Griffin Heads to Europe With US U-21 National Team
CHICAGO - University of Colorado women's soccer rising senior Katie Griffin will travel with the U.S. Under-21 Women's National Team to Europe Tuesday for two matches in the Netherlands and one in Germany as U.S. head coach Jill Ellis continues the process of selecting a team to participate in the annual Nordic Cup, this coming summer in Norway.
The USA has won an unprecedented seven straight Nordic Cups against the top U-21 teams from Europe. Numerous players who are eligible for the next Nordic Cup are spending time with the full Women's National Team and the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team, giving Ellis a chance to bring in some new players for evaluation.
The USA will play its first match on Saturday, April 29 in Tiel, Holland, against the Seastum women's club. The U-21s will then face the full Dutch National Team on May 2 in Tiel before leaving for Germany. The USA will play the Duisburg club, a team in the women's Bundesliga, on May 4.
Two players, forward Danesha Adams and midfielder Tobin Heath, will join the U-21s almost directly from Brazil where they played for the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team in the Ricardo Teixeira Cup. It will be the first U-21 call-up for the 17-year-old Heath, a high school senior who scored her first international goal at the U-20 level in Brazil against Canada where the USA played four matches and won the tournament.
Griffin was Colorado's leading scorer as a junior last season, scoring a school record 12 goals en route to another school record 25 points. She has 27 goals in her three seasons at CU, trailing only two-time All-American Fran Munnelly (30). Should Griffin make an appearance in the games overseas, she will become the first CU Buff to make a U.S. National Team international appearance.
Several players in addition to Griffin could make their international debuts at the U-21 level on this tour; goalkeeper Cori Alexander, defender Lauren Switzer, midfielder Noelle Keselica, Rebecca Moros and Heath, and forwards Griffin and Kelly Hammond.
U.S. U-21 Women's National Team - Netherlands Tour Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): Cori Alexander (Portland), Kati Jo Spisak (Texas A & M);
DEFENDERS (5): Rachel Buehler (Stanford), Kendall Fletcher (UNC), Holly Gault (Kansas), Hayley Hunt (Stanford), Lauren Switzer (St. Charles, Ill.);
MIDFIELDERS (7): Bristyn Davis (UCLA), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Sarah Huffman (Virginia), Noelle Keselica (Virginia), Manya Makoski (Arizona State), Rebecca Moros (Duke), Jennifer Redmond (Morristown, N.J.);
FORWARDS (6): Danesha Adams (Shaker Heights, Ohio), Liz Bogus (Arizona State), Katie Griffin (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Kelly Hammond (Bowie, Md.), Ashlee Pistorius (Texas A&M), Tiffany Weimer (Penn State).
U.S. U-21 WNT - Netherlands Tour Schedule
Date Opponent Venue
April 29 Seastum Tiel, Holland
May 2 Holland U-21s Tiel, Holland
May 4 Duisburg Duisburg, Germany
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