U23 WNT head to England for Nordic Tourney

by U.S. Soccer

May 25, 2016

The U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team will travel to England from May 28-June 8 to take part in a four-team U-23 Women’s Nordic Tournament being held at St. Georges Park, the sprawling official training center for the England Football Association located about 130 miles north of London.

The USA will square off against the U-23 Women’s National Teams of Sweden (June 2), Norway (June 4) and England (June 7) in what will be the main competition of this summer for this age group.

The U.S. U-23s (and formerly U-21s) have a long history of traveling to northern Europe during the summer and for many years participated in the eight-team Nordic Cup, winning the competition on quite a few occasions, before the tournament ended in 2009.

Among the 20 players called up by coach Janet Rayfield, 19 are collegiate players with former University of San Francisco goalkeeper Madalyn Schiffel currently playing in Norway with Avaldsnes IL. Nine players on the roster have represented the USA in a FIFA youth Women’s World Cup.

The U.S. U-23s played in a competition in Croatia in early March, where a team that was a mixture of NWSL and college players defeated the Slovenia Women’s National Team 3-0, tied the Poland U-19 WNT 0-0 and defeated the France National “B” Team 2-0. Goal scorers from that trip on the roster for England are Christina Gibbons from Duke and Andi Sullivan from Stanford. Gibbons and Toni Payne of Duke also scored in a 3-0 win against the Ireland Women’s National Team in January.

U-23 Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Jane Campbell (Stanford; Kennesaw, Ga.), Madalyn Schiffel (Avaldsnes IL; Roseville, Calif)
DEFENDERS (5): Brittany Basinger (Penn State; Purcellville, Va.), Maddie Bauer (Stanford; Newport Beach, Calif.), Kirsten Crowley (Florida State; Panama Beach City, Fla.), Claire Falknor (Bayern Munich; Dayton, Ohio), Kristen McNabb (Virginia; Montville, N.J.)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Meggie Dougherty Howard (Florida; Largo, Fla.), Caroline Flynn (Nebraska; Lincoln, Neb.), Christina Gibbons (Duke; Raleigh, N.C.), McKenzie Meehan (Boston College; Glocester, R.I.), Toni Payne (Duke; Birmingham, Ala.), Morgan Proffitt (Marquette; Columbus, Ind.), Margaret Purce (Harvard; Silver Spring, Md.), Stephanie Ribeiro (Connecticut; Pawtucket, R.I.), Andi Sullivan (Stanford; Lorton, Va.)
FORWARDS (4): Rachel Hill (Connecticut; Rollinsford, N.H.), Ashley Herndon (James Madison; Ashburn, Va.), Savannah Jordan (Florida; Fayetteville, Ga.), Tyler Lussi (Princeton; Lutherville, Md.)