In one month, the U.S. indoor women’s national team will take part in the Indoor World Cup, which is being played in South Africa starting the first week of February.
Today, head coach Jun Kentwell picked a team which may be short on international indoor experience, but are a group of players which are familiar with each other.
Start with three players who are all at the same school, Emmaus (Pa.). Annika Herbine, Abby Burnett, and Melea Weber were responsible for 120 goals for the Green Hornets last fall.
Look also for Annie McDonogh of the University of Virginia to make an impact on this U.S. side, as well as Boston College’s Sarah Johnson, Duke’s Hannah Miller, Ohio State’s Elizabeth Tamburro, and former Massachusetts goalie Samantha Carlino.
But a couple of the younger players to watch out for during the tournament are Opal Sparling, a ninth-grader from Pottstown Hill School (Pa.), and eighth-grader Reese D’Ariano. Given Kentwell’s eye for picking out younger players and being willing to select them (such as Erin Matson), these two should be interesting to watch.
