Klimkova names preliminary U20 USWNT roster for Nike friendlies

The United States U20 women’s national team will play England, Finland, and Brazil in December as part of the Nike International Friendlies. Head coach Jitka Klimkova has named a 24-player initial roster, which will be pared down to 20 ahead of the games. These are the final matches for Klimkova to evaluate her player pool before 2018 U20 Women’s World Cup qualifying begins in January in Trinidad & Tobago.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Claudia Dickey (Charlotte Soccer Academy; Charlotte, N.C.), Laurel Ivory (Virginia; Surfside, Fla.), Amanda McGlynn (Virginia Tech; Jacksonville, Fla.)

DEFENDERS (8): Nicole Albrecht (Minnesota; Cedarburg, Wisc.), Julia Bingham (USC; Ontario, Calif.), Sydney Dawson (Internationals SC; North Canton, Ohio), Naomi Girma (California Thorns FC; San Jose, Calif.), Tara McKeown (USC; Newbury Park, Calif.), Isabel Rodriguez (Ohio State; Canton, Mich.), Karina Rodriguez (UCLA; Torrance, Calif.), Jordan Brewster (Internationals SC; North Canton, Ohio)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Samantha Coffey (Boston College; Sleepy Hollow, NY), Savannah DeMelo (USC; Bellflower, Calif.), Jaelin Howell (Real Colorado; Windsor, Colo.), Taylor Kornieck (Colorado; Henderson, Nev.), Zoe Morse (Virginia; East Lansing; Mich.), Brianna Pinto (NTH Tophat; Durham, NC), Viviana Villacorta (UCLA; Lawndale, Calif.)

FORWARDS (6): Sophia Smith (Real Colorado; Windsor, Colo.), Jordan Harr (Texas Tech; Sachse, Texas), Abigail Kim (California; Vashon, Wash.), Civana Kuhlmann (Stanford; Littleton. Colo.), Ashley Sanchez (UCLA; Monrovia, Calif.), Taryn Torres (Virginia; Frisco, Texas)

Of the 24, Howell, Pinto, Sanchez, and Smith have been in a full senior WNT camp before, although none have been capped yet. Sanchez and Smith in particular are players to watch. Both of them have played up an age group (or two in Smith’s case when she joined with the U23s) and held their own. Also watch this very nice goal from Sanchez against Jamaica in last year’s CONCACAF U17 championship.

Schedule and stream info

All games will be streamed on USSF’s facebook and youtube.

Thursday, December 7, 6:30 PM ET
USA vs England

Saturday, December 9, 6:30 PM ET
USA vs Finland

Monday, December 11, 6:30 PM ET
USA vs Brazil