US BEACH SOCCER WOMENS NATIONAL TEAM RETURNS INTERCONTINENTAL BEACH SOCCER CUP IN RUSSIA

CHICAGO, Ill. (Aug. 9, 2021) – The U.S. Beach Soccer Women’s National Team will return to play at the inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup from August 13-15 in Moscow. Head coach Francis Farberoff has selected an 11-player roster that will represent the USA against host Russia, Brazil and Spain at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Stadium, which is being built outside the famed Luzhniki Stadium on the banks of the Moskva River.

#USBeachWNT Schedule

Friday, Aug. 13           USA vs. Russia (7:30 pm local, 12:30 p.m. ET)

Saturday, Aug. 14       USA vs. Brazil (6:00 pm local, 11:00 a.m. ET)

Sunday, Aug. 15         USA vs. Spain 6:00 pm local, 11:00 a.m. ET)

U.S. BEACH SOCCER WNT ROSTER – WOMEN’S INTERCONTINENTAL BEACH SOCCER CUP:

GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Christine Yount (Mission Viejo, Calif.), 12-Melissa Lowder (San Diego, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (4): 10-Ali Hall (Chicago, Ill.), 5-Rebecca Staylor (Virginia Beach, Va.), 6-Jeane Sunseri-Warp (San Jose, Calif.), 4-Vanessa Valentine (Encinitas, Calif.)

FORWARDS (5): 2-Danielle Kovacevic (Pasadena, Calif.), 7-Lauren Leslie (San Clemente, Calif.), 9-Kilee Quigley (San Francisco, Calif.), 8-Ashley Tripplet (Virginia Beach, Va.), 3-Samantha Witteman (Redondo Beach, Calif.)

Named head coach of the Men’s and Women’s Beach Soccer National Teams in 2020, Farberoff has appointed assistant coach and former U.S. Soccer Club Development Manager Morgan Church to coach the Beach WNT during matches at the tournament. The Women’s Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup takes place the week before the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which kicks off on Aug. 19.

Beach Soccer World Cup veteran and former U-20 USMNT midfielder Ryan Futagaki will serve as Church’s assistant. Following the Intercontinental Cup, Church will join the Beach MNT World Cup team as Farberoff’s assistant alongside Ben Astorga.

Launched in 2019 to participate in a four-team Concacaf tournament in El Salvador, the Beach WNT will gather for the first time since October 2019 at the ANOC World Beach Games in Qatar. There, the team finished fifth in the eight-team field, falling to Russia (3-1) and Great Britain (5-2) before defeating Paraguay (3-2). Spain won the tournament with a 3-2 win vs. Great Britain in the final, while Brazil claimed the bronze by defeating Russia 4-3 in the third-place match.

The Beach WNT will follow the comprehensive U.S. Soccer Return to Play Protocols and Guidelines during the tournament in Russia.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Six players represented the USA at the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Qatar: Christi Yount, Melissa Lowder, Lauren Leslie, Kilee Quigley, Jeane Sunseri-Warp and Sam Witteman. All but Quigley also played at the Concacaf qualifying tournament in El Salvador.

• Quigley scored one goal against both Russia and Great Britain, Witteman bagged a brace against Paraguay, while Leslie (vs. Paraguay) and Sunseri-Warp (Great Britain) netted the other USA goals in Qatar.

• Witteman (five goals), Leslie (three) and Sunseri-Warp (one) also scored at the Concacaf qualifying tournament in 2019.

• Witteman, a former U-23 USWNT player, starred at UC Berkeley and played almost 30 matches in the NWSL over two seasons, one with the Orlando Pride and one with the North Carolina Courage.

• Yount played collegiately at San Diego State, Lowder at Santa Clara, Leslie at San Diego State and Point Loma Nazarene University, Ali Hall at Tennessee, Rebecca Staylor at North Carolina Wesleyan College and Virginia Wesleyan, Sunseri-Warp at San Jose State, Vanessa Valentine and Danielle Kovacevic at Cal State Fullerton, Quigley at Idaho State and Tripplet at Chowan University.

• Valentine also played the 2013 WPS season with the Philadelphia Independence.

• Hall, who played for the Honduras Women’s National Team during qualifying for the 2014 Concacaf Women's Championship, was granted a one-time change of association by FIFA to represent the United States moving forward. Hall’s father is Honduran.

• Morgan Church was part of the inaugural group of Technical Advisors for U.S. Soccer’s Girl’s Development Academy before transitioning to work as a Club Development Manager with the Federation. She brings a rich and diverse background in the sport with a career spanning more than a decade as a coach, technical director, instructor and administrator in the Southeast.

• Futagaki was a member of the U.S. team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship and represented the USA at the 2013 and 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups.

 

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