U.S. Women’s National Team vs Republic of Ireland
The U.S. Women’s National Team trained at Qualcomm Stadium today in San Diego, California for their first match of 2016 against the Republic of Ireland that takes place on Saturday, January 23 at 2 p.m. PT, FS1.
The team is returning from a three week training camp at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Carson, California. Ready to get into game mode, the players walked onto the training field on a sunny San Diego day, and with a sigh of relief – grass, no controversial artificial turf.
The team starts 2016 with a fresh roster. The absence of retired stars Abby Wambach, Lauren Holiday, Shannon Boxx and Lori Chalupny, in addition to the absence of Christie Rampone (recovering from knee surgery), Megan Rapinoe (rehabbing from torn ACL) and Amy Rodriguez (pregnant with second child) – opened up the roster for some new faces.
Jill Ellis began bulking up her roster in October 2015 with call-ups that included 2016 NWSL #1 College Draft pick Emily Sonnett (Univ. of Virginia), Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado), Jaelene Hinkle (Western New York Flash), Stephanie McCaffrey (Boston Breakers), Rose Lavelle (Wisconsin) and Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars).
All of the players were in high spirits during the training session, tomorrow’s game will be an exciting match to start 2016. #USAvIRL
