Jill Ellis names 26-player roster for first USWNT camp of 2018

CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Jill Ellis has named 26 players to the first training camp roster of the year. The USA kicks off the camp on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson, California, and ends it on Jan. 21 with the team’s 2018 curtain-raiser against Denmark at San Diego County Credit Union Stadium (4:30 p.m. PT on ESPN).

Twenty-two of the 26 players on the roster earned a cap for the USA in 2017, but all trained with the U.S. team at some point in 2017.

“We are very much looking forward to getting the group back together,” said Ellis, who last coached the players on Nov. 12 in a 3-1 win vs. Canada during the final game of 2017. “We’re expecting a competitive and highly energized camp in Los Angeles as we start this important year for the team. We have a few injuries, so we won’t have 100% of our core together, but this stretch of testing, training, and a competitive match will provide a good platform to begin 2018.”

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The 15-day training camp, which will begin with a battery of physical tests, will be a key evaluation period for Ellis and her staff to choose a squad for the SheBelieves Cup in March as four of the world’s top-six ranked teams – the USA (1), Germany (2), England (3) and France (6) – contest the world’s most elite four-team tournament for the third consecutive year.

U.S. Women’s National Team January Camp Roster by Position (Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (4): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 2/0), Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 14/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 23/0)

DEFENDERS (9): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 13/0), Tierna Davidson (Stanford; 0/0), Sofia Huerta (Chicago Red Stars; 3/0), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC; 73/3), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 104/2), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 135/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 19/0), Taylor Smith (NC Courage; 7/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 12/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Morgan Brian (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 69/6), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 57/14), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 43/4), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash; 246/98), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC; 33/6), Andi Sullivan (Stanford; 7/0)

FORWARDS (7): Crystal Dunn (Chelsea FC, ENG; 57/22), Savannah McCaskill (South Carolina; 0/0), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 134/80), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars; 96/44), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 29/6), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 129/34), Lynn Williams (NC Courage; 15/4)

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Additional Notes:

• The training camp roster consists of 21 NWSL players, two players who play with clubs in Europe, two players who will be top picks in the upcoming NWSL draft and one current college player.
• Ellis will name 18 players from the 26-player roster to suit up for the match against Denmark at the end of camp.
• With 23 career games played, 13 of those caps earned in 2018, Alyssa Naeher is the most capped of the four goalkeepers on the roster. Veteran Ashlyn Harris has 14 caps, Jane Campbell earned her first two last year and Adrianna Franch, the 2017 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year and CONCACAF Goalkeeper of the Year, is uncapped.
• Abby Dahlkemper is the other player on the roster who garnered an NWSL individual award last season as she was named the 2017 NWSL Defender of the Year.
• Midfielder Julie Ertz earned the 2017 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year award.
• Carli Lloyd comes into camp with 98 career goals (sixth all-time) and with two more will become the sixth player in U.S. history to hit the 100-goal mark and the first since 2009 when Abby Wambach scored her 100th. Lloyd is the most capped player on the roster with 246 games played.
• Fourteen players on the roster have 33 caps or fewer.
• Morgan comes into the camp with 80 goals after scoring seven goals in the last seven games of 2017. She is in seventh place on the USA’s all-time goal scoring list.
• The two uncapped field players on the roster are both coming off excellent college seasons. Defender Tierna Davidson helped lead Stanford to the NCAA Championship, while forward Savannah McCaskill, who should be a top pick in the upcoming 2018 NWSL Draft, led South Carolina to the NCAA College Cup with eight goals and nine assists on the year.
• The third non-professional in camp is Andi Sullivan, who captained Stanford to the NCAA title in her senior year and will also be a top pick in the draft. She has seven WNT caps, earning four in the fall of 2016 and three in the fall of 2017.
• Defender Meghan Klingenberg makes her return to a roster for the first time since the June 2017 trip to Scandinavia where she played the first half of both games, against Sweden and Norway. The 2017 NWSL champion with the Portland Thorns has 73 caps.
• Ellis also named Portland Thorns defender Emily Sonnett, who is playing in Australia’s W-League during the NWSL off-season with Sydney FC. Sonnett, who trained with the USA during its two-game series against Canada to end last year, has 12 caps and last played for the USA on October 19, 2016 against Switzerland.
• There are three players who would have been on the January Camp roster, had they not been dealing with injuries. They are forward Tobin Heath (ankle), midfielder Samantha Mewis (knee) and midfielder Rose Lavelle (hamstring). Lavelle will be at the camp for some light training and rehab.