Leone finalizes roster for U-19 World Championship

• by Soccer America , Jul 29, 2002

Four freshmen-to-be at the University of North Carolina and three Santa Clara University sophomores were among the 18 players U.S. under-19 women's coach Tracey Leone named on Monday to her roster for next month's first FIFA U-19 World Championship in Canada.

Leone used 57 players in game situations over the past two years in preparing for the Aug. 17-Sept. 1 championship in Edmonton and two cities in British Columbia, Victoria and Burnaby. The Americans will play Group C matches in Victoria against England on Aug. 17, Australia on Aug. 19 and Chinese Taipei on Aug. 21.

The title game is slated for Sept. 1 in Edmonton.

Tar Heels forward Lindsay Tarpley, midfielder Lori Chalupny and defenders Kendall Fletcher and Amy Steadman are part of the group after Leone trimmed the team down from 26 players who took part in a training camp and several exhibition matches in Chula Vista, Calif.

The U-19s lost to the WUSA's San Diego Spirit, 3-2, and twice beat Mexico's U-19 team, 3-1 and 2-1.

Santa Clara is represented by defender Jessica Ballweg, midfielder Leslie Osborne and forward Megan Kakadelas, who will play for the Broncos this fall after transferring from USC.

Leone took 15 of the 18 players who were part of the U.S. team that romped through qualifying in May, adding Steadman and University of Tennessee defender Keeley Dowling -- both of whom were injured during eliminations -- and high school forward Angela Woznuk, who worked her way onto the side in the past two months.

They took the spots filled during qualifying by Jessica Trainor, a defender from the University of Virginia; midfielder Allison Graham, an incoming freshman at Clemson University; and forward Kerry Hanks, a Texas high-schooler.

Trainor, Graham and Hanks were among eight players in the Chula Vista camp not selected to the 18-player roster. Leone will select her alternates before rosters are due to FIFA on Aug. 7. The others dropped were Arizona State-bound defender Stephanie Ebner, Virginia-bound midfielder Kelly Hammond, Boston College-bound goalkeeper Kate Taylor, Stanford forward Natalie Sanderson and Georgia high-schooler Ashley Foster, a forward.

The San Diego Surf is the most-represented club, with Buehler, Kakadelas and Woznuk. Fletcher and Steadman are teammates from the Greensboro Twisters.

The team features six college sophomores, eight incoming college freshmen, three high school seniors and one high school junior, Ashley Harris, the team's No. 1 goalkeeper. Another high school keeper, Californian Kim Bingham, was unavailable because of a foot injury.

The Americans, who will train in Beaverton, Ore., Aug. 9-11 before departing for Canada, played 37 matches in two years, going 15-1-1 in international competition.

U.S. U-19 ROSTER

(with hometowns, club teams, high schools and/or colleges)

Goalkeepers

Ashlyn Harris (Satellite Beach, Fla.), Seminole Ice; Satellite HS.

Megan Rivera (Miami), Miami Premier; Auburn University.

Defenders

Jessica Ballweg (Metuchen, N.J.), PDA Dynamo, Santa Clara University.

Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), San Diego Surf; Torrey Pines HS.

Keeley Dowling (Carmel, Ind.), Carmel Cosmos; University of Tennessee.

Kendall Fletcher (Cary, N.C.), Greensboro Twisters; Apex HS (incoming freshman at University of North Carolina).

Jill Oakes (West Hills, Calif.), Santa Anita Strikers, Harvard-Westlake HS (incoming freshman at UCLA).

Amy Steadman (Brevard, N.C.), Greensboro Twisters, University of North Carolina.

Midfielders

Lori Chalupny (Chesterfield, Mo.), JB Marine, Nerinx Hall HS (incoming freshman at University of North Carolina).

Sarah Huffman (Flower Mound, Texas), D'Feeters, Marcus HS (incoming freshman at University of Virginia).

Manya Makoski (Trumbull, Conn.), Yankee United, Trumbull HS (incoming freshman at Arizona State University).

Leslie Osborne (Menomonee Falls, Wis.), Milwaukee FC, University of Santa Clara.

Annie Schefter (Yakima, Wash.), Strikers, West Valley HS) (incoming freshman at University of Notre Dame).

Forwards

Megan Kakadelas (Carlsbad, Calif.), San Diego Surf, Santa Clara University (transfer from USC).

Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), PDA Splash, East Brunswick HS).

Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Michigan Hawks, Portage Central HS (incoming freshman at University of North Carolina).

Kelly Wilson (Odessa, Texas), Force United, University of Texas.

Angela Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.), San Diego Surf, University of San Diego HS.