U17 WNT Qualifying kicks off on Saturday

<p class="p2">The U.S. U17 Women’s National Team kicks off the campaign for World Cup qualifying on Saturday at the 2022 Concacaf Championship in Dominican Republic. USA opens up the event against Grenada on Saturday before taking on Puerto Rico and Costa Rica in group play on Monday and Wednesday respectfully.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2">With the format of Concacaf Championships, the group play games have significance, but nearly every team advances to the knock-out rounds so there is plenty of room for error. The U17 WNT only had three camps prior to the tournament with new head coach Natalia Astrain so some growing pains during the early games should be expected.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2">Earlier this month, we took a look at five of the players to know on the roster. With the opening game of the event approaching, the spotlight turns to the collective.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2">Historically, USA has been very good at the regional competition in this age group. USA won four of the six past tournaments, and never lost a game during the event. The two times USA failed to win the tournament, they lost in a penalty kick shootout so it went down as a draw on the record.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2">The 20-player roster has some big shoes to fill and a historic record to uphold. Astrain elected for a sensible roster composition that should highlight the strengths of the player pool - lots of speed from attacking outside back, talented midfielders, and a plethora of attacking options including dynamic wingers and creative attacking midfielders. With so many games over the next couple of weeks during the tournament, there is a going to be a lot of squad rotation from game-to-game, but Astrain said the depth on the squad was one of the key traits so don’t expect the level to drop from game to game.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2">In terms of the player pathway, Astrain selected 16 players from ECNL clubs (San Diego Surf and NC Courage are the only clubs with two players each), three players from Girls Academy League clubs, and a player from MLS Next ([player_tooltip player_id="33286" first="Gisele" last="Thompson"]). [[player_tooltip player_id="26447" first="Amalia" last="Villarreal"] plays for both Solar SC (ECNL) and Michigan Jaguars (GA), but she was only counted as a GA player because that is her club designation on the official US Soccer roster.]</p> <p class="p2">For college recruitment, 11 of the 20 players have given their verbal commitment. North Carolina landed the verbal commitment of four of the players ([player_tooltip player_id="24616" first="Abby" last="Gundry"], Savannah King, [player_tooltip player_id="24957" first="Mia" last="Oliaro"], and [player_tooltip player_id="24190" first="Melina" last="Rebimbas"]). Stanford is second with three verbal commitments on the roster (Mia Bhuta, [player_tooltip player_id="18953" first="Shae" last="Harvey"], and [player_tooltip player_id="33286" first="Gisele" last="Thompson"] [2024]). Penn State landed two with [player_tooltip player_id="32991" first="Keegan" last="Schmeiser"] and Nicollette Kiorpes. Virginia and Duke both have one with Victoria Safradin and Cameron Roller respectively. [player_tooltip player_id="19044" first="Alyssa" last="Gonzalez"] is the only 2023 graduate on the roster still uncommitted heading into the event.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2">Future plans has little to do with current level, and Astrain called in a young squad with four players born in 2006 and one born in 2007 ([player_tooltip player_id="33313" first="Melanie" last="Barcenas"]) into the group with the 2005s. Nicki Fraser, one of those 2006s, is in her first camp with the U17 WNT. The defender from Real Colorado has impressed with her play in ECNL games.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2">Fraser is the only player on the qualifying roster who was not part of Astrain’s camp in November. There has been some continuity with this age group from camp-to-camp, which suggests some lineup decisions have already been penciled in.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p class="p2">PrepSoccer Projected USA lineup vs Grenada<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <img class="aligncenter wp-image-42989 size-large" src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/04/Screen-Shot-2022-04-20-at-11.16.02-AM-819x1024.png" alt="" width="819" height="1024" /> <p class="p2">Check back on PrepSoccer throughout the event for exclusive coverage from the games, as USA attempts to qualify for the 2022 U17 World Cup.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <strong>U17 WNT Roster - Commitments</strong>Goalkeepers [player_tooltip player_id="24616" first="Abby" last="Gundry"] - North Carolina  Victoria Safradin - Virginia  Defenders Outside back Nicki Fraser - 2024  Savannah King - North Carolina  [player_tooltip player_id="33286" first="Gisele" last="Thompson"] - Stanford/2024 Center Back [player_tooltip player_id="19044" first="Alyssa" last="Gonzalez"] - 2023  Cameron Roller - Duke  [player_tooltip player_id="32991" first="Keegan" last="Schmeiser"] - Penn State  Midfielders Mia Bhuta - Stanford  [player_tooltip player_id="18953" first="Shae" last="Harvey"] - Stanford  [player_tooltip player_id="23926" first="Claire" last="Hutton"] - 2024  Riley Jackson - 2024  [player_tooltip player_id="33296" first="Charlotte" last="Kohler"] - 2024  [player_tooltip player_id="33426" first="Lauren" last="Martinho"] - 2024  Forwards [player_tooltip player_id="33313" first="Melanie" last="Barcenas"] - 2025  [player_tooltip player_id="18947" first="Onyeka" last="Gamero"] - 2024  Nicollette Kiorpes - Penn State  [player_tooltip player_id="24957" first="Mia" last="Oliaro"] - North Carolina [player_tooltip player_id="24190" first="Melina" last="Rebimbas"] - North Carolina  [player_tooltip player_id="26447" first="Amalia" last="Villarreal"] - 2024 <h6 style="text-align: center;"></h6>