U.S. U-15 Girls National Team roster set for Concacaf Championship

CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The 18 players who will represent the USA at the 2018 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship have been named. April Kater will coach the USA at the third Concacaf tournament for this age group being held from August 6-13 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

The USA will bring a younger team to the competition which will mostly feature players born in 2003. The USA will bring a roster that includes 14 players born in 2004 and four in 2005.

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With 28 nations competing in two divisions, this will be the largest Concacaf tournament ever for female participants and will feature a record number of Concacaf Member Associations as well as two invited teams from UEFA.

USA Roster for the Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship by Position

GOALKEEPERS (2): Nona Reason (San Diego Surf; San Clemente, Calif.), Teagan Wy (West Coast FC; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6): Elise Evans (San Jose Earthquakes; Redwood City, Calif.), Evelyn Shores (NTH Tophat; Atlanta, Ga.), Maia Tabion (Crossfire Premier; Sammamish, Wash.), Maggie Taitano (San Diego Surf; Carlsbad, Calif.), Gisele Thompson (Real So Cal; Studio City, Calif.), Amelia Van Zanten (FC United; Buffalo Grove, Ill.)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Maggie Cagle (SC Del Sol; Phoenix, Ariz.), Sofia Cook (LA Galaxy; Huntington Beach, Calif.), Juliauna Hayward (Real Colorado; Thornton, Colo.), Yuna McCormack (San Jose Earthquakes; Mill Valley, Calif.), Olivia Moultrie (Beach FC; Canyon County, Calif.)

FORWARDS (5): America Frias (San Jose Earthquakes; San Jose, Calif.), Allison Montoya (MVLA SC; Los Altos, Calif.), Katherine Rader (Orlando Pride DA; Stuart, Fla.), Jaedyn Shaw (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Alyssa Thompson (Real So Cal; Studio City, Calif.)

The USA will play in Group A in the 12-team Division 1 and open its tournament on Aug. 7 against Jamaica on Field 1. The young Americans will then face guest team Portugal on Aug. 8 on Field 2 and El Salvador on Aug. 10 on Field 1. All the USA’s games are at 9 a.m. ET. Concacaf has confirmed the matches will be streamed with details to be confirmed shortly.

Group B features Canada, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic and Group C features Mexico, Haiti, Puerto Rico and guest team Northern Ireland.

The tournament format dictates that the three countries who finish in first-place in the Division I groups will advance to the semifinals on Aug. 11 along with the best second-place finisher. The championship game will be on Aug. 13.

If teams are tied on points, the first tie-breaker in the group is goal difference and then goals scored.

There are four groups of four in Division 2 and those group winners will also advance to the semifinals for their division, but there will also be placement games in both Divisions for the teams that do not qualify for the semifinals.

This will mark the third time this Concacaf competition has been held for U-15 girls. The USA did not participate in the first tournament in 2014 but won the competition in 2016 in Orlando with many of the players currently with the U-17 Women’s National Team that will play in the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. The USA took all seven games at that tournament by shutout while compiling a 49-0 goal difference. The USA defeated Costa Rica 5-0 in the semifinal and Canada 2-0 in the championship game to take the regional title.

Additional Notes:

• All but one of the players on the U.S. roster played in the recently completed first season of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
• The roster features players from 14 different youth clubs, including three from the San Jose Earthquakes, two from the San Diego Surf and two from Real So Cal.
• More than half of the roster hails from California, seven from Southern California and four from Northern California.
• The U.S. roster features midfielder Maggie Cagle from SC Del Sol out of Phoenix, Arizona whose mom, the former Kelly Walbert, earned a cap (against Trinidad & Tobago) for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 1994.
• The roster also features forward Allison Montoya, whose dad Albertin coached the USA at the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan. Albertin also played for the USA at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Italy in 1991, and scored in a 3-1 win vs. China PR.
• The roster features sisters Alyssa and Gisele Thompson who both play for Real So Cal. Alyssa (born in 2004) is a year older than Gisele (born in 2005), and they will become the first sisters to compete together in a Concacaf championship since the Mewis sisters, Samantha and Kristie, did so at the 2010 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in Guatemala. After the Mewis’, the Thompsons are only the second pair of sisters to compete together for the USA in a Concacaf tournament.