CHICAGO (October 9, 2023) – U.S. Under-19 Women’s National Team head coach Carrie Kveton has named the roster of 18 players who will travel to Chile to compete in women’s soccer competition at the 2023 Pan American Games.
For the first time since 2007, college soccer will send a women’s team to the Pan American Games, a continental multi-sport event in the Americas that includes Summer Olympic sports.
US U-19 WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM (CLUB; HOMETOWN) – 2023 Pan American Games
Goalkeepers (2): Sonoma Kasika (Florida Premier; St. Petersburg, FL), Keely Titmus (National Championship; Grand Blanc, MI)
Defenders (6): Aven Alvarez (NC Courage, New Hill, NC), Jordan Bugg (San Diego Surf, El Cajon, CA), Nicky Frazier (Real Colorado, Highlands Ranch, CO), Reese Klein (Florida United, Cooper City, Florida), Sam Smith (Boise Timbers Thorns; Boise, Idaho), Giselle Thompson (Total Futbol Academy; Studio City, California)
Midfielders (6): Kendall Bodak (New England; Monson, MA), Claire Hutton (World Class; Bethlehem, NY), Eleanor Klinger (Internationals; Cleveland, OH), Charlotte Kohler (MVLA SC; Woodside, CA), Lauren Martinho (NC Courage; Cary, NC), Grace Restovich (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; St. Louis, MO)
Forwards (4): Emery Adams (Solar SC, Red Oak, TX), Katie Shea Collins (Tennessee, Gallatin, TN), Ava McDonald (Dallas, Allen, TX), Amalia Villarreal (Michigan Jaguars, Lansing, Michigan),
Alternatives: M. Izzy Engle (Minnesota Thunder, Edina, MN), F. Miri O’Donnell (Bay Area Surf FC, San Ramon, CA), D. Carla Small (IMG Academy, Waipahu, HI) ), F. Bella Wynn (FC “World Class”); Ridgewood, New Jersey)
The competition involves two groups of four teams each, with the top two players in each group advancing to the semi-finals. The USA is in Group B and will face Venezuela on October 22 at Sausalito Stadium (3:00 p.m. local time/2:00 p.m. ET), followed by Costa Rica on October 25 at Elias Figueroa Stadium (1:00 p.m. local time/noon ET) and Argentina in October. 28 (15:00 local time / 14:00 Eastern time). The semi-finals will take place on October 31, and the bronze and gold matches will take place on November 3.
Teams finishing third in the groups will play for fifth place, and teams finishing fourth will play for seventh place.
While the U.S. will face teams made up of mostly senior national team players, the U.S. will bring a U-19 team that will include a younger portion of the U.S. Women’s U20 National Team players. The entire roster is yet to commit to college as all of the U-20 varsity players are currently involved in their collegiate campaigns.
However, seven players on the roster played for the US at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which the US dominated Nigeria before losing on penalties in the quarter-finals, so they have some experience at a major world event .
“We have a lot of up-and-coming players on our roster who have amazing potential, so this tournament will be a great experience for them,” Kveton said. “We are a young team, but the players have some experience playing together and our coaching staff has worked with many of them in the past. It will not be easy for our players to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of a big tournament where we have to play every game. We will be playing against older players so we will see a higher level of fitness and speed which will be a good test for them to see where they are at in their careers.”
All of the players on the U.S. roster are age-appropriate to play on the team that will compete in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia in about a year. Kveton named the Pan Am roster, which includes 15 players born in 2006 and five born in 2005. The age limit for next year’s Under-20 World Cup is players born on or after January 1, 2004.
Additional notes:
- Group A of the women’s soccer tournament includes Chile, Jamaica, Mexico and Paraguay.
- US players who played at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup are defenders Nicky Fraser and Jordyn Bugg, midfielders Charlotte Kohler and Lauren Martinho, forwards Sam Smith (who is a defender in this squad), Emery Adames and Amalia Villarreal.
- Smith and Kohler each scored two goals in the World Cup against Morocco in group play. Villarreal scored Team USA’s lone goal in a 1-1 quarterfinal loss to Nigeria before PC got the ball.
- The 18 players represent 17 different youth clubs, with only the North Carolina Courage adding two players to the roster. Players come from 12 different states, including one from Idaho (Smith).
- Gisele Thompson, the younger sister of Angel City and U.S. Women’s National Team forward Alisa Thompson, plays for the Total Futbol Academy boys team in MLS NEXT.
- American soccer has competed in two Pan American Games for women’s soccer, the first in 1999 in Canada when the U.S. U-18 women’s team, coached by Jay Hoffman, won the gold medal with a 1-0 victory over the older Mexico team.
- American soccer sent the under-20 women’s team to the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil and advanced to the gold medal game by defeating the Canadian senior women’s team 2-1 in the semifinals, but then faced a rowdy home team at the famous Maracanã Stadium and lost with a score of 5:0 and won a silver medal. That US team, coached by future two-time Women’s World Champion Jill Ellis, included several future USWNT stars, including Alyssa Naeher, Lauren Chaney, Kelli O’Hara and Tobin Heath.