As CONCACAF U17 girls World Cup qualifying draws ever closer, each and every U.S. U17 girls camp provides valuable preparation time.

The team just wrapped up a week-long camp last week in Sunrise, Florida, and according to head coach Albertin Montoya, things continue to move in the right direction as the tournament looms on the horizon.

“It went very well, we’re definitely starting to come together as a team,” he told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “I think we’re getting pretty close to determining our final squad that’s going to go to qualifying with us.”

The camp, which lasted from February 3-11, was highlighted by two matchups against Germany, with the U.S. girls scoring a pair of victories – a 2-0 win on Feb. 7 and a 1-0 win on Feb. 9.

Andi Sullivan and Emily Bruder tallied in the first win, while Summer Green grabbed the only goal in the second victory.

Both matches pleased Montoya as the team tinkered with its tactics.

“We had two excellent matches against Germany,” he said. “We experimented with a few things, the first game we played more of a low pressure defense and it was interesting because Germany seemed to do the exact same thing. It was a little slower game but we still got some good results out of it. 

“In the second game, we wanted to try a little different approach and decided to defend much higher up the field. The Germans did the same thing so it was a much faster pace game, a lot of good pressure from both teams high up the field.”

Perhaps most important for Montoya, the team clamped down on a dangerous German attack.

“Defensively I thought we were very solid, we shut out Germany twice and that’s always impressive,” he said. “We limited their chances, most of their chances came from outside the box.”

With qualifying in May, the U 17s will get together twice more. Once at the beginning of March, an 18-player roster will travel to Spain to play against England, Holland and France.

After that, a camp will be held right before traveling from there to qualifying. Montoya said he’s comfortable with his squad right now, and doesn’t plan to tweak much, as he likes the camaraderie that has accrued in the latest camp.

“It’s a team effort and you can see it on and off the field: the chemistry and the way they get along, support each other, I think that’s definitely going to pay dividends later on when we’re in qualifying and the World Cup,” he said. “They care about each other and want to see each other succeed and I think that’s important for us.”

GOALKEEPERS: Jane Campbell (Concorde Fire South; Kennesaw, Ga.), Cassie Miller (Sereno FC; Cave Creek, Ariz.) 

DEFENDERS: Morgan Andrews (FC Stars of Mass.; Milford, N.H.), Brittany Basinger (FC Virginia; Purcellville, Va.), Maddie Bauer (Slammers FC; Newport Beach, Calif.), Lauren Kaskie (Heat FC; Las Vegas, Nev.), Elizabeth Raben (Colorado Rush; Greenwood, Colo.), Morgan Reid (CASL Chelsea Ladies; Cary, N.C.)

MIDFIELDERS: Joanna Boyles (CASL Chelsea Ladies; Raleigh, N.C.), Caroline Chagares (PDA Slammers; Wyckoff, N.J.), Miranda Freeman (Lady Renegades SC; Royal Palm Beach, Fla.), Summer Green (Michigan Hawks; Milford, Mich.), Kayla Mills (Slammers FC; West Covina, Calif.), Gabbi Miranda (Colorado Rush; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Sarah Robinson (MVLA Lightning; Los Altos, Calif.), Arielle Ship (Real So Cal; Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Morgan Stanton (Colorado Rush; Lakewood, Colo.), Andi Sullivan (Bethesda SC; Lorton, Va.) 

FORWARDS: Emily Bruder (Utah Avalanche; Sandy, Utah), Cameron Castleberry (CASL Chelsea Ladies; Raleigh, N.C.), Gabrielle Matulich (MVLA Lightning; Los Gatos, Calif.), Amber Munerlyn (So Cal Blues; Corona, Calif.), Toni Payne (Concorde Fire; Birmingham, Ala.), Margaret Purce (Freestate Soccer; Olney, Md.)