Roster set for U.S. U-20 Women’s Youth National Team training camp in So Cal

CHICAGO – U.S. U-20 Women’s Youth National Team head coach Tracey Kevins has named a 24-player roster for the team’s training camp in Southern California that will include two international matches against Korea Republic.

The event is another step on the road to the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup which will be held this fall in Colombia.

The USA will face South Korea, which will also be participating in the upcoming World Cup, on Friday, May 31 and Monday, June 3. Both matches will take place at the Dignity Health Sports Park Track & Field Stadium and both games will kick off at 3 p.m. PT. Admission to the matches is free and open to the public.

Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2004, are age-eligible for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. For this trip, Kevins selected 13 players born in 2004, seven born in 2005 and four born in 2006.

The training camp, which will take place during the FIFA international break, features a roster with seven professional players, 13 college players and four youth club players. The seven current pros – defenders Savy King (Bay FC) and Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC), midfielders Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage), Ally Lemos (Orlando Pride) and Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current) and forwards Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign FC) and Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals) – are all in their rookie years in the NWSL.

The U.S. U-20 WYNT has played four international matches so far this year, defeating Colombia in a pair of games by 1-0 scores in February, drawing Germany 0-0 in Germany in April and defeating Canada, 3-1, in Germany on that same trip.

U.S. U-20 WOMEN’S YOUTH NATIONAL TEAM – MAY/JUNE DOMESTIC CAMP– CARSON, CALIF.

ROSTER BY POSITION (COLLEGE OR CLUB; HOMETOWN)

Goalkeepers (2): Mackenzie Gress (Penn State; Lyndhurst, N.J.), Teagan Wy (California; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)

Defenders (8): Jordyn Bugg (San Diego Surf SC; El Cajon, Calif.), Elise Evans (Stanford; Redwood City, Calif.), Nicki Fraser (Real Colorado; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Heather Gilchrist (Florida State; Boulder, Colo.), Savy King (Bay FC; West Hills, Calif.), Leah Klenke (Notre Dame; Houston, Texas), Maggie Taitano (South Carolina; Carlsbad, Calif.), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; Studio City, Calif.)

Midfielders (6): Sofia Cook (UCLA; Huntington Beach, Calif.), Sam Courtwright (Texas Tech; Dallas, Texas), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; Bethlehem, N.Y.), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; Roswell, Georgia), Ally Lemos (Orlando Pride; Glendora, Calif.), Lauren Martinho (North Carolina FC; Cary, N.C.)

Forwards (8): Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign FC; Red Oak, Tex.), Katie Shea Collins (Tennessee SC; Gallatin, Tenn.), Maddie Dahlien (UNC; Edina, Minn.), Jordynn Dudley (Florida State; Milton, Georgia), Giana Riley (Florida State; Manteca, Calif.), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals; Hanson, Mass.), Taylor Suarez (Florida State; Charlotte, N.C.), Pietra Tordin (Princeton University; Miami, Fla.)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• The 12 players in this camp from the roster that helped the USA qualify for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup are goalkeepers Mackenzie Gress and Teagan Wy, defenders Leah Klenke, Elise Evans, Savy King and Gisele Thompson, midfielders Ally Lemos, Sofia Cook and Lauren Martinho and forwards Jordynn Dudley, Maddie Dahlien and Ally Sentnor.
• Dudley and defender Heather Gilchrist had big 2023 college seasons, helping Florida State win the NCAA Championship. Dudley was named ACC Freshman of the Year after scoring a remarkable 14 goals with nine assists, including a goal and an assist in the NCAA Championship Game. Gilchrist, a sophomore, started all 21 matches for the Seminoles. Defender Maggie Taitano played in 17 games off the bench for the NCAA champs.
• The four youth club players are Martinho, who is committed to Duke, defender Jordyn Bugg, a Florida State commit, Katie Shae Collins, who has committed to South Carolina and Nicki Fraser, who will attend UCLA.
• Martinho, Bugg and Fraser all played in the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, along with Riley Jackson (who captained the team), Thompson, King and Adames and forward Taylor Suarez.
• Forward Maddie Dahlien, who tied with Sentnor for leading scorer at World Cup qualifying with four goals, returns to U-20 camp after coming back from ankle surgery.
• Sentnor, who gave up two years of college eligibility at UNC, was the #1 pick in the NWSL Draft by the Utah Royals. She has two goals and two assists so far this season for the expansion club. She scored 11 goals with seven assists in her final college season and was named ACC Midfielder of the Year.
• King, who had a dynamic freshman year in 2023, gave up her final three years of eligibility to enter the 2024 NWSL Draft and was taken second overall by Bay FC.
• Lemos declared for the 2024 NWSL Draft with two years of eligibility remaining at UCLA and was taken ninth overall by the Orlando Pride.
• Adames skipped college and signed with Seattle Reign FC in March as the club’s first U-18 Entry Mechanism player in club history.
• Jackson signed with the North Carolina Courage in the summer of 2023 but did not play that season due to injury and made her pro debut this season.
• Like her older sister Alyssa, Thompson signed with Angel City out of high school, putting pen to paper in December of 2023.
• Midfielder Sam Courtwright was the 2023 Big 12 Freshman of the Year. She had five goals and eight assists in helping lead Texas Tech to the regular season conference title.
• Forward Giana Riley, who has since transferred to college power Florida State, led the West Coast Conference in scoring for Gonzaga last season with 12 goals to go along with six assists.
• Princeton forward Pietra Tordin made a dramatic U-20 WYNT debut in February, scoring a late game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Colombia in Bogota. The USA won the second game of that trip, 1-0, as well on a goal from Ally Sentnor.
• This is the first U-20 WYNT call-up for Katie Shae Collins, who helped the U.S. U-19 Women’s National Team win the bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games last November. Also on that roster were Bugg, Frasher, Thompson, Martinho and Adames.