The U.S. women’s national team announced its roster for October friendlies against Colombia, with star forward Sophia Smith making her return from an MCL sprain.

Also back is defender Becky Sauerbrunn, who missed the 2023 World Cup with a foot injury. And 18-year-old midfielder Olivia Moultrie received her first call-up to the senior national team.

Yet as the international break falls in the middle of the NWSL playoffs, several stars — including Smith, Sauerbrunn and Moultrie — likely will see limited minutes against 2023 World Cup darling Colombia. Of the 27 players on the roster, 17 are on playoff teams.

The Portland Thorns and San Diego Wave already are into the NWSL semifinals on Nov. 5. And USWNT stars from other teams, including Gotham FC’s Lynn Williams and Angel City FC’s Alyssa Thompson, could have their minutes determined by the quarterfinal results ahead of the friendlies.

The USWNT will host Colombia for two matches, on Thursday, Oct. 26, in Sandy, Utah, and on Sunday, Oct. 29, in San Diego.

These will be the first matches since the retirements of Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz. This also is likely the last training camp with interim head coach Twila Kilgore at the helm, with a target deadline of December for the new hire.

Both Jaedyn Shaw and Mia Fishel are back on the roster. In September, Shaw received her first call-up but did not see game action, while Fishel earned her first cap in her second career camp. Angel City FC defender M.A. Vignola also is back on the squad after receiving her first call-up in September as an injury replacement.

Several big names remain sidelined with injuries, including midfielders Catarina Macario and Rose Lavelle.

USWNT schedule: October 2023

  • Thursday, Oct. 26 — 9 p.m. ET (TBS, Universo, Peacock)
    • United States vs. Colombia (America First Field, Sandy, Utah)
  • Sunday, Oct. 29 — 5:30 p.m. ET (TNT, Telemundo, Universo, Peacock)
    • United States vs. Colombia (Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego)

USWNT roster: September 2023

Goalkeepers (3)

  • Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit)
  • Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage)
  • Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

Defenders (9)

  • Alana Cook (OL Reign)
  • Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns)
  • Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage)
  • Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave)
  • Sofia Huerta (OL Reign)
  • Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars)
  • Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns)
  • Emily Sonnett (OL Reign)
  • M.A. Vignola (Angel City FC)

Midfielders (6)

  • Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns)
  • Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC)
  • Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyonnais)
  • Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns)
  • Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit)
  • Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)

Forwards (9)

  • Mia Fishel (Chelsea)
  • Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit)
  • Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave)
  • Midge Purce (Gotham FC)
  • Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit)
  • Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave)
  • Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns)
  • Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC)
  • Lynn Williams (Gotham FC)

When Mia Fishel scored the opening goal in her Chelsea debut, it felt like a Hollywood beginning. Fishel has been in the U.S. women’s national team conversation for months, she’s representative of a new wealth of club options for women’s soccer players in the U.S., and she is now proving herself on one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Fishel is a known goal-scorer. She can make connective passes and probing runs in behind the defense, and she can use her height to gain advantage in the air in front of her opponent’s goal. None of those assets are new now that she’s at Chelsea, but with a Women’s Super League contract and a first cap for the USWNT behind her, she appears to have unlocked another level in her game.

Even though she’s just 22 years old, Fishel’s ascension to international prominence has been a long time coming. She’s already played professionally in two leagues after a stellar college career at UCLA, and she has become a fan favorite among U.S. fans. But she’s also taken a path less traveled in the women’s soccer landscape, and it’s taken some time for decision-makers to catch up.

Drafted by her former UCLA coach, Amanda Cromwell, to the Orlando Pride in 2022, Fishel instead opted to join UANL Tigres in Liga MX Femenil. Liga MX Femenil began play in 2017 and has been rising in stature since its inception, but at the time was considered a developing league compared to the NWSL. Fishel dominated in Mexico, becoming the Liga MX Femenil’s top scorer with 47 goals in 64 games and the first foreign player to win the league’s Golden Boot. She won two league titles with Tigres and continued to develop as a young scorer, before making the leap to Chelsea.

“What I did was historic,” she told Goal.com in 2022. “You don’t see U.S. players coming to Mexico. This hasn’t been done yet. The rate at which the league has been growing was very appealing. They’ve only been here for five years or so, and the global media recognition, the passionate fans, playing in [large] stadiums, you just don’t get that in the U.S.”

Fishel’s jump to Liga MX Femenil was prescient, as other well-known internationals begin to follow suit. Spain star and World Cup champion Jenni Hermoso now plays for CF Pachuca, and former France national team player Kheira Hamraoui currently plays for Club America. Fishel’s decision to sign with Chelsea is perhaps an indication that the world of women’s soccer is bending toward the European game, but she’ll long be remembered as a trailblazer in choosing her own path.

Fishel landed at Chelsea this season as an expected backup to Australian superstar Sam Kerr, who missed the team’s WSL opening win over Tottenham on Sunday due to rest.

“For the team to be better, I needed to come in to help Sam Kerr when she doesn’t need to be in the game. That [means] a big role,” Fishel told the Evening Standard prior to the season’s start.

In some ways, it’s poetic that Fishel has joined a Chelsea team headlined by Kerr, whose journey to this point has parallels to that of her understudy.

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Sam Kerr has led Chelesa to four straight Women's Super League titles since joining the team in 2020. (Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC/Getty Images)

Nowadays, it feels like Kerr was always destined to be beloved in London, a trophy winner many times over and a top scorer in a league that grows in prowess with each passing year. But when Kerr officially joined Chelsea at the end of 2019, questions plagued the forward who started her career in Australia and North America, winning the NWSL Golden Boot more than once but failing to walk away from the NWSL with a Shield or a championship win.

Assumptions about athleticism trumping technical ability and how she would fit in with the biggest stars in Europe pervaded the conversations about Kerr. The answer, of course, was that she did just fine, finding an immediate foothold in Emma Hayes’ lineup and now considered one of the best players in the world.

For Fishel, that push for acceptance was delayed when former USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski declined to bring her into senior team camp in the run-up to the 2023 World Cup. While it’s impossible to know how a player would have performed within an unfamiliar environment, Andonovski’s decision was even more baffling because Fishel seems like exactly the type of player who would have thrived in his system.

Fishel has the ability to play target forward, and her first goal for Chelsea came courtesy of a towering header. But she can also slip back into the attacking midfield, and her ability to contribute to build-up play is the type of skill set Andonovski seemed to want out of Chelsea teammate Catarina Macario and U.S. veteran Alex Morgan. When it became clear that Macario would miss the World Cup due to injury, Andonovski’s stubbornness toward Fishel felt more like coaching dysfunction than objective evaluation of what she could possibly bring to the team.

After the USWNT parted ways with Andonovski following a disappointing World Cup result, Fishel was one of the first players brought into the fold for their September friendlies, earning her first cap in Megan Rapinoe’s final match. While the U.S. won’t have a new permanent manager until December, Fishel’s call-up could be perceived as a quick direction shift from Andonovski’s vision, rewarding the patience of a player who has done everything possible to earn an opportunity.

The next question for Fishel is how many minutes she’ll get for Chelsea consistently once Kerr returns to the starting lineup, but in just one appearance, she’s made herself difficult to drop. As long as she keeps performing at the highest levels, her time on the periphery of the USWNT should finally be over.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

The U.S. women’s national team got their mojo back during the September international break, sending Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe off in style with two dominant wins over South Africa. The games were filled with emotion, and goodbyes off the field influencing the USWNT’s sharpness on the field.

The performances also shined a light on a few of the lingering questions from the Vlatko Andonovski era that new management will have to investigate as the team looks toward the 2024 Olympics.

The Alex Morgan question

Alex Morgan had two perfectly-placed assists in each game against South Africa, bringing her assists total for the USWNT in 2023 to five, the most since her breakout year in 2012. The 34-year-old showcased an ability to slide into wide areas to pull South African defenders out of position and free up space for her teammates, most notably Trinity Rodman.

Both of Morgan’s assists offered a glimpse into the all-around player the striker has become later in her career, providing an improvisatory spark that opened up both matches and set the U.S. up for comfortable leads. The plays could also be indicative of the way Morgan has had to adapt her natural tendencies in order to work in a system that still reflects the way Andonovski asked her to play at the 2023 World Cup.

But for all the positive play Morgan brings to the USWNT frontline, she is still struggling to find the back of the net herself. With another international break behind her, the 34-year-old hasn’t scored for the USWNT since February nor for her club team since May. Her scoring drought has seemed to stem less from a significant decline in pace or touch (her ball control on Sunday’s assist was world-class), and more from positioning and poise. Whatever mental block is holding Morgan back hasn’t stopped her from impacting games, but it has limited her effectiveness in the role she is primarily brought in to play.

The Emily Sonnett question

Emily Sonnett now consistently plays defensive midfielder for her club, OL Reign, and she started in that role in both of the USNWT’s games against South Africa. She’s looked increasingly confident there, but her usage in recent months begs the question: Is the former defender in the midst of a true position change, or is the team simply tapping into the versatile talent she’s been known for her entire career?

Sonnett was the unlikely hero of the USWNT’s 4-2-3-1 formation change in their Round of 16 match against Sweden at the World Cup, and she looked just as steady when paired with Ertz and then Andi Sullivan against South Africa. But the new commitment to what seemed at the time to be a last-minute position switch could also be holding the team back from moving on from Andonovski’s style of play. Portland Thorns standout No. 6 Sam Coffey got another call-up in September but did not see the field in either game. Based on positioning, Coffey would ostensibly step into Sullivan’s role alongside the ball-winning Sonnett.

There’s no doubt that the 4-2-3-1 could be a sturdy formation for the team going forward under new management, and position switches have happened with success before — such as Ertz moving from center-back to defensive midfield in 2017. But Sonnett’s emergence as a midfield option rather than as a defender could also reshape the team’s roster approach altogether.

The Alana Cook question

Ertz’s retirement and Sonnett’s emergence as a starter in the defensive midfield prompted the return of Alana Cook to the USWNT’s central defense in both September games. Cook had a very strange 2023, with Andonovski abruptly benching her in favor of Ertz for the entirety of the World Cup after she had played the most minutes of anyone in 2022.

Now, she is again being asked to anchor the U.S. backline, a task she likely thought would have come in much bigger games. Cook partnered with Naomi Girma in the first match of the international break, and then with Tierna Davidson in the second game. Davidson is looking to return to a USWNT tournament roster after being left home during the World Cup, and with Becky Sauerbrunn’s return in question, the team’s center-back depth is just as questionable as it was earlier in the year.

Andonovski decided to push questions about the central defense into the future when he went all-in on Ertz and Girma in Australia and New Zealand. Those decisions will now be made by a new coach, and Cook missed out on major tournament experience that could have been a foundational point of the next cycle.

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Ashley Sanchez didn't see the field for the USWNT at the World Cup. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

The Ashley Sanchez question

The team’s renewed commitment to a defensive 4-2-3-1 in the absence of Rose Lavelle also leads to questions about the future of the playmaker role. The defensive midfield double-pivot came out of necessity, as the U.S. struggled to retain and progress the ball through the midfield with only one defensive midfielder feeding two attacking midfielders.

But the team’s realignment has left a few of the USWNT’s pure playmakers adrift. Ashley Sanchez subbed into the first game of the September series, and Savannah DeMelo did the same in the second, but the current starting lineup indicates a trend. Interim manager Twila Kilgore appears most comfortable with a conservative, possession-based approach that attacking playmakers can stretch later in matches.

Kilgore’s logic is sound, as the U.S. continues to build on the positive play of their Round of 16 match against Sweden. But after Sanchez was left on the bench during the World Cup, and DeMelo got thrown into the fire of the group stage without much midfield support, the USWNT has too much attacking firepower to line up as conservatively as it has been in recent months. Lavelle’s expected return will force the new coach’s hand one way or another on whether the defensive priorities should take precedence over the team’s attack.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

CINCINNATI — The U.S. women’s national team played their first match after a disappointing World Cup campaign on Thursday, defeating South Africa 3-0 in Julie Ertz’s final appearance with the team. Ertz’s goodbye came with a lot of emotions, both in public and in the locker room, as the U.S. began to turn the page from the Vlatko Andonovski era.

It’s difficult to draw any definitive conclusions from friendlies, but the U.S. showed clear positive signs in Thursday’s victory, putting together a performance that any prospective new coach could get excited about. Here are a few reasons to think that the former World No. 1 team can steady the ship in 2024.

Passing of the guard

USWNT sendoff games could be considered unnecessary pomp and circumstance for individual players, but it was clear that getting a chance to say thank you to Ertz meant more to U.S. players than a nice slogan.

Longtime teammates coming back together for a curtain call after a disappointing World Cup campaign provided a sense of closure to the team’s 2023. The game also held important locker room threads together that the USWNT has long prized. It’s been easy to take for granted that young players coming into the U.S. environment would always have Ertz and Megan Rapinoe to guide and set standards, but with their departures, that particular mentorship becomes precious.

“Having [Ertz] here, and working with her a little bit at Angel City, it was just something that — I haven’t been able to see her in this environment before,” said defender M.A. Vignola, who made her USWNT debut Thursday. “I just came in with high expectations for myself, but also ready to learn and to take the notes of people like Julie and people like Megan and Alex, and having those people around me was something that I’ve dreamed of.”

Vignola was the only player to earn her first U.S. cap on Thursday, but other newcomers like Jaedyn Shaw and Mia Fishel are gaining valuable experience with those veterans still in place. As the U.S. naturally evolves over the next few years, maintaining that generational through-line will continue to be important.

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M.A. Vignola made her debut with the USWNT on the same night Julie Ertz played in her last game. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

The Sweden formation

A new coach will likely re-evaluate all aspects of the way the USWNT plays, including both personnel and style. But under interim manager Twila Kilgore, they simply leaned into what was already working.

The U.S. played in the same 4-2-3-1 formation on Thursday as they did against Sweden in the Round of 16, a game players have said was their best performance of the tournament. Emily Sonnett again slotted into the defensive midfield, and Lindsey Horan took the most advanced midfield position to control the flow of possession.

“The expectation within the group was to build off the Sweden match,” Kilgore said after the game. “So part of that has to do with formation, but formation, sometimes it’s just five yards here and five yards there. But really the idea was to build off of our play against Sweden.”

The system works well for this particular roster, as Sonnett provided defensive cover to allow first Ertz and then Horan to push forward and distribute the ball to the forward line. Emily Fox had a certain amount of freedom at outside-back to make runs both to expand the team’s width and to cut inside. Lynn Williams and Trinity Rodman were also effective as wingers in a way the U.S. couldn’t quite capture in Australia and New Zealand.

While the USWNT didn’t play with freedom immediately in their first game after Andonovski’s exit, they did warm into the first half with a lightness they’ll look to bring into their future games, prior to hiring a new permanent coach. The next step should be further integration of new faces into a system that everyone feels comfortable in, to avoid the team falling into too steep of a holding pattern.

Hitting the back of the net

During the World Cup, the U.S. had trouble with their attacking structure and their ability to move and possess the ball.

The team shook off a few of those cobwebs on Thursday, scoring three goals in quick succession in the final 10 minutes of the first half to put the game out of reach. While they spent some time early on trying to get Ertz a shot at one final goal — “Didn’t you see me trying?” Lindsey Horan joked after the match — the tendency to use set pieces to their advantage felt more like the USWNT of old.

Williams wreaked havoc in the box on corner kicks, scoring two goals off second-chance opportunities.

“We have been talking about in training, my positioning, my job was just to stay in front of the keeper and get her line of sight,” Williams said. “And we have amazing servers and an amazing aerial presence, so my job was just to make her job hard, and there [were] going to be second rebounds.”

But the best goal of the night came from Trinity Rodman, who powerfully redirected a perfect low cross from Alex Morgan into the box in the 34th minute. Morgan has had a mercurial 2023, logging many minutes at the center-forward position for the U.S. in dire need of her skill set. But the 34-year-old striker hasn’t scored for her club or country since May, and she hasn’t hit the back of the net for the U.S. since February.

Morgan’s ability to influence a game, however, goes far beyond scoring, and her run in behind paid major dividends as she made the right pass centrally for Rodman to finish. The goal came in quick transition after decisive midfield buildup, something the U.S. underutilized under Andonovski, and showcased how the same players from the World Cup can succeed when they aren’t second-guessing themselves.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

The U.S. women’s national team is bringing in a few fresh faces for their September friendlies against South Africa next week, as the team says goodbye to a couple of legends and transitions into the next chapter. After head coach Vlatko Andonvoski’s resignation following the team’s disappointing World Cup run, interim manager Twila Kilgore now has the tricky job of retaining the parts of the USWNT’s identity that were working, and jettisoning the tactics that were inhibiting them from playing their best.

As we saw many times under Andonovski, bringing in new talent is only as effective as the system they play in. Here is how I think the USWNT can most effectively integrate their non-World Cup players into what will likely be a familiar system with a few tweaks.

Mia Fishel, F, Chelsea

Fishel is known internationally as a goal-scorer, after dominating with Tigres in Liga MX Femenil since debuting as a professional in 2022. She has a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net as a forward, something she’s shown since starring for UCLA in college. Now, the question is how she’ll fit into the USWNT system if they retain the 4-3-3.

Fishel is a player not unlike Sophia Smith, who can fit into different positional areas but who seems to thrive when allowed to move into non-traditional spaces in between the wings and a classic center-forward position. At this moment, she’s probably best-suited for the top of a 4-4-2 formation with just one attacking partner. But if given the green light to collaborate without strict positional restrictions, Fishel can showcase all of her assets as an attacker rather than simply that of an experienced goal-scorer.

Jaedyn Shaw, M/F, San Diego Wave

Shaw can play as a winger, having done so successfully in San Diego since joining the team in 2022. It’s possible she’s been brought in as a replacement for a player like Mal Swanson, or even Smith as she’s been used by the USWNT in the past. But Shaw has more tools in her arsenal than just the ability to run toward goal from a wide position, and clarity around her role could be crucial for her development with the team for the next World Cup cycle.

Shaw is more of a tweener in her movement, with a keen ability to exploit space. She can run to the endline to send crosses in, or move into spaces in front of the opponent’s penalty area to feed teammates and take shots from distance. Her savviness in motion and quality on the ball actually evokes the image of famed USWNT attacking midfielder Rose Lavelle, as much as the cavalry of wingers the team has favored in recent years. As Lavelle continues to deal with an injury that could limit her minutes, giving Shaw the keys as a playmaker could be a huge stepping stone for the future.

Sam Coffey, M, Portland Thorns

Coffey excels both at disrupting play and distributing the ball at the club level, which made her inability to become a core member of the 2023 World Cup squad something of a puzzle. Based on the way Andonovski used Julie Ertz in the run-up to the tournament, and Emily Sonnett in the team’s Round of 16 match against Sweden, it’s possible that a perceived lack of physicality on the defensive end might be what held Coffey off the final list.

It’s difficult to suddenly insert a talented player into a flawed system, but the success of the team in a 4-2-3-1 against Sweden does lend credence to the idea that the best way to integrate Coffey is to give her a midfield partner. Andi Sullivan and Coffey have similar player profiles, but a delineation of roles in the midfield could vastly improve the USWNT’s ball movement.

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Tierna Davidson appeared for the USWNT in their April friendlies before the World Cup roster was named. (Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Tierna Davidson, D, Chicago Red Stars

Davidson has had an up-and-down season at the NWSL level, slowly regaining her form as the leader of a defense that has struggled under destabilizing circumstances in Chicago. But the team has bounced back since the Red Stars’ final ownership sale, and Davidson could start to look more like her former self in a more settled environment.

Davidson’s superpower has long been her deceptive speed and vision, with an ability to open play up with a single long and diagonal pass. Her weaknesses in 2023 have more to do with her defensive positioning, but a partnership with new USWNT stalwart Naomi Girma might give her the support she needs to rediscover her 1v1 defending abilities. With Julie Ertz retiring, the race for the second starting center-back role for the U.S. is back on, and Davidson could walk right into that opening with renewed confidence.

Ashley Hatch, F, Washington Spirit

Hatch is considered the 24th player of the USWNT World Cup 23, the first player left off as Andonvoski sacrificed a forward slot to bring attacking midfield depth. Her absence from the roster was less an indictment of her as a player, and more a concession that the USWNT had more playmaking issues than Andonovski had accounted for in the run-up to the group stage. Had Hatch traveled to New Zealand, she likely would have suffered in a way similar to Alex Morgan, who had to temper her strengths at central forward to play more connective football.

Hatch should be allowed to play more like herself (as should Morgan) in her return. Hatch has the ability to play with her back to goal and to run in behind with authority. She is calm in front of goal and can score just as effectively with her head as she can with her feet. Her weaknesses in Andonovski’s system came when she was trying too hard to be a passing outlet in the midfield, and ideally she can move with more freedom as she works her way back into the squad.

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Casey Krueger missed out on both the 2019 and 2023 World Cup rosters, but played at the Olympics in 2021. (Bill Barrett/USSF/Getty Images)

Casey Krueger, D, Chicago Red Stars

Krueger is a true outside back, with the ability to defend 1v1 on both sides of the field and tuck in centrally when needed to support the central defense. In the past, she’s been considered limited when aiding the attack, but in 2023 she has been one of Chicago’s most dangerous playmakers from a wide position. She can send a cross in on a dime and not lose key defensive coverage when giving attacking support.

At the World Cup, the USWNT’s outside-backs played with a certain amount of timidness, as if cutting loose in the final third would cause a key mistake in defensive transition. The team’s defense proved to be incredibly sturdy that way, but the fullbacks unwillingness to create width also made the team’s attack very predictable and easy to defend. Krueger should be relied upon to take a few more risks and stretch the South Africa defense, with the comfort of knowing she can recover well on the other end.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

The U.S. women’s national team is entering its first training camp since its World Cup elimination with “dual priorities,” interim head coach Twila Kilgore said Tuesday.

In the September friendlies against South Africa, the USWNT must strike a balance between honoring its past and laying the groundwork for its future. The team will say goodbye to two giants of the game in Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz, but it also will welcome new faces in Mia Fishel and Jaedyn Shaw.

The responsibility of navigating the team through the post-World Cup matches falls to Kilgore. The 43-year-old from Los Angeles joined the USWNT as an assistant coach in 2022, then took the interim head coaching role after Vlatko Andonovski’s resignation in August.

Speaking with reporters after Tuesday’s roster announcement, Kilgore praised Ertz and Rapinoe.

“It’s really important that we honor both of these players for who they are in our environment, but also who they are as people and what they’ve given to this program,” Kilgore said. “…They’ve both been instrumental in helping to create the program that we currently have and winning ways. Both have been a part of multiple World Cups and Olympics, and they’ve helped drive the game forward. But also off the field, they both contributed to making sure that the whole soccer landscape is progressing forward, especially for women.”

Still, as their USWNT chapters close, new ones are opening. So in addition to giving Ertz and Rapinoe time to celebrate their accomplishments, Kilgore must also work younger players into the mix, she said.

Fishel seeking her first cap in her first camp since October 2020. The 22-year-old forward for Chelsea has long been gunning for her next international call-up. Shaw is getting her first taste of the senior national team environment, but the 18-year-old rising star for the San Diego Wave has been tearing up the NWSL.

“We’re really excited to have both Jaedyn and Mia in the squad,” Kilgore said. “They’ve both been performing really well in their home markets. They have a lot of talent, we view them as high potentials.

“The idea with bringing them into the environment — Mia for her just her second camp and Jaedyn for her first — is just to expose them to the current environment, help them with their onboarding, get them used to what the expectations are, and make sure they have a pathway for the future.”

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Jaedyn Shaw plays with USWNT veteran forward Alex Morgan on the San Diego Wave. (Ray Acevedo/USA TODAY Sports)

The U.S. women’s national team is missing several big names for its first matches after the 2023 World Cup.

The roster for the September training camp features 21 of the 23 players who made up the World Cup team in Australia and New Zealand. The two players absent? Sophia Smith and Kristie Mewis, both of whom are out with injuries.

Smith, the lone USWNT player nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or, sustained a mild MCL sprain at the end of August in her second match back with the Portland Thorns after the international tournament. She had scored in her first game back and leads the NWSL with 11 goals this season.

The 23-year-old forward also was one of the team’s leading scorers Down Under, along with midfielder Lindsey Horan. Smith and Horan had two goals each; no one else on the USWNT found the back of the net during the disappointing World Cup run.

The absence from the September camp marks Smith’s second time missing friendlies this year for the USWNT. She missed the January camp in New Zealand with a foot injury.

Mewis, meanwhile, is out with a lower leg injury. The 32-year-old midfielder has not played since the World Cup and reportedly has yet to return to training with Gotham FC. USWNT staff declined to provide any additional information on the injury, saying it was up to Mewis and Gotham FC.

“Kristie is progressing really well,” interim head coach Twila Kilgore said. “She’s also in her home environment, working on return to play. And when she’s able to return to play and do that in her home environment, we would be looking at potentially bringing her in again in the future.”

Also not on the roster is Catarina Macario, who still is recovering from an ACL tear suffered in June 2022. She signed a three-year deal with Chelsea this June, and she has been training with the English club since August.

“Cat is still in recovery. She’s working on her return to play in her home environment at Chelsea,” Kilgore said. “She’s done a really good job. And we’re looking forward to potentially having her back in the squad in the future.”

Jaedyn Shaw’s stock continues to rise.

When the U.S. women’s national team announced the 27-player roster for its September friendlies, two new but familiar faces were on it: Chelsea’s Mia Fishel and San Diego Wave’s Shaw.

While Fishel received her first USWNT call-up in October 2020, she still is seeking her first international cap. Meanwhile, Shaw is making her training camp debut with the USWNT in her first full NWSL season.

During the 2022 season, Shaw chose to forgo her college eligibility to sign with the Wave through the now-defunct NWSL discovery process. The second-youngest player to compete in the NWSL at the time at 17 years old, Shaw became the youngest player to score in their NWSL debut when she notched the game-winner against Chicago last July. She finished the season with three goals in seven games.

In her first full NWSL season, Shaw has continued to impress. Through 18 matches – 15 of which were starts – the 18-year-old has five goals, which puts her among the best in the NWSL. She is tied for first on the Wave in goals with USWNT star forward Alex Morgan.

Her success made her eventual ascension to the USWNT ranks seem like a question of when, not if. After all, she already has played amongst the U.S. youth ranks, starring for the U-15 squad and more recently the U-20 squad, with two goals in six appearances.

She’s a star in the making, described by Wave head coach Casey Stoney as a player whose “vision and ability to pick a pass that breaks a backline is some of the best I’ve seen in the game, and I’ve been in the game a long time.”

And her San Diego teammates, who already are starring for the USWNT, have echoed the sentiment: Shaw is ready for her moment.

“I think Jae’s gonna be so good. I mean, she’s already so good,” USWNT and Wave defender Naomi Girma told Just Women’s Sports. “I think she’s gonna get so much better, so she’s an exciting one to watch.”

Rising star Mia Fishel finally is getting her second chance with the U.S. women’s national team.

The 22-year-old forward received her first call-up to the senior national team in October 2020, when she was called into a 27-player, 11-day training camp in Colorado. She is still waiting on her first international appearance, but after years of waiting, she is getting her second call-up from the USWNT.

This comes after Fishel signed a three-year deal with Chelsea in August, joining the English club from Liga MX Femenil.

Why it took three years for Fishel to earn her second shot with the USWNT is anyone’s guess. She proved herself as a standout prospect in the youth system, having played on the U-15, U-17 and U-20 squads. At UCLA, she had 32 goals in 59 games, and her 14 goals as a freshman helped lead the Bruins to the national semifinals.

In 2020, she helped the U-20 USWNT squad to the CONCACAF U-20 Championship. She had 13 goals in that tournament, the most by a U.S. youth national team player in a single tournament.

Upon joining Liga MX, Fishel became a standout prospect while playing for Tigres. She joined the club after forgoing the NWSL following the 2022 draft, in which she was selected fifth overall by the Orlando Pride. For Tigres in 2022, Fishel scored 33 goals total, including 17 times in 17 games. The rookie star also captured the league’s Golden Boot award and won a championship.

Still, she remained waiting in the wings for the USWNT.

“Mia is a very good young player,” Andonovski said in January. “Right now, after looking at everything, we decided the players that we have in camp are going to give us the best chance to be successful.

“We analyze every goal that she scores,” he continued. “And analyze the difficulties of the goals, and compare to the players that we called up, and try to see how they would fit or how they would replicate [performances] on the team that we have.”

But Andonovski has resigned following a disappointing showing at the 2023 World Cup. General manager Kate Markgraf also has departed from her post. Interim head coach Twila Kilgore is tasked with leading the team during its September friendlies.

And with Fishel’s move from Liga MX to the Women’s Super League, she potentially increased her standing in the USWNT pool.

Fishel had returned to the national team ranks in February after being named to the U-23 roster. And now she’ll see her first USWNT camp in almost three years.

Megan Rapinoe and Julie Ertz each will suit up for the U.S. women’s national team one last time.

On Tuesday, the USWNT revealed the 27-player roster for its September friendlies against South Africa. Ertz and Rapinoe both feature on the list, and each will receive her own final hurrah — Ertz in the first match in Cincinnati on Sept. 21, Rapinoe in the second match in Chicago on Sept. 24.

Ertz announced her retirement from professional soccer at the end of August, but she is returning to play in one more match for the USWNT before she hangs up her cleats. It will mark Ertz’s 123rd appearance for the national team.

“I expected to just walk away after retirement, but to have the opportunity to say goodbye to my teammates and the fans one last time is something special that many players dream of,” Ertz said in a news release.

Rapinoe announced her impending retirement ahead of the World Cup. While her final USWNT appearance will come at Chicago’s Soldier Field, the OL Reign forward will retire at the end of the 2023 NWSL season.

The USWNT’s September roster mirrors the 2023 World Cup roster, minus Sophia Smith and Kristie Mewis. Smith, the USWNT’s lone 2023 Ballon d’Or nominee, went down with an MCL sprain in late August during an NWSL match. Mewis also is recovering from an injury.

Mia Fishel, who is on the hunt for her first cap with the senior national team, joins the roster after signing with Chelsea this summer. And Jaedyn Shaw, the San Diego Wave’s 18-year-old phenom, received her first nod for the senior national team.

Chicago Red Stars defenders Tierna Davidson and Casey Krueger, Portland Thorns midfielder Sam Coffey and Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch return to the roster after missing out on the World Cup.

So far in 2023, the USWNT has a record of 9-0-3 (W-L-D), including the disappointing World Cup run. While the Round of 16 shootout loss to Sweden officially counts as a draw, it stands as the worst World Cup showing in program history and led to head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s resignation. Interim head coach Twila Kilgore will lead the team against South Africa.

USWNT schedule: September 2023

  • Thursday, Sept. 21 — 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT, Universo, Peacock)
    • United States vs. South Africa (TQL Stadium, Cincinnati)
  • Sunday, Sept. 24 — 5:30 p.m. ET (TNT, Universo, Peacock)
    • United States vs. South Africa (Soldier Field, Chicago)

USWNT roster: September 2023

Goalkeepers (3)

  • Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit)
  • Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage)
  • Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

Defenders (9)

  • Alana Cook (OL Reign)
  • Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars)
  • Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC)
  • Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage)
  • Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC)
  • Sofia Huerta (OL Reign)
  • Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars)
  • Kelley O’Hara (Gotham FC)
  • Emily Sonnett (OL Reign)

Midfielders (7)

  • Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns)
  • Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC)
  • Julie Ertz (Angel City FC)
  • Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyonnais)
  • Rose Lavelle (OL Reign)
  • Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit)
  • Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)

Forwards (8)

  • Mia Fishel (Chelsea)
  • Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit)
  • Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC)
  • Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign)
  • Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit)
  • Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC)
  • Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC)
  • Lynn Williams (Gotham FC)