Jan. 4, 2012

Story Courtesy of U.S. Soccer

The U.S. Under-20 Women's National kicks off a big year in early January with a training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. U.S. head coach Steve Swanson has called 30 players for the Jan. 5-19 event which will feature many of the top performers from college soccer this past fall. Just three players - goalkeeper Bryane Heaberlin, defender Cari Roccaro and forward Lindsey Horan - have not yet entered college. All three were key players for the USA during the 2010 U-17 WNT cycle.

The roster does include a slew of talented attacking players, including Maya Hayes of Penn State who scored 31 times this past season and Katie Stengel, who scored 19 goals in helping Wake Forest to the NCAA College Cup. The roster also includes Soccer America Freshman of the Year Morgan Brian from Virginia.

The U-20s will play two 60-minute scrimmages against Shanghai Women's Football Club of China on Jan. 12 and Jan. 18. The U.S. U-20s are preparing for qualifying for the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup which was slated for Uzbekistan, but will be moved by FIFA. A formal announcement of the new host country has not yet been made, but Japan is the front-runner. The CONCACAF Qualifying tournament, which will send three countries to the U-20 WWC, will be held from March 1-11 in Panama.

U.S. U-20 WNT Roster by Position

GOALKEEPERS (4): Bryane Heaberlin (Clearwater Chargers; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Jami Kranich (Villanova; Hamden, Conn.), Abby Smith (Dallas Texans; Dallas, Texas), Abby Steele (Oregon; Santa Rosa, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (10): Olivia Brannon (Virginia; Troy, Mich.), Kori Chapic (Penn State; Russell, Ohio), Abby Dahlkemper (UCLA; Menlo Park, Calif.), Crystal Dunn (North Carolina; Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Jaelene Hinkle (Texas Tech; Denver, Colo.), Julie Johnston (Santa Clara; Mesa, Ariz.), Kassey Kallman (Florida State; Woodbury, Minn.), Casey Morrison (Boston College; York, Pa.), Mollie Pathman (Duke; Durham, N.C.), Cari Roccaro (Albertson Fury; East Islip, N.Y.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Brian (Virginia; St. Simmons Island, Ga.), Kaysie Clark (Missouri; Liberty, Mo.), Vanessa DiBernardo (Illinois; Naperville, Ill.), Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick (UC Berkeley; Pleasanton, Calif.), Sarah Killion (UCLA; Fort Wayne, Ind.), Mandy Laddish (Notre Dame; Lee's Summit, Mo.), Samantha Mewis (UCLA; Hanson, Mass.)
FORWARDS (9): Micaela Capelle (Portland; Gresham, Ore.), Maya Hayes (Penn State; West Orange, N.J.), Lindsey Horan (Colorado Rush; Golden, Colo.), Sophia Huerta (Santa Clara; Boise, Idaho), Stephanie McCaffrey (Boston College; Winchester, Mass.), Kealia Ohai (North Carolina; Draper, Utah), Kate Schwindel (West Virginia; Livingston, N.J.), Katie Stengel (Wake Forest; Melbourne, Fla.), Chi Ubogagu (Stanford; Coppell, Texas)