U.S. Under-23 women headed to Ireland, roster announced

U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team head coach Bill Irwin, himself a native of Northern Ireland, will take 18 players to his homeland from May 11-19 where the USA will play the Women’s National Teams of the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on May 13 and Northern Ireland in Belfast on May 15.

This will be the second international trip of the year for the U.S. U-23s, who played two matches last February in La Manga, Spain, defeating the Norway and England U-23 sides by 1-0 and 3-0 scores respectively. That roster was made up mostly of players currently in WPS while the roster for this tour is made up entirely of collegiate players.

Irwin, a former professional goalkeeper, will not be lacking for height in goal as he brings two six-footers to Europe in Kristin Arnold of Texas A&M and Kristin Olsen of USC.

Two players on the roster were part of the U.S. team that won the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile last December in center back Lauren Fowlkes and midfielder Keelin Winters. The roster also includes forward Katie Schoepfer from Penn State who scored four goals in three matches against college teams during the team’s most recent training camp in Portland, Oregon, earlier in April.

The U.S. team will be based in Belfast, but will drop down to Dublin for that match. The U.S. U-23s have won all six matches they have played this year.

U.S. U-23 Women’s National Team Roster
N. Ireland and Ireland Tour
May 11-19, 2009
GOALKEEPERS (2): Kristin Arnold (Texas A&M; Centennial, Colo.), Kristin Olsen (USC; Orange, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (6): Lauren Barnes (UCLA; Upland, Calif.), Lauren Fowlkes (Notre Dame; Lee’s Summit, Mo.), Kat Reynolds (Santa Clara; Medina, Wash.), Brittany Taylor (UCONN; Campbell Hall, N.Y.), Jessica Tsao (Portland; Portland, Ore.), Brianne Young (Texas A&M; Castle Pines North, Colo.)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Ashley Bowyer (Ohio State; Aliso Viejo, Calif.), Kendra Chandhoke (Portland; Morrison, Colo.), Ali Hawkins (UNC; Encinitas, Calif.), Katie Oakes (California; West Hills, Calif.), Kylie Wright (UCLA; R. Santa Margarita, Calif.), Keelin Winters (Portland; Englewood, Colo.)
FORWARDS (4): Kiki Bosio (Santa Clara; Mission Viejo, Calif.), Kelley O’Hara (Stanford; Fayetteville, Ga), Christen Press (Stanford; Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), Katie Schoepfer (Penn State; Waterford, Conn.)