U.S. U20 WNT opens new cycle

Coming off a highly successful two-year run that ended in the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup championship in Japan, the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team will begin a new cycle with a training camp from Feb. 2-9 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Players born on or after Jan. 1, 1994, are age-eligible for the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, to be held in Canada. U.S. Soccer Women’s Technical Director April Heinrichs has called up 24 players for the camp, 13 born in 1994 and 11 born in 1995.

Ten of the players were a part of the U.S. U-17 Women’s World Cup Team this past year in Azerbaijan while two – defenders Cari Roccaro and Stephanie Amack – were a part of the team that won the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan. Roccaro, who played her freshman year at Notre Dame last fall, was a starter on that squad and played a key role in shutting down a powerful German attack in the championship game.

Nine of the players on the roster are currently in college with the remainder still attending high school and one playing professionally overseas. The professional player is forward Lindsey Horan, the U-20 team's leading scorer in 2012, who missed the Women’s World Cup due to a knee injury. Horan, the first female player to skip college soccer and sign a professional contract, is currently playing with Paris Saint-Germain in France.

The U.S. U-20 WNT training camp will be held concurrently with the U.S. U-18 WNT training camp and the two squads will scrimmage against each other on Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. The U-20s will also scrimmage UCLA on Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. PT.

U.S. U-20 WNT Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Kaela Little (TSC Hurricane; Tulsa, Okla.), Katelyn Rowland (UCLA; Vacaville, Calif.), Morgan Stearns (McLean Youth Soccer; San Antonio, Texas)
DEFENDERS (7):  Stephanie Amack (Mustang Blast; Pleasanton, Calif.), Brittany Basinger (FC Virginia; Purcellville, Va.), Miranda Freeman (Orlando City; Royal Palm Beach, Fla.), Hanna Gardner (North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.), Zoey Goralski (Team Chicago; Naperville, Ill.), Kathleen Maughton (Sockers FC; Arlington Heights, Ill.), Cari Roccaro (Notre Dame; East Islip, N.Y.)
MIDFIELDERS (7):  Morgan Andrews (FC Stars of Mass.; Milford N.H.), Isabel Farrell (Washington; Bellevue, Wash.), Summer Green (North Carolina; Milford, Mich.), Ashley Meier (Virginia Tech; Blacksburg, Va.), Morgan Stanton (Colorado Rush; Lakewood, Colo.), Andi Sullivan (Bethesda SC; Lorton, Va.), Allison Wetherington (Concorde Fire SC; Acworth, Ga.)
FORWARDS (7): Janine Beckie (Texas Tech; Lubbock, Texas), Makenzy Doniak (Virginia; Chino Hills, Calif.), Lindsey Horan (Paris Saint-Germain, Golden, Colo.), Darian Jenkins (Sparta; Riverton, Utah), Makenzie Meehan (Boston College; Scituate, R.I.), Amber Munerlyn (So Cal Blues; Corona, Calif.), Toni Payne (Concorde Fire SC; Birmingham, Ala.)