July 14, 2005
CHICAGO, Ill. -- U.S. Women's National Team head coach Greg Ryan named 24 players, including four former Santa Clara University stars, to a training camp prior to the final match of a three-game summer series, this one against Iceland on July 24 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. PT and fans can follow the match live on ESPN2 or ussoccer.com's MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.
Tickets for the USA-Iceland gamestartat$15 and are on sale online at ussoccer.com, at all Southern California Ticketmaster ticket centers (including Robinson's-May, Wherehouse Music and Tower Records), The Home Depot Center ticket office (stadium ticket office open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and by phone at 213-480-3232. Groups of 20 or more can call U.S. Soccer at 312-528-1249 or obtain a group order form at ussoccer.com.
The U.S. women last played at the HDC on Dec. 8, 2004, a 5-0 win over Mexico that was the final match of the legendary careers of Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm and Joy Fawcett (who did not play due to injury). The match against Iceland will mark the fourth game for the U.S. women at the HDC.
The USA is 6-0-0 on the year and has yet to allow a goal in 2005. Combined with the shutout against Mexico in their final game of 2004, the American women have gone seven straight matches without allowing a goal.
The U.S. team will come together on July 17 and train at least once a day at the Home Depot Center before facing Iceland on Sunday, July 24. Ryan has called in a mixture of 2004 Olympic gold medallists and up-and-coming talent, including four players who are uncapped and four more players with seven caps or less. The roster includes seven players who helped the USA to the gold medal in Athens, Greece last year, but Ryan made numerous changes from the training camp roster that was in Portland as seven players from that camp are in Europe with the U.S. U-21 Women's National Team for the Nordic Cup, including 2004 Olympians Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O'Reilly.
The match against Iceland could mark the first pairing of the new era of forwards Tiffeny Milbrett and two-time U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year Abby Wambach, who returns to the roster after missing the USA's 7-0 victory over Ukraine last Sunday due to a prior commitment. Milbrett, who had been away from the team for more than a year, earned her first cap back on June 26 against Canada, but by the time she entered the field to earn her 200th cap, Wambach had been subbed out.
Milbrett earned her second historic milestone in as many games last Sunday, scoring her 100th career goal on her college home field at the University of Portland in the win over Ukraine.
Team captain Kristine Lilly will not be at this camp as she is running her annual soccer camp in her hometown of Wilton, Conn., but the U.S. will have veterans Shannon Boxx, Kate Markgraf, Aly Wagner, Milbrett and Shannon MacMillan.
Christie Welsh was also named and that's no surprise. The 5-foot-10 forward has scored seven goals in the USA's six games this year and is the leading scorer in 2005. Ryan has also called back 2000 Olympian and 2003 Women's World Cup member Danielle Slaton, who has been playing with Olympique Lyonnaise in France, as well as 2004 Olympic Residency Camp participant Leslie Osborne, who is fully recovered from ankle surgery, and 2003 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy finalist Joanna Lohman from Penn State, who scored 19 goals from the midfield during her senior season.
Ryan has also called in three former WUSA midfielders in Lori Lindsey, Jacqui Little and Venus James, who is playing in Sweden with Djurgarden/Alvsjo, the runner-up in the UEFA Women's Champions League last season. They sit sixth in the Swedish First Division this year.
Ryan has also given University of Portland sophomore midfielder Angie Woznuk her first official call-up. Woznuk trained with the U.S. team last week in Portland, but was not a part of the roster. Woznuk was one of the stars on the USA's U-19 team that took third at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand last November. She won the Silver Ball as the second most outstanding player in the tournament and the Bronze Boot as the third-leading scorer.
Joining Hope Solo in the USA's three-woman goalkeeping corps is 2004 Olympic back-up Kristin Luckenbill and 2000 Olympic alternate Jen Branam.
The match against Iceland, currently ranked 18th in the world, promises to be more competitive than the Ukraine rout and comes less than a year after the two teams played one of the wildest games in U.S. Women's National Team history. On Sept. 25, 2004, the USA opened the "Fan Celebration Tour" in Wambach's hometown of Rochester, N.Y., and she delighted the crowd with two goals and an assist to Mia Hamm heading into halftime.
Things quickly changed when Iceland, which had never scored on the USA in five previous matches, pounded three goals into the back of the U.S. net in a six-minute span in the second half, two coming on thundering strikes from distance, and suddenly the game was tied. The match stayed deadlocked until only seconds were left on the clock in stoppage time. The USA earned a corner kick, which was won on a header in the penalty area by Wambach. The ball bounced down to former U.S. captain Julie Foudy, who got a piece of it and her shot ricocheted perfectly to defender Heather Mitts, who roofed her chance from close range to give the USA the dramatic 4-3 win. There were no dramatic comebacks in the second leg, as the USA picked up a more traditional 3-0 victory a few days later in Pittsburgh.
U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM TRAINING CAMP ROSTER
No.Players Pos. Ht. DOB Hometown/College Caps/Goals
1Branam, Jen G 5-7 10/08/80 Placentia, Calif./UNC 5
2 Mitts, Heather D 5-5 06/06/78 Cincinnati, Ohio/Florida 38/2
3Fair, Lorrie M 5-3 08/05/78 Los Altos, Calif./UNC 119/7
4 Reddick, Cat D 5-7 02/10/82 Birmingham, Ala./UNC 80/6
5 Slaton, DanielleD 5-6 06/10/80 San Jose, Calif./Santa Clara 43/1
6Fotopoulos, DanielleF 5-11 03/24/76 Altamonte Springs, Fla./Florida 32/14
7Boxx, Shannon M 5-8 06/29/77 Redondo Beach, Calif./Notre Dame 47/12
8MacMillan, Shannon F 5-5 10/07/74 Escondido, Calif./Portland 174/60
9 Woznuk, Angie M 5-5 03/29/85 El Cajon, Calif.Portland 0/0
10Wagner, Aly M 5-5 08/10/80 San Jose, Calif./Santa Clara 86/19
11Hucles, Angela M 5-7 07/05/78 Virginia Beach, Va./UVA 51/5
12Osborne, Leslie M 5-8 05/27/83 Brookfield, Wis./Santa Clara 9/0
14LePeilbet, Amy D 5-7 03/12/82 Reno, Nev./Arizona State 7/0
15Markgraf, Kate D 5-7 08/23/76 Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Notre Dame 143/0
16Milbrett, Tiffeny F 5-2 10/23/72 Portland, Ore./Portland201/100
17Lohman, Joanna M 5-5 06/16/82 Silver Spring, Md./Penn State 4/0
18Solo, Hope G 5-9 07/30/81 Richland, Wash./Washington 16
19Welsh, Christie F 5-10 02/27/81 Massapequa Park, N.Y./Penn State 29/20
20Wambach, Abby F 5-11 06/02/80 Rochester, N.Y./Florida60/47
21Lindsey, Lori M 5-5 03/19/80 Indianapolis, Ind./Virginia 0/0
22Little, Jacqui M 5-3 05/10/78 Pacific Palisades, Calif./Santa Clara 0/0
23Frimpong, Tina D 5-9 05/20/82 Vancouver, Wash./Washington 1/0
24Luckenbill, Kristin G 5-9 05/28/79 Paoli, Pa./Dartmouth 14/0
25James, Venus M 5-6 03/21/79 Oakland, Calif./UCLA 0/0
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jen Branam, Kristin Luckenbill, Hope Solo; DEFENDERS (6): Tina Frimpong, Amy LePeilbet, Kate Markgraf, Heather Mitts, Cat Reddick, Danielle Slaton; MIDFIELDERS (10): Shannon Boxx, Lorrie Fair, Angela Hucles, Venus James, Lori Lindsey, Jacqui Little, Joanna Lohman, Leslie Osborne, Aly Wagner, Angie Woznuk; FORWARDS (5): Danielle Fotopoulos, Shannon MacMillan, Tiffeny Milbrett, Abby Wambach, Christie Welsh.
Team Staff:
Head Coach: Greg Ryan Colorado Springs, Colo.
Asst. Coach: Bret Hall St. Charles, Ill.
Asst. Coach: Kazbek Tambi Paramus, N.J.
GK Coach: Ian Feuer Calabasas, Calif.
General Manager: Nils Krumins Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Doctor: Dr. Rob Palumbo Orefield, Pa.
Medical Trainer: Debbie Prouse Thousand Oakes, Calif.
Massage Therapist:Scott Street Atlanta, Ga.
Massage Therapist: Jessica Smith Flint, Mich.
Equipment Manager: Zac Herndon Arcata, Calif.
Team Security: Mark Pharris Atlanta, Ga.
Press Officer: Aaron Heifetz Long Beach, Calif.