Montoya names 20-player U.S. roster for 2012 CONCACAF Under-17 Women’s Championship in Guatemala

U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team head coach Albertin Montoya has named the 20-player roster for the 2012 CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship to be held in Guatemala City, Guatemala, from May 2-12.

Montoya named his squad after a 10-day training camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., that ended on April 9 with a 0-0 draw against the China U-20 Women’s National Team.

“We feel we are at a very good place right now going into World Cup qualifying,” said Montoya. “The team has made a lot of progress in our last three camps, which have been very productive in helping us prepare to head to Guatemala. We’ve had talented players since the beginning of the cycle, but the difference now is the ability of these talented players to play as a team, which makes us very dangerous. We saw this at our most recent camp, which led to three very good performances against quality teams. Qualifying couldn’t have come at a better time for us and the players are excited to showcase their talent at the international level.”

The team will now have several weeks off before regrouping to travel to Central America in a quest for one of CONCACAF’s three berths to the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which will be held from Sept. 22-Oct. 13 in Azerbaijan.

U.S. U-17 WNT CONCACAF Qualifying Roster By Position – DETAILED ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (2): Jane Campbell (Concorde Fire South; Kennesaw, Ga.), Cassie Miller (Sereno FC; Cave Creek, Ariz.)
DEFENDERS (7): Brittany Basinger (FC Virginia; Purcellville, Va.), Maddie Bauer (Slammers FC; Newport Beach, Calif.), Mandy Freeman (Lady Renegades SC; Royal Palm Beach, Fla.), Lauren Kaskie (Heat FC; Las Vegas, Nevada), Gabbi Miranda (Colorado Rush; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Lizzy Raben (Colorado Rush; Greenwood, Colo.), Morgan Reid (Chelsea Ladies; Cary, N.C.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Morgan Andrews (FC Stars of Mass.; Milford, N.H.), Joanna Boyles (Chelsea Ladies; Raleigh, N.C), Summer Green (Michigan Hawks; Milford, Mich.), Sarah Robinson (MVLA Lightning; Los Altos, Calif.), Morgan Stanton (Colorado Rush; Lakewood, Colo.), Andi Sullivan (Bethesda SC; Lorton, Va.).
FORWARDS (5): Emily Bruder (Utah Avalanche; Sandy, Utah), Darian Jenkins (Sparta SC; Riverton, Utah), Amber Munerlyn (So Cal Blues; Corona, Calif.), Toni Payne (Concorde Fire; Birmingham, Ala.), Maggie Purce (Freestate Soccer; Olney, Md.)

The U.S. opens the first round of the qualifying tournament against the Bahamas on Thursday, May 3, at 4 p.m. ET, faces Trinidad & Tobago on Saturday, May 5, at 4 p.m. ET, and finishes Group B play against Mexico on Monday, May 7, at 6:30 p.m. ET. Group A consists of host Guatemala, Canada, Panama and Jamaica. The top two finishers in each group advance to the all-important semifinals. (U.S. U-17 WNT Schedule and Results)

The semifinals will be played on Thursday, May 10, with the final and third-place match held on Saturday, May 12. The finalists and the winner of the third-place game qualify for Azerbaijan. All matches will be played at Guatemala City’s Estadio Cementos Progreso, site of the 2010 CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship.

U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team Roster Notes:

• The U.S. U-17 Women are aiming for their second U-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance after missing out on the tournament in 2010. The U-17s were third in the 2010 CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship and first in the 2008 CONCACAF qualifying.
• The U-17 Women have played nine total matches so far this year, compiling a 7-0-2 record while allowing just one goal. More impressively, the U-17s have played four international matches this year against countries featuring players one and two years older than the U.S. team and have a 2-0-2 record in those games.
• Albertin Montoya, who became head coach of this age group last August, will be coaching in his first qualifying tournament and has chosen a roster that features many of the most talented high school-aged players in the country. The roster is relatively experienced at the international level for this age group as all 20 players have each played a handful of U-17 international matches with four players having been capped at this level 10 or more times.
• As a youth player, Montoya was a member of the U.S. U-17 National Team and played in the first-ever FIFA U-17 World Cup in Italy in 1991 (previously it was a U-16 tournament) under head coach Roy Rees.
• Team captain Morgan Andrews and goalkeeper Jane Campbell participated in the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team training camp in October of 2011.
• In addition to Andrews (10 caps/one goal), who has played in the back and midfield for the squad, defender Mandy Freeman (11/0), midfielder Summer Green (14/3) and forward Amber Munerlyn (13/5) have all hit double figures in U-17 caps.
• The USA’s pair of goalkeepers are both tall and talented, with the 6-foot Cassie Miller joining the 5-foot-9 Campbell. Montoya chose a roster with seven defenders, six midfielders and five forwards.
• Nineteen of the players were born in 1995. The cut-off date to be eligible for the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is players born on or after Jan. 1, 1995, but Montoya did include one player born in 1996 on the roster in midfielder Sarah Robinson from Los Altos, Calif.
• The players on the roster hail from 13 states, with California and Colorado featuring three players each. Virginia, North Carolina and Utah have two players each.