CHICAGO (June 2, 2008) - The U.S. U-23 Women's National Team will hold its final training camp before the 2008 Nordic Cup when 24 players come to The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., from June 5-12.

At this camp, U.S. head coach Bill Irwin will make his final selections to choose an 18-player roster that will travel to Sweden for the annual Nordic Cup being held from July 15-21, where this year the U.S. will face Switzerland (July 15), England (July 17) and Norway (July 19). The U-23s will also play a friendly match against Sweden’s U-23s on July 13 before the tournament begins.

The U.S. has had great success at the Nordic Cup, which pits the U.S. against Europe’s top teams, having won seven of the past nine tournaments. There are several players being considered for the Nordic Cup squad that will not be at this camp. The other group features host Sweden, Finland, Germany and Scotland. The winners of the two groups will play for the championship on July 21.

Irwin’s squad is coming off a successful trip to Germany where they downed Women’s Bundesliga club Crailsheim by a 4-2 score and then defeated the German U-23s by a 1-0 score in front of 5,000 fans in Wangen.

U.S. U-23 WNT Training Camp Roster
June 5-12, 2008
The Home Depot Center; Carson, Calif.
Roster By Position

GOALKEEPERS (3): Cori Alexander (Portland), Kelsey Davis (Portland), Val Henderson (UCLA);
DEFENDERS (9): Jackie Carron (Michigan), Jillian Gilbeau (Texas), Nikki Krzysik (Virginia), Shelley Lyle (Florida), Kasey Moore (Texas), Katherine Reynolds (Santa Clara), Becky Sauerbrunn (Virginia), Caroline Walden (Boston College), Elise Weber (Notre Dame);
MIDFIELDERS (7): Yael Averbuch (North Carolina), Jen Buczkowski (Notre Dame), Tina DiMartino (UCLA), Jenny Maurer (Boston College), Lorraine Quinn (Duke), Malorie Rutledge (LSU), Amy Smerdzinski (Wake Forest);
FORWARDS (5): Lindsey Brauer (South Florida), Kerri Hanks (Notre Dame), Katie Larkin (BYU), Allison Mallams (Marquette), Ella Masar (Illinois).