ATLANTA (Nov. 19, 2025) – Twenty players have been called up to the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team by new head coach Heather Dyche for a training camp and matches in Europe running from Nov. 22 to Dec. 1 that will feature a game against the full Women’s National Team of Slovakia and the England U-23 WNT.
These U-23 matches are another step in U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Emma Hayes’ emphasis on this age group and its importance along the player pathway to the full National Team.
U.S. Roster by Position – U.S. U-23 WNT Training Camp & Matches – Slovakia & England
Goalkeepers (2): Liz Beardsley (Houston Dash; Lakeland, Fla.), Neeku Purcell (Seattle Reign; Seattle, Wash.)
Defenders (5): Eva Gaetino (Paris Saint-Germain FC, FRA; Dexter, Mich.), Ayo Oke (CF Pachuca, MEX; Lawrenceville, Ga.), Jayden Perry (Portland Thorns FC; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Evelyn Shores (Angel City FC; Atlanta, Ga.), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; Studio City, Calif.)
Midfielders (7): Kimmi Ascanio (San Diego Wave; Doral, Fla.), Abi Brighton (Juventus FC, ITA; Beaufort, S.C.), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; Roswell, Ga.), Simone Jackson (Orlando Pride; Redondo Beach, Calif.), Ally Lemos (Orlando Pride; Glendora, Calif.), Sarah Schupansky (Gotham FC; Pittsburgh, Pa.), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current; Hanson, Mass.)
Forwards (6): Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign; Red Oak, Texas), Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign; Edina, Minn.), Karlie Lema (Bay FC; Morgan Hill, Calif.), Riley Tiernan (Angel City FC; Voorhees, N.J.), Pietra Tordin (Portland Thorns FC; Miami, Fla.), Sarah Weber (Racing Louisville FC; Gretna, Neb.)
“As Emma has been saying since she took over the National Team, getting meaningful international competition for this age group is invaluable,” Said Dyche. “Almost all of the NWSL players on this roster got quality minutes for their clubs this season, as have the players based at clubs outside the U.S., so we’re looking forward to seeing them together in matches against European teams while dealing with the long travel. These are ideal situations for players to continue their growth.”
This will be the fifth and final U-23 WNT training camp of 2025, following domestic camps in Los Angeles, Denver and Philadelphia and an international trip to Germany during the summer. Hayes also held a “Futures Camp” last January alongside the USWNT in Florida. These will be Dyche’s first international matches as head coach.
The USA will first travel to Senec, Slovakia, an eastern suburb of the capital of Bratislava, for a rare match for the U-23s against a senior National Team. The USA will face the Slovakia WNT at its National Training Center on Nov. 28. The USA will then travel to England where it will face the England U-23 WNT on Dec. 1 at Wham Stadium, a small venue in Accrington.
Players born in 2002 or later are age-eligible for this year’s U-23 WNT, and the roster features players from six birth years ranging from 2002 to 2006, along with one born in 2008. Dyche called up three players born in 2002, eight born in 2003, five born in 2004, two born in 2005 and one in 2006. Seventeen-year-old San Diego Wave midfielder Kimmi Ascanio, who was born in 2008 and was age-eligible for this year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup but did not play in that tournament, gets her first call-up to the U.S. U-23s.
Additional Notes:
- The three players on the roster who have senior National Team experience are Paris Saint-Germain FC defender Eva Gaetino (two caps), who was called up from the U-23s to the senior team roster during the most recent FIFA window and played against New Zealand on Oct. 29, Angel City FC defender Gisele Thompson (four caps) and Kansas City Current forward Ally Sentnor (14 caps and four goals), who is up for the FIFA Marta Award for best women’s goal of the year. She was nominated for her first career goal, which came against Colombia in the SheBelieves Cup on Feb. 20.
- Sentnor, who has seen extensive action for the senior side this year, is an example of what USWNT head coach Emma Hayes has said on numerous occasions, that some younger players may go with the U-23s at timesduring FIFA windows, especially if they have the opportunity to play international matches.
- One player on the roster, midfielder Sarah Schupansky, will travel following the 2025 NWSL Championship Game on Nov. 22 as her Gotham FC takes on the Washington Spirit at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif.
- Riley Jackson (NC Courage), Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign FC), Pietra Tordin (Portland Thorns FC), Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign FC) and Sentnor and Thompson were all a part of the U.S. team that took third at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
- Defender Ayo Oke – who is currently with CF Pachuca which sits in second place of the Liga MX Femenil – Neeku Purcell of the Seattle Reign FC, and Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Lemos and forward Simone Jackson, all played in the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.
- Pachuca advanced to the semifinals of the 2025-26 Concacaf W Champions Cup and will face the Washington Spirit next May.
- Midfielder Evelyn Shores, a rookie with Angel City FC who played 12 matches after joining the team in July, won the NCAA Championship in 2024 at the University of North Carolina. Dahlien was also on that Tar Heels team. Shores scored the game-winner for the U.S. U-23s in the dying seconds against Germany on May 30.
- The players who have been with the U-23s or at the January Futures Camp this year and are on the final USWNT roster of the year for the matches vs. Italy are Lilly Reale, Jordyn Bugg, Claire Hutton, Avery Patterson, Jaedyn Shaw, Jameese Joseph and Kennedy Wesley.
- The group of forwards on this roster all scored in the NWSL this past season, led by Riley Tiernan (eight goals) then Adames (six goals), Dahlien (four goals), Tordin (four goals), Racing Louisville FC’s Sarah Weber (three goals) and Bay FC’s Karlie Lema (two goals).
- Seven other players also scored in the NWSL this season: Ascanio for San Diego Wave (four goals), Schupansky for Gotham FC, Jackson for North Carolina, Jayden Perry for Portland Thorns FC, Shores and Thompsonfor ACFC and Sentnor for the Utah Royals.
- Tiernan’s eight goals were most in the league for a rookie and second most goals of any American in the NWSL, behind only Emma Sears (10). She is up for 2025 NWSL Rookie of the Year along with Dahlien and Reale.
- Abi Brighton, a former Vanderbilt star and a rare American playing in Italy’s Serie A, helped Juventus FC win the league and cup double last season. She is playing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League this season, although Juventus is currently in fourth place in the league.
