January 17, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – San Diego Wave FC News Release
U.S. Under-17 Women’s Youth National Team head coach Katie Schoepfer has selected a 21-player roster, which includes San Diego Wave FC midfielder Melanie Barcenas, to represent the USA at the 2024 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship which will be played from Feb. 1-11 in Toluca, Mexico.
All matches will take place at the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación (FMF) headquarters in Toluca, outside of Mexico City.
As the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup is taking place in the Concacaf region in the Dominican Republic, giving the hosts an automatic berth, only two teams will qualify from this tournament instead of the usual three.
In Mexico, the USA will take aim at one of those two berths to the World Cup as well as a fourth consecutive Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship. The USA won this tournament in 2016, 2018 and 2022, but the 2020 competition was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“A group of these players have been playing together since they were Under-15s, and they have a lot of international experience for their age,” said Schoepfer. “Now is the time to take that next step to see what they can do in a World Cup qualifying tournament and try to qualify for their first World Cup. These are exciting times for women’s soccer, we have professional players on a U-17 Concacaf roster for the first time and we are looking forward to learning a lot in Mexico as these young players continue their soccer journeys.”
2024 Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship Roster by Position (Club; Hometown)
Goalkeepers (3): Franky Dunlap (NC Courage Academy; Raleigh, N.C.), Molly Vapensky (Chicago FC United; Evanston, Ill.), Kennedy Zorn (SC del Sol; Peoria, Ariz.)
Defenders (7): Trinity Armstrong (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Lexi Coughlin (Legends FC; Corona, Calif.), Kiara Gilmore (FC Dallas; Allen, Texas), Jordyn Hardeman (Solar SC; Midlothian, Texas), Daya King (Legends FC; Moreno Valley, Calif.), Katie Scott (Internationals SC; Fairview, Penn.), Jocelyn Travers (FC Bay Area Surf; Santa Cruz, Calif.)
Midfielders (6): Kimmi Ascanio (Florida United SC; Doral, Fla.), Melanie Barcenas (San Diego Wave; San Diego, Calif.), Riley Cross (PDA; Chatham, N.J.), Kennedy Fuller (Solar SC; Southlake, Texas), Ainsley McCammon (Solar SC; Bedford, Texas), Y-Lan Nguyen (Virginia Development Academy; Fairfax, Va.)
Forwards (5): Carrie Helfrich (Virginia Union FC; McLean, Va.), Rylee McLanahan (FC Dallas;…
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