Record Five Washington Spirit players called up for U.S. Women’s National Team SheBelieves Cup Camp

Washington Spirit  |   February 14, 2018
Record Five Washington Spirit players called up for U.S. Women’s National Team SheBelieves Cup Camp Featured Image

Boyds, MD (February 14, 2018) – Washington Spirit defender Taylor Smith, midfielders Rose Lavelle and Andi Sullivan, and forwards Ashley Hatch and Mallory Pugh have been named to Jill Ellis’ 26-player preliminary roster for the 2018 SheBelieves Cup. This is the first time five Washington Spirit Players have been named to the same U.S. roster.

The U.S. team will convene in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 19 for a week of training before a 23-player roster will head to Columbus, Ohio to kick off the third annual edition of the tournament on Thursday, March 1 at MAPFRE Stadium. England will open against France (4 p.m. ET) followed by the USA against Germany (7 p.m. ET on ESPN2).

All the teams will then travel to New Jersey and Red Bull Arena where the USA will play the first match of the day on Sunday, March 4, taking on France (12 p.m. ET on ESPN2) followed by Germany vs. England (3 p.m. ET). The tournament will finish on Wednesday, March 7, at Orlando City Stadium in Orlando, Florida, as France takes on Germany (4 p.m. ET) followed by the tournament finale featuring the USA against France (7 p.m. ET on ESPNews).

Smith and Sullivan both enter the SheBelieves Cup with 8 career international caps after being named to the starting XI in a January friendly against Denmark. Lavelle enters the SheBelieves Cup with 7 career international caps and 2 goals and Hatch enters with 1 international cap. Pugh enters with 30 career international caps and 8 goals following a breakout game in which she recorded a brace and assist against Denmark earlier this year in January.

Hatch will travel directly to Orlando following completion of the Australian W-League Grand Final on February 18th, where she is currently on loan with Melbourne City FC.

“We had a productive training camp in January and a quality performance against Denmark to open the year, so the goal in the training portion of this camp is to refine our roles and relationships within our style of play,” said Ellis. “We will again have the majority of our core players back in and we’ll have the numbers to be able to play 11v11 before finalizing the tournament roster.”

All the games in the 2018 SheBelieves Cup will be the USA’s first meetings against these countries since last year’s tournament, starting with Germany, which will once again bring together the world’s top two teams in the FIFA rankings.

“SheBelieves provides us with such an incredible opportunity to compete against the top teams and we are very much looking forward to our opening game against Germany in Columbus,” said Ellis.

U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position; Caps/Goals

GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 2/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 14/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 24/0)

DEFENDERS (8): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 14/0), Tierna Davidson (Stanford; 1/0), Sofia Huerta (Chicago Red Stars; 3/0), Hailie Mace (UCLA; 0/0), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 105/2), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 19/0), Taylor Smith (Washington Spirit; 8/0), Emily Sonnett (Sydney FC, AUS/Portland Thorns FC; 13/0)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Morgan Brian (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 69/6), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 58/15), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 44/4), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 7/2), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 247/98), Allie Long (Seattle Reign FC; 33/6), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 8/0)

FORWARDS (8): Crystal Dunn (Chelsea FC, ENG/NC Courage; 58/23), Ashley Hatch (Melbourne City FC, AUS/Washington Spirit; 1/0), Savannah McCaskill (Sky Blue FC; 1/0), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 135/81), Christen Press (Houston Dash; 97/44), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 30/8), Megan Rapinoe (Seattle Reign FC; 130/34), Lynn Williams (NC Courage; 16/4)

The Spirit has announced two exhibition games which will be included in the club’s 2018 NWSL preseason schedule. On Saturday March 10, Washington will return to Evergreen Sportsplex in Leesburg, Va. for the second straight year for a friendly against 22-time women’s college champion University of North Carolina. [TICKETS]

On March 17, the Spirit will host the first ever NWSL match played in Richmond, Va. when they face the North Carolina Courage at the historic City Stadium. Tickets for the game in Richmond are on sale now at RichmondKickers.com. [TICKETS]

Washington Spirit 2018 Season Tickets are on sale now at Tickets.WashingtonSpirit.com.

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