W-League Feature
Monday, June 2, 2014
TAMPA, Fla. – Recently hired head coach Jill Ellis named a 26-player U.S. Women’s National Team squad that will face France in a pair of exhibitions this month on Monday afternoon, with the potential return of former LA Blues and Seattle Sounders Women forward Alex Morgan the big news in the squad.
Morgan, who played for the Blues in 2010 and the Sounders Women in 2012, last appeared for the national team last November, and since then has been out with an ankle injury that has kept her from action with the NWSL’s Portland Thorns. Morgan’s availability will be determined by an evaluation by the team’s medical and performance staff ahead of the games on June 14 in Tampa, Fla. at Raymond James Stadium, and on June 19 at Rentschler Field in Hartford, Ct.
Morgan leads a group of 16 former W-League players included in the squad. Morgan’s former Sounders Women teammates Hope Solo, Sydney Leroux and Stephanie Cox are all named, with Solo one shutout away from tying Brianna Scurry for the all-time record for the national team.
Christen Press, who played on the same Blues team as Morgan in 2010, joins the squad after helping Swedish side Tyreso reach the UEFA Champions League Final with fellow W-League alums Whitney Engen and Meghan Klingenberg. Other former Blues included in the squad include the Portland Thorns’ Tobin Heath and FC Kansas City’s Lauren Holiday, Sky Blue FC’s Kelley O’Hara and Washington Spirit goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris.
Other former W-League standouts named include the New Jersey Wildcats’ Heather O’Reilly and Carli Lloyd, while ex-Long Island Rough Rider Crystal Dunn is also included. Experienced defenders Christie Rampone and former D.C. United Women standout Becky Sauerbrunn are joined by Ali Krieger in the back line, while Abby Wambach rounds out the forward selections.