February 9, 2023 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Kansas City Current News Release
CHICAGO – Kansas City Current 2023 NWSL Draft picks Michelle Cooper and Alexa Spaanstra have been named to the U.S. Under-23 Women’s Youth National Team that will travel to Paris from Feb. 12-21 for training and two games against the France U-23 WNT. The games will take place on Feb. 17 and 20 at Clairefontaine, France’s famed National Training Center located outside of Paris.
Several NWSL clubs agreed to release players for this trip, which comes during the FIFA International window, so the roster will include four recently drafted rookies in Kansas City forwards Cooper (#2 overall) and Spaanstra (#10 overall), goalkeeper Lauren Kozel (#32 overall) from Portland Thorns FC and forward Alyssa Thompson, the #1 pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft by Angel City FC. Cooper was the 2022 MAC Hermann Trophy winner out of Duke.
Midfielder Brianna Pinto of the North Carolina Courage is the only NWSL player on the roster with league experience as she will be entering her third professional season. Pinto, a veteran of two youth World Cups for the USA, was the 2019 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year.
The roster features three players from clubs outside the USA in forward Mia Fishel who plays in Mexico for Tigres UANL, 6-foot-3 goalkeeper Hensley Hancuff who is with the Brisbane Roar in Australia, and midfielder Korbin Albert, a 2022 MAC Hermann Trophy finalist who recently left Notre Dame to sign with Paris Saint-German in France.
The 18-year-old Thompson is the only player on the roster with training experience and caps (2) with the full U.S. Women’s National Team. She played off the bench against England and Spain during the USA’s European tour last October.
The remainder of the roster is populated by some of the top collegiate players in the country, including defender Lily Reale, who helped lead UCLA to the 2022 NCAA Championship, and WYNT veteran Kate Wiesner from Penn State.
Seven players on the roster played for the USA at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup: defender Lauren Flynn, Reale, defender Laney Rouse, Albert, forward Trinity Byars, Cooper and Thompson.
Midfielder Lia Godfrey from the University of Virginia is still the youngest player ever to appear for the USA at a FIFA World Cup, playing as a 14-year old at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan.
Three players — Pinto, Spaanstra and Fishel — were members of the team that won the Concacaf U-20…