MORNING BRIEFING: U-20 callups impact women's race
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Oct 28, 2008
Portland was the most impacted with three players -- Michelle Enyeart, Elli Reed and Keelin Winters -- on the 20-player U.S. roster for the Under-20 Women's World Cup, which takes place Nov. 19-Dec. 7 in Chile. Winters, a dominant presence in midfield, might be missed the most.
North Carolina will lose Meghan Klingenberg and Nikki Washington, but the Tar Heels demonstrated they can win without them. UNC put five goals past Virginia in a 5-1 blitz of the Cavaliers on Friday night. Ironically, two of the UNC goal scorers -- Jessica McDonald and Casey Nogueira -- had taken part in qualifying but won't play in Chile. Also eligible to play in Chile was Tobin Heath, who played on the U-20s in 2007 but graduated to the Olympic team in 2008.
Another Olympic gold-medalist, Lauren Cheney, was eligible to play in Chile, but she will remain with UCLA, which loses only Sydney Leroux, who previously represented Canada at the international level.
Perhaps the most significant individual loss is that of goalie Alyssa Naeher, who has been outstanding in Penn State's recent surge.
U.S. ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS: Chantel Jones (Virginia redshirt), Alyssa Naeher (Penn State), Cat Parkhill (Minnesota redshirt).
DEFENDERS: Kiersten Dallsteam (Washington State), Kaley Fountain (Wake Forest), Lauren Fowlkes (Notre Dame), Liz Harkin (Arizona State), Meghan Klingenberg (North Carolina), Nikki Marshall (Colorado).
MIDFIELDERS: Gina DiMartino (Boston College), Becky Edwards (Florida State), Christine Nairn (Penn State '09), Elli Reed (Portland), Ingrid Wells (Georgetown redshirt), Keelin Winters (Portland).
FORWARDS: Michelle Enyeart (Portland), Sydney Leroux (UCLA), Alyssa Mautz (Texas A&M), Alex Morgan (California), Nikki Washington (North Carolina).
GOALKEEPERS: Chantel Jones (Virginia redshirt), Alyssa Naeher (Penn State), Cat Parkhill (Minnesota redshirt).
DEFENDERS: Kiersten Dallsteam (Washington State), Kaley Fountain (Wake Forest), Lauren Fowlkes (Notre Dame), Liz Harkin (Arizona State), Meghan Klingenberg (North Carolina), Nikki Marshall (Colorado).
MIDFIELDERS: Gina DiMartino (Boston College), Becky Edwards (Florida State), Christine Nairn (Penn State '09), Elli Reed (Portland), Ingrid Wells (Georgetown redshirt), Keelin Winters (Portland).
FORWARDS: Michelle Enyeart (Portland), Sydney Leroux (UCLA), Alyssa Mautz (Texas A&M), Alex Morgan (California), Nikki Washington (North Carolina).
CROFT TO STEP DOWN. Indiana State women's coach Vernon Croft has announced that he will step down at the end of the season to become ISU's assistant athletics director for facilities and game operations. He is the only women's soccer coach in ISU's nine-year history.
CROWD UPDATES. Navy's crowd of 3,500 for its game with Army on Friday ranks eighth in the country this season.
