Youth: U.S. U-17 girls tie South Korea

• by Mike Woitalla  @MikeWoitalla, Aug 20, 2018

The USA tied, 4-4, with fellow 2018 U-17 Women's World Cup qualifier South Korea in Paju in the first of two friendlies against the Koreans. They meet again on Tuesday.

“It was an incredible experience for our players to play a talented South Korea team that finished second in Asian qualifying and has qualified for the U-17 World Cup,” U.S. coach Mark Carr said. “We wanted this type of game to learn about ourselves and it was an experience that we can’t replicate in our home environments.”

Goals by Maya Doms and Makenna Morris were sandwiched by Korean strikes for a 2-2 halftime score. Trinity Rodman put the USA ahead, 3-2, in the 73rd minute but the Koreans equalized four minutes later. Sunshine Fontes' 77th minute goal gave the USA a lead that it lost to a 90th-minute strike by Hyun Seul-Ki.

“We wanted to work on some things today in attack and we checked a lot of the boxes,” said Carr. “Scoring four goals on a very good South Korea team is no easy feat, so I feel really happy about that. On the defensive side, we still have a lot of work to do. Obviously, we are in the process of building a new defensive unit. With the loss Kennedy Wesley and Kate Wiesner [to serious knee injuries] and with [goalkeeper] Angelina Anderson unavailable as she was coming back from the U-20 World Cup, it will take a bit of time to identify those players who can help us accomplish our goals.”

• Fontes now has 19 goals in 25 games for the U.S. U-17s.

• Payton Linnehan, Astrid Wheeler, Samar Guidry and Trinity Byars assisted on the USA's goals.

• The U.S. squad is comprised of 17 players born in 2001, five 2002s, and two 2003s. Players born in 2001 or later are eligible for this year's U-17 World Cup.

Aug. 18 in Paju, South Korea
South Korea 4 USA 4. Goals: Cho Mi-Jin 7, Kim Ji-Mi 36, Kim Bo-Min 73, Hyun Seul-Ki 90; Doms 10, Morris 24, Rodman 58, Fontes 77.
South Korea -- Kim Su-Jeong (Kang Ji-Yeon, 46); Kim Min-Ji, Ko Min-Jeong, Lee Ye-Jin (Lee Soo-ln, 50), Kim Ji-Mi, Cheon Ga-Ram (Kang Ji-Eun, 80); Ahn Se-Bin (Hwang Hye-Min, 61), Cho Ha-Neul (Jo Ye-Song, 88), Hyun Seul-Ki; Cho Mi-Jin; Kwak Ro-Young (Kim Bo-Min, 64).
USA -- Romig; Guidry (DellaPeruta, 70), M.Agresti (S. Agresti, 73), Hansen, Morris; Wheeler, Missimo, Doms (Fishel, 75), Linnehan (Fontes, 65); Byars, Fontana (Rodman, 46).

U.S. U-17 girls national team roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Mia Justus (PDA; North Brunswick, N.J.); Halle Mackiewicz (Real Colorado; Broomfield, Colo.), Lindsey Romig (IMG Academy; Midlothian, Va.).
DEFENDERS (9): Michela Agresti (FC Stars of Mass.; Swampscott, Mass.), Samantha Agresti (FC Stars of Mass.; Swampscott, Mass.), Talia DellaPeruta (NTH Tophat; Cumming, Ga.), Samar Guidry (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas), Tori Hansen (NC Courage Academy; Raleigh, N.C.), Smith Hunter (Seattle Reign; Seattle, Wash.), Makenna Morris (Bethesda SC; Germantown, Md.), Natalia Staude (NTH Tophat; Atlanta, Ga.), Astrid Wheeler (Concorde Fire SC; Atlanta, Ga.).
MIDFIELDERS (5): Maya Doms (Davis Legacy; Davis, Calif.), Mia Fishel (San Diego Surf; San Diego, Calif.), Sophia Jones (San Jose Earthquakes; Menlo Park, Calif.), Madison Mercado (San Diego Surf; San Diego, Calif.), Alexis Missimo (Solar Chelsea; Southlake, Texas).
FORWARDS (7): Trinity Byars (Solar SC; Richardson, Texas), Isabella D'Aquila (So Cal Blues; Mission Viejo, Calif.), Mia Fontana (San Jose Earthquakes; Burlingame, Calif.), Sunshine Fontes (Hawaii Rush; Wahiawa, Hawaii), Payton Linnehan (FC Stars of Mass.; Lancaster, Mass.), Samantha Meza (Solar SC; Dallas, Texas), Trinity Rodman (So Cal Blues; Laguna Niguel).