Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By CAITLIN MURRAY
The U.S. Women’s National Team roster for the team’s December camp was released Monday with call-ups of some long-absent players and new additions.
The camp running from Dec. 3 to Dec. 15 in Carson, Calif. will see the return of defender Amy LePeilbet, who has been recovering since surgery on her left ACL in January, and forward Amy Rodriguez, who had been on hiatus for a pregnancy she announced that same month.
LePeilbet will join the camp for one week so USWNT staff can evaluate her progress. After giving birth in August, Rodriguez started training to return to the National Women’s Soccer League next season.
Goalkeeper Brittany Cameron gets her first-ever call-up to train with the national team. It seems deserved for Cameron, 26, who found herself holding onto the starting spot for Sky Blue FC this year ahead of U.S. national team backup Jill Loyden during the NWSL regular season. Cameron was a key piece of the team’s long unbeaten streak and ranked second in shutouts in NWSL play.
Goalkeeper Abby Smith, a sophomore at the University of Texas, joins Cameron in getting her first senior national team call-up, too.
Ashlyn Harris, longtime backup U.S. goalkeeper and starter for Washington Spirit, will be out for as long as six weeks to due minor surgery, U.S. Soccer announced Monday.
Of note is that Tyresö FF players Christen Press, Meghan Klingenberg and Whitney Engen are identified as being unattached, signaling that negotiations with U.S. Soccer to woo them to the federation-backed NWSL must be ratcheting up. Tyresö, of Sweden’s top professional women’s league, is still in the middle of a Champion’s League run.
Press and Klingenberg are still deciding when to join NWSL, if they do. Engen is apparently already set for NWSL next year though – the manager for Liverpool Ladies told a local newspaper last month that Engen, who had played for Liverpool, would be subsidized to play in the U.S.
Megan Rapinoe was not cleared to leave her French club, Olympique Lyonnais, for the camp.
December’s two-week camp will be the national team’s longest training stint since Tom Sermanni took over as head coach last January. The U.S. play their next match Jan. 31 in Frisco, Texas for a friendly against Canada.
Here is the full roster for the two-week camp:
GOALKEEPERS (7): Nicole Barnhart (FC Kansas City), Brittany Cameron (Sky Blue FC), Adrianna Franch (WNY Flash), Jill Loyden (Sky Blue FC), Alyssa Naeher (Boston Breakers), Abby Smith (Texas), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC)
DEFENDERS (10): Rachel Buehler (Portland Thorns FC), Stephanie Cox (Seattle Reign FC), Crystal Dunn (North Carolina), Whitney Engen (unattached), Meghan Klingenberg (unattached), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Amy LePeilbet (Chicago Red Stars), Kristie Mewis (Boston Breakers), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Yael Averbuch (unattached), Morgan Brian (Virginia), Amber Brooks (Bayern Munich), Lauren Holiday (FC Kansas City), Julie Johnston (Santa Clara), Carli Lloyd (WNY Flash), Heather O’Reilly (Boston Breakers), Erika Tymrak (Bayern Munich)
FORWARDS (6): Sarah Hagen (Bayern Munich), Sydney Leroux (Seattle Reign FC), Alex Morgan (Portland Thorns FC), Christen Press (unattached), Amy Rodriguez (FC Kansas City), Abby Wambach (WNY Flash)
——
What do you think of this roster list? Do you see any of the new players making a good impression? What kind of team do you feel Sermanni is molding?
Share your thoughts below.