U20 WNT Begins World Cup Preparations

by U.S. Soccer

January 10, 2024

U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team head coach Tracey Kevins has named a 24-player roster for the team’s first training camp of the year, taking place from January 15-22 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.

The camp marks the first steps toward the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, to be held in Colombia in September, for which the USA qualified last June at the Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in the Dominican Republic.

Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2004, are age-eligible for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. For this camp, Kevins selected 16 players born in 2004, six born in 2005 and two born in 2006, those being defender Nicola (Nicki) Fraser and midfielder Claire Hutton, who recently captained the U.S. U-19 WYNT to a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile. From this roster, defenders Fraser and Gisele Thompson and midfielder Lauren Martinho were also on that Pan Am squad.

The training camp roster features three professional players, 18 college players (three of whom have declared for the 2024 NWSL Draft) and three youth club players. The three current pros – Thompson (Angel City FC) and midfielders Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage) and Hutton (Kansas City Current) -- will all be looking to make their NWSL debuts this spring. The three players who have declared are forward Ally Sentnor, midfielder Ally Lemos and defender Savannah King.

U.S. U-20 Women’s Youth National Team
January Training Camp Roster by Position (College or Club; Hometown)

Goalkeepers (3): Mackenzie Gress (Penn State; Lyndhurst, N.J.), Jordan Nytes (Colorado; Aurora, Colo.), Teagan Wy (California; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)

Defenders (7): Elise Evans (Stanford; Redwood City, Calif.), Gracie Falla (South Carolina; Hattiesburg, Miss.), Nicola (Nicki) Fraser (Real Colorado National; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Heather Gilchrist (Florida State; Boulder, Colo.), Savannah King (North Carolina; West Hills, Calif.), Leah Klenke (Notre Dame; Houston, Texas), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; Studio City, Calif.)

Midfielders (7): Samantha Courtwright (Texas Tech; Dallas, Texas), Danielle Davis (Clemson; Port Washington, N.Y.), Shae Harvey (Stanford; Hermosa Beach, Calif.), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; Bethlehem, N.Y.), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; Roswell, Georgia), Ally Lemos (UCLA; Glendora, Calif.), Lauren Martinho (North Carolina Courage Academy; Cary, N.C.)

Forwards (7): Madeline Dahlien (North Carolina; Edina, Minn.), Jordynn Dudley (Florida State; Milton, Ga.), Kat Rader (Duke; Stuart, Fla.), Giana Riley (Gonzaga; Manteca, Calif.), Allyson Sentnor (North Carolina; Hanson, Mass.), Taylor Suarez (Charlotte Soccer Academy; Charlotte, N.C.), Pietra Tordin (Princeton; Doral, Fla.)

Additional Notes:

The players in this camp from the Concacaf qualifying roster are goalkeepers Mackenzie Gress and Teagan Wy, defenders Elise Evans, Savannah King, Leah Klenke and Gisele Thompson, midfielders Shae Harvey, Ally Lemos and Lauren Martinho and forwards Madeline Dahlien, Jordynn Dudley, Kat Rader and Ally Sentnor.
Dahlien and Sentnor were the USA’s leading scorers at World Cup qualifying, each scoring four times. Martinho had two goals in the Dominican Republic while Dudley, Lemos, Rader and Thompson each had one.
Dudley and defender Heather Gilchrist had big college seasons, helping Florida State win the NCAA Championship. Dudley was named ACC Freshman of the Year after scoring a remarkable 14 goals with nine assists, including a goal and an assist in the NCAA Championship Game. Gilchrist, a sophomore, started all 21 matches for the Seminoles.
Sentnor, who has declared for the 2024 NWSL Draft, which will take place on Jan. 12, and will leave college with two seasons of eligibility remaining, led the Tar Heels in scoring with 11 goals and seven assists in 2023 and was named ACC Midfielder of the Year.
King, who had a dynamic freshman year at UNC, has also declared for the 2024 NWSL Draft and will forego her final three years of eligibility.
Lemos has also declared for the 2024 NWSL Draft and will leave UCLA with two years of eligibility remaining.
North Carolina (three players), Florida State (two) and Stanford (two) are the colleges with multiple players on the roster.
Seven players on the roster have previous Youth World Cup experience with Sentnor and Wy being a part of the USA’s 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup roster. While Wy did not see action, Sentnor played in all three matches in Costa Rica and scored against Ghana.
Six players on this roster were a part of the USA’s 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup Team: defenders King, Thompson and Nicola (Nicki) Fraser, midfielders Martinho and Riley Jackson, and forward Taylor Suarez. All saw significant action during the World Cup in India and Jackson captained the USA.
Fraser, who has committed to UCLA, is the daughter of former professional player, U.S. Men’s National Team player and former MLS head coach Robin Fraser.
The other two youth players are committed to Duke (Martinho) and Florida State (Suarez).
Harvey was a part of the squad that won the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship in the Dominican Republic, a tournament in which she scored four goals, but she did not make the World Cup squad later that year.
It was announced on Dec. 7, 2023, that Gisele Thompson would forgo college soccer and had signed with Angel City FC. She is the younger sister of Alyssa Thompson, who was the top pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft by Angel City and the youngest player on the USWNT’s roster at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Gracie Falla, a rare U.S. WNT call-up from the state of Mississippi, was the SEC Defender of the Year for South Carolina.
Midfielder Samantha Courtwright was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. She had five goals and eight assists in helping lead Texas Tech to the regular season conference title.
Forward Giana Riley led the West Coast Conference in scoring for Gonzaga with 12 goals to go along with six assists.
The camp marks the first U-20 WYNT call-ups for Falla, Fraser, Courtwright, Clemson midfielder Danielle Davis, Hutton, Jackson, Riley, Suarez and Princeton forward Pietra Tordin.