Six Washington Spirit players selected for June USWNT camp
In her first roster since officially becoming head coach, Emma Hayes has called up six Washington Spirit players to the U.S. Women’s National Team. Trinity Rodman, Casey Krueger, Aubrey Kingsbury, and Hal Hershfelt have been named to the roster, while Croix Bethune and Kate Wiesner will join the team as training players.
Being named to this roster is an indication that all of these players could be under consideration for the 2024 Olympics squad, and performance at camp will be an important test. U.S. Soccer has indicated this will be the final camp before the Olympics team is selected.
One of the biggest surprises of this roster announcement is the selection of rookie midfielder Hershfelt. Prior to this, Hershfelt had never been selected for any national team roster, but her time with the Spirit clearly impressed Hayes and other National Team coaches. Hershfelt has started nine of ten matches for Washington, scoring two goals and working to lock down the midfield alongside Andi Sullivan. Her ability to play in a defensive midfield role also fills a position of need for the USWNT.
This is also the first call-up to the senior National Team for Bethune and Wiesner, though both have represented the United States on Youth National Teams in the past. Attacking midfielder Bethune been particularly striking in her first ten Spirit matches. She’s made three goals and seven assists and displayed the talent and presence of mind to become a long-term fixture on the USWNT. Competition for attacking midfield positions is fierce, though, with both Rose Lavelle and captain Lindsey Horan frequently starting there.
Wiesner has had fewer opportunities to make an impression after being injured in the first game of the season, but she’s put in strong performances at left back since her return and joins Bethune as a training player for this camp.
Krueger and Rodman were both part of the USWNT that won the SheBelieves Cup in April and have made 47 and 36 appearance for the team respectively. Kingsbury, who has two caps, returns to the team after missing camps earlier this year.
All six players will report to camp in Colorado on Monday, May 26 to prepare for a pair of friendlies against Korea Republic. The games will take place on June 1 in Commerce City, CO, and June 4 in St. Paul, MN.
The full roster for the June friendlies is below.
Goalkeepers
Jane Campbell (Houston Dash)
Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit)
Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage)
Defenders
Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
Emily Fox (Arsenal FC)
Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC)
Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit)
Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
Sam Staab (Chicago Red Stars)
Midfielders
Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain)
Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC)
Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit)
Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon)
Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
Lily Yohannes (Ajax)
Forwards
Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC)
Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC)
Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit)
Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC)
Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC)
Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars)
Congrats to the Spirit!
Book these six ballers for Paris!
Let’s go!!!
Hershfelt is a really big surprise–especially since Andy Sullivan is on the Spirit roster.
I think the Spirit benefit in Hayes’ eyes with having Gonzalez as coach–and a more possession-based system with multiple approaches to solving problems.
Also, I’m sad to see that Ashley Sanchez wasn’t on the roster. I’ve seen her play twice this year. My understanding is that she’s having a good season on a possession-based team. But she probably suffers from so many wing-attackers on the roster and not seen as a viable alternative on a small roster to Horan and Lavalle.
And frankly, Naeher might be queen of the PK/Shootouts but for a couple of years now her metrics have been poor and she’s shown she makes very poor decisions on when to come out vs. stay back (and more recently she showed this against the Spirit as well as Mexico). If she was healthy, I think I (if I were in Hayes’ position) would have left her off the roster. I think Kingsbury (given how she’s playing right now) has a really good chance at challenging for the #2 spot.
Naeher is recently injured
Yes, I know. But here’s the deal: she shouldn’t be the starter on this team, even when healthy. US fans tend to love her because she’s been in goal when the team won some big things (like their last WC). And she’s great at PKs. But she’s crap at decision-making, especially when to stay back and when to come out. She’s shown that repeatedly. Her injury (and she’ll probably be healthy in time for the Olympics) gives Hayes an out by being able to say “sorry, the other 3 got reps and camps and matches while you were out.”
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