SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The honors keep rolling in for Santa Clara women's soccer star Julie Johnston as she has been added to the U.S. National Team's roster for its two games against the German and Dutch national teams.
The U.S. and Germany are the top two teams in the FIFA Women's World Rankings and will play on April 5 for the second time in 23 days after the U.S. beat the Germans in the Algarve Cup Final on March 13. On April 9 the U.S. will travel to the Netherlands to take on the Dutch in the Hague at Kyocera Stadium.
"It is a huge honor to be able to represent your country, especially as the top team in the world going against the No. 2 team," said Johnston. "I'm really excited to be able to travel with the team at the international level. It's going to be a hard game, but I will be able to learn a lot from the experience. I'm very blessed for this opportunity."
"It's not often these days where a player with remaining college eligibility gets to play with the National Team and we are thrilled for Julie," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "It doesn't get any bigger for a non-Olympic or World Cup matchup than the top two teams in the world. It's quite an honor to be called up for this match and we're thrilled that Julie has another opportunity. We hope the training before the match goes well and hopefully she can get into the game. She is on the verge of having an opportunity to play in the next World Cup as the U.S. head coach is seriously evaluating her."
Johnston got her first National Team call up at the end of January and got her first cap in the U.S.'s victory vs. Scotland. Johnston and fellow Bronco Morgan Marlborough recently returned from a Four Nations Tournament win with the U-23 National Team.
Despite missing the team's first seven games while leading the U.S. to a U-20 World Cup victory as the squad's captain and winning the Bronze Ball, Johnston was a First-Team All-WCC selection while leading the team in goals with eight and points with 21. She added five assists while attempting 53 with 27 on goal. Johnston added three game-winning goals including one in overtime vs. CSU Northridge on Sept. 21. She finished second in the conference in goals per game (0.53) and points per game (1.40).