Locals Richmond and McCarty join U.S. U-20 Women's National Team heading to La Manga Cup in Spain

Fresh off winning the title at the 2010 CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala, the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team will head to La Manga, Spain, from Feb. 18-27 for a four-nation tournament featuring the Under-23 National Teams from Norway, England and Germany.

The matches against the older squads will kick off the USA’s run to the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany after the young Americans earned their berth during the CONCACAF tournament. U.S. head coach Jill Ellis will bring an 18-player roster to face Norway on Feb. 22, Germany on Feb. 24 and England on Feb. 26. The U.S. roster features 16 players from the roster that helped the USA defeat Costa Rica, 2-1, in the semifinal of the CONCACAF U-20 championships to earn its berth to Germany and then downed Mexico 1-0 in the final game.

Ellis has added two players that weren’t in Guatemala in goalkeeper Adrianna Franch from Oklahoma State and Stanford forward Courtney Verloo, who scored four goals for the USA at the 2008 U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. Ellis will be without Boston College freshmen Vicki DiMartino and Kristie Mewis (each of whom scored a goal in Guatemala) due to school commitments, but will have leading scorer and captain Sydney Leroux, who torched CONCACAF defenses for six goals at qualifying.

The matches against players as much as three years older than the U.S. team should serve as excellent preparation for the third FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (two more were held as U-19 events). The Final Draw for the tournament, to be held from July 13-Aug. 1 in four German cities, is scheduled to take place in late April.

U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): Adrianna Franch (Oklahoma State; Salina, Kansas), Bianca Henninger (Santa Clara; Los Gatos, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (6): Amber Brooks (UNC; New Hope, Pa.), Crystal Dunn (Albertson SC; Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Kendall Johnson (Portland; Portland, Ore.), Lucretia Lee (UCLA; Bothell, Wash.), Toni Pressley (Florida State; Melbourne, Fla.), Rachel Quon (Stanford; Lake Forrest, Ill.)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Zakiya Bywaters (UCLA; Las Vegas, Nev.), Samantha Mewis (Scorpions SC; Hanson, Mass.), Teresa Noyola (Stanford; Palo Alto, Calif.), Jenna Richmond (McLean SC; Centreville, Va.), Casey Short (Florida State; Naperville, Ill.)
FORWARDS (5): Maya Hayes (Aristocrats Club; West Orange, N.J.), Sydney Leroux (UCLA; Pheonix, Ariz.), Morgan Marlborough (Nebraska; Raymore, Mo.), Tiffany McCarty (Florida State; Laurel, Md.), Courtney Verloo (Portland; Tualatin, Ore.)