Twenty-three players named to USWNT roster for 2022 SheBelieves Cup

CHICAGO – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named the 23-player tournament roster for the 2022 SheBelieves Cup, which features the USA, Czech Republic, New Zealand and Iceland.

The six matches will be played over three doubleheader events, taking place on Feb. 17 and 20 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. and Feb. 23 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

The U.S. roster is made up almost entirely of players who attended the USWNT January training camp in Austin, Texas, with the addition of midfielder Catarina Macario, who missed the event due to an important match in France with her club Olympique Lyonnais, and veteran Becky Sauerbrunn, who missed the camp due to a minor injury.

“We had a great camp in Austin and now we need to see this group of players in game environments against highly-motivated opponents,” said Andonovski. “Every player in the pool is focused on making the roster for World Cup and Olympic qualifying this summer, and every training session and especially every match is a means to that end for them, and for the coaching staff. The SheBelieves Cup is also a great opportunity to help prepare for rhythm of group play at the Concacaf W Championship as we have to face three different opponents and different styles of play over a short period of time.”

U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM 2022 SHEBELIEVES CUP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit; 0), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 2), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 78)

DEFENDERS (8): Alana Cook (OL Reign; 4/0), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC; 77/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 45/1), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC; 8/0), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign; 9/0), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit; 148/2), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit; 63/0), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC; 199/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Gautrat (Chicago Red Stars; 87/8), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyonnais, FRA; 108/25), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign; 68/18), Catarina Macario (Olympique Lyonnais, FRA; 12/3), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 33/4), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit; 2/0), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 22/2)

FORWARDS (5): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit; 4/2), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars; 67/18), Margaret Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 9/2), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 10/1), Lynn Williams (Kansas City Current; 45/14)

The roster features 21 players from the National Women’s Soccer League, plus Macario and midfielder Lindsey Horan, whose 18-month loan to Lyon from Portland Thorns FC was announced on Jan. 27. In addition, Andonovski named 2021 NWSL Rookie of the Year and 2021 U.S. Soccer Young Player of the Year Trinity Rodman as a training player during the lead-up to the tournament. The U.S. team will come together on Feb. 10 in San Diego for five days of preparations before heading north for the tournament opener against the Czech Republic.

The 2022 SheBelieves Cup kicks off on Thursday, Feb. 17 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. as Iceland takes on New Zealand (5 p.m. PT) and the USA faces the Czech Republic (8 p.m. PT on ESPN and in Spanish on TUDN). The tournament resumes on Sunday, Feb. 20, also at DHSP, with the USA playing the first match of the day, against New Zealand (Noon PT on ABC and in Spanish on PrendeTV), while the Czech Republic will face Iceland (3 p.m. PT) in the second match of the day.

The tournament concludes on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, with New Zealand taking on the Czech Republic (5 p.m. CT) and the USA facing Iceland in the nightcap (8 p.m. CT on ESPN and in Spanish on PrendeTV). Broadcast information for the matches not involving the USA is forthcoming. This year’s tournament also marks the first time the SheBelieves Cup has had matches contested on the West Coast.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Team captain Becky Sauerbrunn comes into the tournament on 199 caps with one more making her the 12^th player in USWNT history to play 200 or more times. She will be the fourth defender to hit 200 caps, but just the second to almost exclusively have earned every cap on the back line, joining USWNT General Manager Kate Markgraf.

• This marks the first game roster for goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher since she was injured on August 2 in the Olympic semifinal match.

• The tournament will be a homecoming of sorts for several players. Forward Ashley Hatch was born in San Dimas, Calif. where she started playing soccer and lived until age 11, and midfielder Ashley Sanchez hails from Monrovia, Calif. and went to UCLA. Forward Mallory Pugh also attended UCLA for an academic quarter before turning professional while defender Abby Dahlkemper helped lead the Bruins to a NCAA title in 2014. Forward Lynn Williams attended college at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

• The roster features three players with 100 or more caps and nine players with 60 or more caps, but 14 with 45 or fewer, including 10 players with 12 or fewer caps, and six in single digits.

• The only uncapped player on the roster is goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury (formerly Bledsoe).

• The 2022 SheBelieves Cup marks the first game roster for midfielder Morgan Gautrat since the final game of 2019 vs. Costa Rica, which was Andonovski’s second game in charge of the USWNT. Gautrat, a 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, has 78 career caps.

• Midfielder Lindsey Horan is the leading scorer on the roster with 25 international goals, followed by Pugh and Rose Lavelle with 18 each. Williams has 14.

• Eighteen of the 23 players on the roster were with the USA for its November trip to Australia in which the USWNT defeated the hosts 3-0 in Sydney and drew 1-1 in Newcastle.

• The roster features two players who earned their first caps on that trip to Australia in goalkeeper Casey Murphy, who played two excellent matches in her first two starts, and Sanchez, who came off the bench in both games.

• In addition, Hatch scored in both matches against Australia, which were her first two international goals.

• There are 13 players on this year’s SheBelieves Cup roster who were on the USA’s roster for the 2021 tournament.

• Six players could be making their first appearances in the SheBelieves Cup in Kingsbury, Murphy, Sanchez, Hatch, Alana Cook and Emily Fox. Murphy and Fox have previously been on SBC rosters but did not appear in the tournaments.