Sundhage names squad for September Women's National Team Camp

U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has called in 26 players for a 12-day training camp at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., running from Sept. 21-Oct. 2. This will be the first U.S. Women’s National Team event since the end of the inaugural Women’s Professional Soccer season.
 
Twenty-three of the players on the roster come from WPS clubs while three are currently seniors for their college teams in UCLA forward Lauren Cheney and a pair of North Carolina Tar Heels in midfielder Tobin Heath and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris.
 
Sundhage named 18 players from the roster that defeated Canada twice in mid-July, but is also giving looks to several players who put in some quality work during the WPS season. Los Angeles Sol utility woman Brittany Bock gets her second call-up of the year after also making the U.S. roster for the match against Canada in Toronto on May 25. She was denied the opportunity to earn her first cap due to a heel injury suffered in training the day before the match.
 
Sundhage also named FC Gold Pride midfielder Tina DiMartino (5 caps/1 goal), Washington Freedom midfielder Lori Lindsey (1/0), and Sky Blue FC midfielder Yael Averbuch (2/0), as well as uncapped Chicago Red Stars midfielder Brittany Klein and Sky Blue FC defender Meghan Schnur. All five are veterans of the USA’s youth Women’s National Teams. The roster also features the return of Sky Blue FC midfielder Kacey White (17/0), who has not been called up since the Algarve Cup last March.
 
The camp marks a long awaited first call-up for Harris, who was the starter for the USA at both the 2002 and 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cups, playing every minute of all 12 games during those tournaments. The 5-foot-9 inch Harris, who played a key role in helping the USA win the 2002 FIFA U-19 WWC when she was just 16 years old, was on the fast-track to the full national team before a series of major injuries – including two ACL surgeries – set her back. The 23-year-old Harris will train alongside regulars Hope Solo and Nicole Barnhart.
 
Veteran U.S. midfielder Lindsay Tarpley will miss her first camp in years as she is out 8-10 months after suffering an ACL tear during training with the Red Stars at the end of the WPS season. U.S. captain Christie Rampone is pregnant <http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Womens-National-Team/2009/08/Rampone-Expecting-Second-Child.aspx>  and will miss her first camp since her last pregnancy in 2005. With Rampone out, forward Abby Wambach and defender Cat Whitehill are the most capped players in camp with 130 each.
 
Sundhage will use this camp to select a roster for the USA’s trip to Germany in October when the Americans will face the reigning Women’s World Cup champions on Oct. 29 at Impuls Arena in Augsburg, one of the nine venues that will host matches at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
 
The U.S. women currently sit atop of the FIFA Women’s World Rankings and have compiled a record of 6-0-1 in 2009, having scored 11 goals while allowing just one, that coming in the championship game of the Algarve Cup where the USA eventually succumbed to Sweden in penalty kicks.
 
UNITED STATES WOMEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM
Training Camp Roster
Sept. 21-Oct. 2
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Ashlyn Harris (North Carolina), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica);
DEFENDERS (8): Brittany Bock (Los Angeles Sol), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Stephanie Cox (Los Angeles Sol), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Boston Breakers), Megan Schnur (Sky Blue FC), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom)
MIDFIELDERS (12): Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Tina DiMartino (FC Gold Pride), Tobin Heath (UNC), Angela Hucles (Boston Breakers), Brittany Klein (Chicago Red Stars), Lori Lindsey (Washington Freedom), Carli Lloyd (Chicago Red Stars), Heather O’Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Leslie Osborne (FC Gold Pride), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars), Kacey White (Sky Blue FC)
FORWARDS (3): Lauren Cheney (UCLA), Amy Rodriguez (Boston Breakers), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)