U.S. Women’s National Team coach Jill Ellis has shaken things up ahead of a new World Cup cycle.
Ellis has called up 24 players to the latest squad to face Switzerland on Oct. 19 and Oct. 23. Several members on the team participated at the 2016 Olympics, but nearly half of the roster is uncapped.
“Right now, we are in a phase where we want to try to expand the player pool, look at a number of players and start the long process to qualifying for the next World Cup,” said Ellis. “That means several of our more experienced players won’t be in for this camp while we get to evaluate some different personnel.”
Eleven of the 24 players have yet to earn a cap with the USWNT, and a few of them could feature in these friendlies later this month.
“In order to see if these players can contribute, we need to get them into a National Team training environment and in games,” Ellis continued. “Our staff has been watching NWSL games this season and these are the ones that stood out. The league is vitally important to create a tremendous competitive environment for these players to show their talents as professionals and we are excited to give them a chance with the National Team.”
Here is the full roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Jane Campbell (Stanford), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS: Abby Dahlkemper (Western New York Flash), Arin Gilliland (Chicago Red Stars), Merritt Mathias (Seattle Reign), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS: Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), Samantha Mewis (Western New York Flash), Andi Sullivan (Stanford)
FORWARDS: Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), Shea Groom (FC Kansas City), Ashley Hatch (BYU), Kealia Ohai (Houston Dash), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Lynn Williams (Western New York Flash)
This is one of the best moves that Jill Ellis has made in the past year. We need to find players
who can do different things on offense. Most lacking has been players who can score on set plays. Every great team I have ever seen has a player who is dangerous on Free Kicks. When is the last time you can remember the USWNT scoring on a free kick including a corner kick. If you remember the Olympics, France vs Columbia, France scored on 2 free kicks, and in the very next match for Columbia vs the U. S., Columbia scored on 2 free kicks. However, when is the last time the USWNT scored on a free kick. With all of the scoring opportunities they create, they should be
leading the world in free kick goals. Instead, they are at ground zero. So this should be the #1
priority for our women’s team. Also, we should focus on getting some taller players available
for duty, so that we have a strong presence on corner kicks like we use to have when Abby was
at her best. Samantha Mewis is just what the doctor ordered, and hopefully she will be given
the opportunity to work her way into the starting line-up. With the small line-up that we have now,
we seem to be able to get the ball close most of the time, but I’m tired of seeing us losing matches where we outshoot the opponents 22-2, simply because we don’t have a strong inside presence.
I see Western New York scoring all of these goals with no-name players. Maybe we should take
a look at them and see how they do with International Competition.
They definitely needed to start doing this.
Interesting but not surprising to see the online backlash from some people who bought tickets because “their little girls wanted to see Alex,” and wished they would’ve released the roster sooner so they could’ve saved money. *eyeroll*
But who will kneel?