The 411 on FIFA Women's U-20 Tourney

By Scott French

The U.S. women's under-20 team is in Guatemala "attempt(ing) to earn a berth to the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany," as it's termed in U.S. Soccer's media release.

"Attempt" is an understatement of unimaginable proportions. The U.S. will win the Jan. 20-30 CONCACAF U-20 qualifying tournament, rather easily, too, and if it doesn't, what a disaster! Now the Americans might not prevail in Germany this summer -- the Germans are good, and never count out Brazil or North Korea -- but they'll be battling, no question, for the World Cup title July 13-Aug. 1.

UCLA coach Jill Ellis has included in her qualifying roster two players from the U.S. team that won the 2008 U-20 World Cup in Chile and eight from the team that lost in the 2008 U-17 World Cup final to North Korea. The big star, among many, is UCLA sophomore forward Sydney Leroux, who scored five goals to win the Golden Shoe (as top scorer) and Golden Ball (as MVP) at the last U-20 championship.

Leroux, who was born near Vancouver and represented Canada at the 2004 U-19 World Cup -- the precursor to the U-20 tourament -- was a third-team NSCAA All-American last fall, scoring 23 goals in 24 games as the Bruins reached the NCAA Division I semifinals. Leroux's father is American and mother is Canadian.

Also from the 2008 U-20 squad is Penn State freshman midfielder Christine Nairn (7 goals, 10 assists), the only player on the team with a full international cap.

The U-17 veterans are led by 2008 Golden Glove winner (as top goalkeeper) Taylor Vancil, Silver Shoe recipient (as the tournament's No. 2 scorer) Vicki DiMartino and Bronze Ball winner (as the third-best player) Kristie Mewis.

DiMartino and Mewis just finished fine freshman seasons at Boston College. DiMartino, a forward for the Eagles but an outside back for the U-20s, was a second-team NSCAA All-American after scoring 14 goals (six of them game-winners) with six assists. She has two older sisters in Women's Professional Soccer: Tina, a second-year midfielder with the L.A. Sol, and Gina, a forward out of BC who was taken by Boston in the sixth round of Friday's WPS Draft.

Mewis, a midfielder, was BC's s No. 4 scorer with five goals and six assists. She's joined by her sister, Samantha, a high school senior who also played in the 2008 U-17 tournament.

Vancil was Louisville's No. 1 goalkeeper as a freshman.

The other U-17 World Cup vets are North Carolina defender Amber Brooks, Stanford defender Rachel Quon and high-schoolers Crystal Dunn, a defender, and Elizabeth Eddy, a midfielder. A full roster is below.

The U.S. will open Group B play Thursday (Jan. 21) against Jamaica, then face Trinidad & Tobago on Saturday (Jan. 23) and Mexico next Monday (Jan. 25). Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala are in Group A. Semifinals are Jan. 28, with the final and third-place game Jan. 30. The top three will advance to the World Cup.

Fox Soccer Channel will show both semifinals and the title game. All 16 games will be streamed for free at CONCACAF's video Web site:http://www.concacaftv.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Home/0,,12907,00.html

Canada coach Carolina Morace's roster features 10 players at U.S. universities: Virginia Commonwealth defender Molly Allen,  Maryland midfielder Rachel Lamarre, Penn State defender Lexi Marton, West Virginia defender Bryanna McCarthy, South Florida defender Bahar Sansar and midfielders Rehana Murani, Gina Pachecho and Taylor Patterson,Vanderbilt midfielder/forward Chelsea Stewart, and Rutgers defender/midfielder Shannon Woeller.

Marton, Woeller and 2009 Canadian Player of the Year Stewart were on Canada's roster at the 2008 U-20 World Cup, and Lamarre, McCarthy, goalkeeper Cynthia Leblanc and defender Shelina Zadorsky were at the 2008 U-17 World Cup.

Mexico has six Americans on its roster, including defensive anchor Alina Garciamendez, a Stanford freshman from from Texas. Most of the teams in the competition have players on the roster from the U.S. or based at U.S. schools.

Germany, England, France, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Sweden and Switzerland have already qualified for the World Cup, which will be played in Bochum, Bielefeld, Augsburg and Dresden.


A full schedule:


Wednesday, Jan. 20: Canada vs. Costa Rica, Cuba vs. Guatemala.
Thursday, Jan. 21: USA vs. Jamaica, Mexico vs. Trinidad & Tobago.
Friday, Jan. 22: Canada vs. Cuba, Costa Rica vs. Guatemala.
Saturday, Jan. 23: USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica vs. Mexico.
Sunday, Jan. 24: Canada vs. Guatemala, Costa Rica vs. Cuba.
Monday, Jan. 25: USA vs. Mexico, Jamaica vs. Trinidad & Tobago.
Thursday, Jan. 28: Semifinals.
Saturday, Jan. 30: Final and third-place game.



U.S. ROSTER
With school/club and hometown and 2009 college Games-Starts/Goals-Against Average or Goals-Assists where warranted


Goalkeepers
Bianca Henninger (Santa Clara; Los Gatos, Calif.): 19-17/0.84
Taylor Vancil (Louisville; South Elgin, Ill.): 17-16/1.43

Defenders
Amber Brooks (North Carolina; New Hope, Pa.): 27-15/0-3
Vicki DiMartino (Boston College; Massapequa, N.Y.): 24-24/14-6
Crystal Dunn (South Side HS/Albertson SC; Rockville Centre, N.Y.), will attend North Carolina
Kendall Johnson (Portland; Portland, Ore.): 21-16/3-3
Toni Pressley (Florida State; Melbourne, Fla.): 25-25/2-6
Rachel Quon (Stanford; Lake Forest, Ill.): 24-24/0-4 

Midfielders
Zakiya Bywaters (UCLA; Las Vegas): 25-23/2-7
Elizabeth Eddy (Newport Harbor HS/So Cal Blues, Costa Mesa, Calif.), will attend USC
Kristie Mewis (Boston College; Hanson, Mass.): 23-23/5-6
Samantha Mewis (Whitman-Hanson Regional HS/Scorpion SC; Hanson, Mass.), will attend UCLA
Christine Nairn (Penn State; Bowie, Md.): 21-19/7-10
Teresa Noyola (Stanford; Palo Alto, Calif.): 26-20/6-3
Jenna Richmond (Centreville HS/McLean SC; Centreville, Va.), will attend UCLA
Casey Short (Florida State; Naperville, Ill.): 13-7/0-5

Forwards
Maya Hayes (Newark Academy/Aristics Club; West Orange, N.J.), will attend Penn State
Sydney Leroux (UCLA; Vancouver, British Columbia/Phoenix): 24-24/23-2
Morgan Marlborough (Nebraska; Raymore, Mo.): 19-19/21-7
Tiffany McCarty (Florida State; Laurel, Md.): 25-25/17-7