CHICAGO (Oct. 9, 2023) – U.S. Under-19 Women’s Youth National Team head coach Carrie Kveton has named a roster of 18 players that will travel to Chile to compete in the women’s soccer competition at the 2023 Pan American Games.
This will be the first time since 2007 that U.S. Soccer has sent a women’s team to the Pan American Games, a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring Olympic summer sports.
Goalkeepers (2): Sonoma Kasica (Florida Premier FC; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Kealey Titmuss (Nationals; Grand Blanc, Mich.)
Defenders (5): Aven Alvarez (North Carolina Courage; New Hill, N.C.), Jordan Bugg (San Diego Surf SC; El Cajon, Calif.), Nicki Fraser (Real Colorado; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Sam Smith (Boise Timbers Thorns FC; Boise, Idaho), Gisele Thompson (Total Futbol Academy; Studio City, Calif.)
Midfielders (6): Kendall Bodak (New England FC; Monson, Mass.), Claire Hutton (World Class FC; Bethlehem, N.Y.), Eleanor Klinger (Internationals SC; Cleveland, Ohio), Charlotte Kohler (MVLA SC; Woodside, Calif.), Lauren Martinho (North Carolina Courage; Cary, N.C.), Grace Restovich (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; St. Louis, Mo.)
Forwards (5): Emeri Adames (Solar SC; Red Oak, Texas), Lizzy Boamah (San Diego Surf FC; San Diego, Calif.), Katie Shea Collins (Tennessee SC; Gallatin, Tenn.), Ava McDonald (FC Dallas; Allen, Texas), Amalia Villarreal (Michigan Jaguars FC; Lansing, Mich.),
Alternates: M Izzy Engle (Minnesota Thunder; Edina, Minn.), F Miri O'Donnell (FC Bay Area Surf; San Ramon, Calif.), D Carla Small (IMG Academy; Waipahu, Hawaii), F Bella Winn (World Class FC; Ridgewood, N.J.)
The competition features two groups of four teams each with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the semifinals. The USA is in Group B and will face Venezuela on Oct. 22 at Estadio Sausalito (3 p.m. local / 2 p.m. ET) followed by Costa Rica on Oct. 25 at Estadio Elias Figueroa (1 p.m. local / Noon ET) and Argentina on Oct. 28 (3 p.m. local / 2 p.m. ET). The semifinals will be on Oct. 31 and the bronze and gold medal matches will be contested on Nov. 3.
The teams that finish in third place in the groups will play for fifth place and the teams that finish in fourth will play for seventh.
While the USA will face teams consisting mostly of senior National Team players, the USA will bring a U-19 team featuring the younger part of the USA’s Under-20 Women’s National Team player pool. The entire roster has yet to enter college as the collegiate players in the U-20 pool are all currently embroiled in their college campaigns.
Still, seven players on the roster played for the USA at the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, in which the USA dominated Nigeria before falling in penalty kicks in the quarterfinal, so they have some experience at a major world event.
“We have a lot of up-and-coming players on this roster who have some exciting potential, so this tournament will be a great experience for them,” said Kveton. “We’re a young team, but the players have had some experience playing together and our coaching staff has worked with a lot of them in the past. It will be a huge challenge for our players to be immersed in the environment of a big tournament where the pressure is on to perform every game. We’re going to be playing against older players so we’ll see a higher level of physicality and speed which will be a good test for them to see where they are at in this stage of their careers.”
All the players on the U.S. roster are age-eligible for the team that will compete in the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup about a year from now in Colombia. Kveton named a Pan Am roster with 15 players born in 2006 and five born in 2005. The age cut-off to play in the U-20 World Cup next year is players born on or after Jan. 1, 2004.