WNT youth teams descend on La Manga for spring tournaments

The U23 women’s national team is headed to La Manga, Spain for their yearly tournament against Japan, England, and Norway. They will train and play in country from February 25 - March 7. Seattle Reign coach Laura Harvey will oversee the team there with BJ Snow as assistant coach. Snow and U20 coach Michelle French are both leaving the youth teams to work with the full senior WNT as an assistant coach and talent identification head respectively.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Casey Murphy (Rutgers; Bridgewater, N.J.), Madalyn Schiffel (Seattle Reign; Citrus Heights, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (7): Mandy Freeman (Sky Blue FC; West Covina, Calif.), Adrienne Jordan (IBV; Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kristen McNabb (Seattle Reign; Montville, N.J.), Kayla Mills (Sky Blue FC; West Covina, Calif.), Katie Naughton (Chicago Red Stars; Elgin, Ill.), Erica Skroski (Sky Blue FC; New Brunswick, N.J.), Samantha Witteman (NC Courage; Redondo Beach, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Morgan Andrews (Boston Breakers; Milford, N.H.), Tierna Davidson (Stanford; Menlo Park, Calif.), Christina Gibbons (FC Kansas City, Raleigh, N.C.), Tyler Lussi (Portland Thorns; Lutherville, Md.), Emily Ogle (Penn State; Strongsville, Ohio), Margaret Purce (Boston Breakers; Silver Spring, Md.), Ashley Sanchez (SoCal Blues; Monrovia, Calif.), Dani Weatherholt (Orlando Pride; San Clemente, Calif.)

FORWARDS (5): Celeste Boureille (Portland Thorns; San Francisco, Calif.), Makenzy Doniak (NC Courage; Chino Hills, Calif.), Ashley Hatch (NC Courage; Gilbert, Ariz.), Savannah McCaskill (South Carolina; Chapin, S.C.), Arielle Ship (Washington Spirit; Westlake Village, Calif.)

This is a pretty decent who’s-who of players nibbling at the edges of the senior WNT roster, with the noted exception of Rose Lavelle, who is already being discussed in terms of her inevitable integration in the senior team’s midfield. Several of these players have already seen time with the full national team, whether on the pitch or in training camps, including Ashley Sanchez, Casey Murphy, Christina Gibbons, Ashley Hatch, Tierna Davidson, Savannah McCaskill, and Mandy Freeman.

At the same time, the U20 team is also in La Manga from February 26 - March 8, where they will play U19 teams from Norway, Germany and France. Complete roster below.

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brooke Heinsohn (Duke; Norfolk, Mass.), Laurel Ivory (West Florida Flames; Surfside, Fla.)

DEFENDERS (7): Sydney Dawson (Internationals SC; Akron, Ohio), Emily Fox (North Carolina; Ashburn, Va.), Samantha Hiatt (Boston College; Newcastle, Wash.), Tara McKeown (San Diego Surf; Newbury Park, Calif.), Karlie Paschall (Tennessee SC; Brentwood, Tenn.), Isabel Rodriguez (Michigan Hawks; Canton, Mich.), Karina Rodriguez (SoCal Blues; Torrance, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Samantha Coffey (Match Fit Academy; Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.), Jaelin Howell (Real Colorado; Windsor, Calif.), Arlie Jones (San Diego Surf; Las Vegas, Nev.), Taylor Kornieck (Colorado; Henderson, Nev.), Zoe Morse (Virginia; East Lansing, Mich.), Frankie Tagliaferri (PDA; Colts Neck, N.J.), Viviana Villacorta (Beach FC; Lawndale, Calif.), Natalie Winters (Iowa; Plymouth, Mich.)

FORWARDS (7): Belle Briede (Tophat SC; Alpharetta, Ga.), Ceci Gee (Stanford; Orinda, Calif.), Jordan Harr (Texas Tech; Sachse, Texas), Abigail Kim (California; Vashon, Wash.), Civana Kulhmann (Colorado Rush; Littleton, Colo.), Kelsey Turnbow (Santa Clara; Scottsdale, Ariz.), Sophia Smith (Real Colorado; Windsor, Colo.)