may not be familiar to those outside of Australia.

A-Leagues hightlights video for Daniela Galić (YouTube)

Leading that list is Daniela Galić, an 18-year-old attacking midfielder, was branded “the future of Australian football” before she even turned pro, and after two pro seasons in Australia, is now playing in the Netherlands for FC Twente, which currently sits two places below Ajax, a team with a teenage attacking midfielder that has been the subject of similar pronouncements (si.com, backheeled.com): Lily Yohannes, who committed to the United States Women’s National Team last November.

One player on the Matildas roster is uncapped: 23-year-old forward Laini Freier, who only made her pro debut in December 2024, but had back-to-back hat-tricks later that month. Laini has a twin sister, Sharn Freier, who will be joining VfL Wolfsburg later this year.

Other notable players with just a handful of caps include forward Holly McNamara, who, at age 22, has already battled three ACL injuries, and 27-year-old center-back Natasha Prior who retired at age 21 due to concussion concerns but earned her first international cap last year after a strong performance in her first full pro season back.

Additionally, 23-year-old outside-back Charlotte “Charli” Grant, who has 29 caps for Australia, has primarily played the role of an understudy so far, but could be looking at a starting role in the next FIFA Women’s World Cup.

2025 SheBelieves Cup: Australia roster announced — Plenty of familiar names, plus “teenage sensation” Daniela Galić, the uncapped Laini Freier, and a healthy Holly McNamara

Update: (17-Feb-2025): Midfielder Clare Wheeler has been withdrawn due to a thigh injury. The uncapped Alana Murphy of the Melbourne Victory has been called in as a replacement. (matildas.com.au) Also, the Australia WNT has published the players’ shirt numbers for this tournament (Instagram).

While the USA’s roster for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup will likely feature a significant number of less experienced players, the Australia Women’s National Team, which is once again under the direction of Tom Sermanni, though only in an interim capacity, will feature 15 players who played in 25 or more senior international matches, including six who each have over 100 caps.

Among the 23 Matildas players named for this friendly tournament are all 11 starters from Australia’s 1:2 loss to the United States Women’s National Team in the group stage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, plus five of their seven substitutes. Just one of those 18 players, Claire Polkinghorne, has retired (press release), while the other absent player, North Carolina Courage forward Courtnee Vine, continues to be on leave for mental health reasons.

Three current NWSL players were named to the roster: Center-back Alanna Kennedy, who signed with Angel City in January, Portland Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, and San Diego Wave outside-back Kaitlyn Torpey, who is listed as a forward. Seven more Matildas players on this roster have previous NWSL experience, including forwards Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso, who are both former Portland Thorns players, as well as outside-back Steph Catley, who played for three NWSL clubs from 2014 to 2019, and recent San Diego Wave midfielder Emily van Egmond. Additionally, goalkeeper Teagan Micah played NCAA soccer for the UCLA Bruins from 2016 to 2019 (Micah’s UCLA profile).

The most hyped player selected for this roster is also, unsurprisingly, its youngest. Only a teenager, she is an attacking midfielder who currently plays in the Netherlands for a team that was in the UEFA Women’s Champions League this season. Yes, the Matildas have their own Daniela Galić, who will undoubtedly be the subject of comparative articles involving the USWNT’s Lily Yohannes.

NWSL: The Houston Dash add six more non-roster invitees

On Saturday, the Houston Dash announced (press release) that they had invited six more recent collegiate players, bringing their total number of current non-roster invitees to 11.

Among the new six are Wisconsin defender Aidan McConnell, who was a United States youth international and played in the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, and Penn State defender Mieke Schiemann, who has German youth international experience and was with Turbine Potsdam II before making the move to NCAA soccer.

Houston’s New Non-Roster Invitees:

Goalkeepers (0): n/a
Defenders (2): Aidan McConnell (Wisconsin, 4 seasons), Mieke Schiemann (Penn State, 4 seasons; DFB Datencenter profile)
Midfielders (3): Kate Colvin (Texas A&M, 5 seasons), Alexis Fowlkes (Houston, 2 seasons; Texas Tech, 2 seasons), Juliet Moore (Houston, 2 seasons; Mississippi State, 2 seasons)
Forwards (1): Makhiya McDonald (Texas A&M, 4 seasons)

Colvin previously trained with the Dash in 2019, while still in high school (news article), when she was with Dash’s youth club.

NWSL: 2025 Preseason Rosters, Part 7 of 7 — Gotham FC

On Wednesday, Gotham FC became the final club to release its initial roster for the 2025 NWSL preseason. The roster includes no unsigned invitees.

The roster does have a few minor notables:

Jenna Nighswonger has “not yet reported”, likely due to her expected transfer to Arsenal
As expected, 14-year-old Mak Whitham is now officially a permanent signing after being signed to short-term contracts in 2024
Midge Purce remains a free agent

Also, if you missed Tuesday’s news: Crystal Dunn was released from her contract via mutual agreement.

NWSL: 2025 Preseason Rosters, Part 6 — Bay FC, Chicago Stars, Houston Dash, North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns

Five additional clubs — Bay FC, the Chicago Stars, the Houston Dash, the North Carolina Courage, and the Portland Thorns — have released their initial preseason roster for the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League season, leaving just Gotham FC as the only team to not officially publish their roster list.

The most curious nugget from those five clubs’ press releases is a note that Chicago Stars and United States Women’s National Team forward Mallory Swanson will not be with the Stars “for the start of training camp” due to unspecified “personal reasons”. Chicago’s roster release also included a quote from Swanson. At this point in time, this situation is just something to note and is only a slightly significant story.

All five clubs have at least one non-roster invitee:

Bay FC has just one unsigned player, forward Catherine Paulson, who signed a short-term contract with the club in October 2024 after previously being a National Team Replacement Player.
The Chicago Stars have seven invitees, including two Jamaican internationals: goalkeeper Sydney Schneider, who was with the Stars in 2024, and Ohio State midfielder Peyton McNamara.
The Houston Dash have five non-roster players, including UVA midfielder Alexis Theoret, who was called into a U-23 USWYNT camp back in February 2023.
The North Carolina Courage have invited six recent collegiate players. Among them is defender Emerson Elgin, who won a 2024 NCAA Division I title with the North Carolina Tar Heels last December.
Of the six non-roster players invited by the Portland Thorns, two are goalkeepers: Morgan Messner, who was with the San Diego Wave during the 2024 NWSL season, and Stanford’s Haley Craig.

U-17 USWYNT: First camp of 2025 announced — Four players from 2024 U-17 WWC return, just nine return from previous camp

For the first United States Under-17 Women’s National Team camp of 2025, head coach Katie Schoepfer has recalled four players from the USA’s squad for the 2024 FIFA U-27 Women’s World Cup, including recent Chicago Stars signee Micayla Johnson, goalkeeper Evan O’Steen, midfielder Scottie Antonucci, and midfielder Jaiden Rodriguez.

Two of those players will be graduating a year early and have officially committed to NCAA teams for the 2025 fall season: Evan O’Steen and Jaiden Rodriguez, who are set to play for Florida State and Southern California, respectively. The 24-player roster for this camp also includes two other players who have reclassified for 2025 with official commits: Midfielder Pearl Cecil and forward Nyanya Touray, who will play for Virginia and Florida State, respectively.

This is the second camp of the current cycle for the U-17 USWYNT. The first camp was held back in September 2024 and did not involve any 2024 U-17 WWC players. From that roster, only nine players return, including just one goalkeeper, Josie “JB” Biehl, plus three defenders, one midfielder, and four forwards. One of the defenders from the previous camp, Pearl Cecil, is listed as a midfielder for this camp.

This U-17 camp, which exclusively has players with 2008 birth years, is being held concurrently with an Under-16 USWYNT camp that primarily features players with 2009 birth years. Both camps get underway on Monday, January 27th, in Mesa, Arizona, and run through Monday, February 3rd. The camps were scheduled to be held outside of San Diego, California, in Chula Vista, but were moved due to wildfires (USYNT x.com post).

The U-17 USWYNT is preparing for the Concacaf qualifiers to the 2025 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, which is now an annual event and will be hosted by Morocco. Unlike the previous two-year cycles, the qualifying event will not be a standard tournament. Instead, the USA, which received a bye to the final stage, will be placed in one of three four-team round-robin groups. Only the top team from each group, along with the best second-place team, will qualify for the FIFA U-17 WWC. (2025 Concacaf press release; Concacaf Instagram post) The final stage of Concacaf qualifying is scheduled to be played from Monday, March 31 to April 6, 2025 (2024 Concacaf press release).

U-16 USWYNT: Concurrent camp with U-17s announced, 12 players return from last camp

On Monday, January 27th, the United States Under-16 Women’s Youth National Team will gather in Mesa, Arizona, for a camp that runs through Monday, February 3rd, and which will be held concurrently with a U-17 USWYNT camp.

Of the 24 players called into this camp, just 12 return from the first U-16 camp of this cycle, which was held last November. Among the 12 returning players are seven members of the USA’s squad for the 2024 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship, including forward KK Ream, who recently signed a professional contract with the Utah Royals.

Four additional players from U-15 championship squad, including 2024 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year, Maddie DiMaria, are attending their first U-16 camp this cycle. Meanwhile, three members of the U-15 championship squad who attended the previous U-16 camp are not attending this present camp. Among those three is Gotham FC professional Mak Whitham, who has a 2010 birth year.

Five players will apparently be attending their first United States youth national team camp. Two other players have only attended a U-14 Talent ID mini-camp.

All but one player in this camp has a 2009 birth year. The lone exception is midfielder Loradana Paletta, who has a 2011 birth year and was the youngest member of the US U-15 USWYNT at the Concacaf Girls’ U-15 Championship in 2024.

NWSL: 2025 Preseason Rosters, Part 5 — Angel City FC

On Wednesday, an eighth club, Angel City released their initial preseason roster for the 2025 NWSL season.

ACFC has invited five non-rostered players, including two members of the USA’s squad for the 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup:

Midfielder Scottie Antonucci, who is also eligible for the 2025 U-17 WWC, and
Forward Leena Powell, who is an official commit for UCLA.

The other three invitees are all collegiate seniors:

University of Portland goalkeeper Bre Norris,
Mississippi State midfielder Hannah Johnson, and
Rutgers forward Riley Tiernan.

In the same press release, ACFC also confirmed the appointment of former Houston Dash head coach Sam Laity as interim head coach.

NWSL: 2025 Preseason Rosters, Part 4 — Racing Louisville

The San Diego Wave and the Washington Spirit were not the only teams to release their initial preseason rosters on Tuesday. Racing Louisville also published their preseason squad list.

Racing has invited six non-rostered players, including Texas forward Holly Ward, who played for Canada at the 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup (Canada Soccer profile).

The club’s list of non-roster invitees also includes the younger sisters of two current NWSL players: Long Beach State’s Makayla DeMelo, who is the sister of Racing midfielder Savannah DeMelo, and UCLA’s Meg Boade, who is the sister of Bay FC’s Tess Boade. Makayla DeMelo played for Racing’s USL W League team in 2024 (press release) and 2023 (press release).

The other three invitees are a pair of goalkeepers, Mississippi State’s Maddy Anderson and Michigan State’s Kaitlyn Parks, plus a forward, Utah’s Katie O’Kane.

Of the six non-rostered players, all but Makayla DeMelo have played at least four seasons of NCAA soccer. The younger DeMelo redshirted her true freshman year, 2021.