Wake Forest Athletics
Bledsoe, Stengel Invited to Unique U-23 National Team Camp
9/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 26, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest's Aubrey Bledsoe and Katie Stengel have been named to the roster for a unique training camp for the U.S. Under-23 National Team that will be led by U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Pia Sundhage, along with U.S. Soccer Women's Development Director Jill Ellis and U.S. Soccer Women's Technical Director April Heinrichs. The camp will take place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. from Oct. 2-7.
Sundhage will be at the camp to evaluate the group of top college players and young professionals for possible call-ups to U.S. Women's National Team camps heading into the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Vancouver, Canada in January and if all goes well there, the run to the 2012 Olympics in London. Wake Forest was one of only three schools, along with traditional powerhouses Stanford and North Carolina, to have multiple players invited to the camp.
"You have to get a good sense of what is out there as far as talent," said Sundhage. "We are looking at a different system of play so we may need players with different qualities and we might find a few younger players that we can give a chance to come in with the Women's National Team."
Bledsoe and Stengel, both sophomores, have made a name for themselves at Wake Forest both in the conference and nationally with their stellar accomplishments on the field.
A powerful forward, Stengel has scored an eye-popping 13 goals and 30 points in 11 games so far this season, numbers that lead the ACC and rank fourth among all Division I players. The reigning National Rookie of the Year by Top Drawer Soccer, her 29 goals in only a season and a half as a Demon Deacon are already tied for third all-time on the Wake Forest career scoring charts. She set the Wake Forest single-season scoring records with 16 goals and 32 points as a freshman in 2010.
Stengel has had significant experience with U.S. Youth National Teams, having most recently been called into camp with the U-20 National Team on a monthly basis last spring. She traveled with the squad to La Manga, Spain last March.
Bledsoe has started every game in net for the Demon Deacons since arriving on campus as a freshman last season and was named the 2010 ACC Tournament MVP after saving three Maryland penalty kicks in the championship match to give Wake Forest its first-ever conference crown. The Cincinnati, Ohio native has been stingy in goal for the Deacs this season, allowing only six goals in 11 games and recording six shutouts, a mark that already ranks sixth on the Wake Forest single-season charts.
Bledsoe camped with the U-23 National Team in May and has previous experience with the U-18 National Team.
Sundhage has a track record of giving younger players the opportunity to compete for roster positions with Lauren Cheney, Tobin Heath, Kelley O'Hara and Alex Morgan all making the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup roster.
"Experience is important," said Sundhage. "In order to make the Women's National Team, you must be able to play with different players and sometimes coming into a training camp you have to adjust your game. It's not the same teammates in college or club and you have to perform for a week in every single practice. Some players embrace that and get inspired, and for some of them it takes a bit longer, not only one camp, but maybe two or four or five so each camp with a national team is very important."
Camp Roster By Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Bledsoe (Wake Forest; Cincinnati, Ohio), Jane Campbell (Concorde Fire South; Kennesaw, Ga.), Emily Oliver (Stanford; Flossmoor, Ill.)
DEFENDERS (4): Morgan Andrews (FC Stars of Mass.; Milford, N.H.), Amy Barczuk (Colorado; Centennial, Colo.), Camille Levin (Stanford; Newport Coast, Calif.), Mollie Pathman (Duke; Durham, N.C.)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Morgan Brian (Virginia; St. Simmons Island, Ga.), Amber Brooks (North Carolina; New Hope, Pa.), Meghan Klingenberg (magicJack; Gibsonia, Pa.), Kristie Mewis (Boston College; Hanson, Mass.), Christine Nairn (Penn State; Arnold, Md.), Ingrid Wells (Georgetown; Upper Montclair, N.J.), Keelin Winters (Boston Breakers; Englewood, Colo.), Kylie Wright (Atlanta Beat; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)
FORWARDS (9): Crystal Dunn (UNC; Rockville Center, N.Y.), Sarah Hagen (Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Appleton, Wis.), Melissa Henderson (Notre Dame; Garland, Texas), Sydney Leroux (UCLA; Phoenix, Ariz.), Nikki Marshall (Boston Breakers; Mead, Colo.), Christen Press (magicJack; Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), Katie Stengel (Wake Forest; Melbourne, Fla.), Lindsay Taylor (Stanford; Redwood City, Calif.), Nikki Washington (Boston Breakers; Mesquite, Texas)
