CHICAGO – Thorns FC midfielder Celeste Boureille along with Portland's third round pick in the 2016 NWSL College Draft, Tyler Lussi were called up to the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team for a trip to La Manga, Spain from Feb. 25-March 7 and will play three matches, taking on its counterparts from Japan (March 2), England (March 4) and Norway (March 7).
Boureille appeared in six games (five starts) for the Thorns in 2016. Most recently, while on loan, she helped Canberra United to the 2016/17 Westfield W-League Premiership title appearing in all of the team's 12 game regular-season matches. Boureille attended the University of California-Berkley from 2012-15, appearing in 84 games for the Golden Bears, tallying 16 goals and eight assists.
Lussi was selected in the recent NWSL College Draft after Thorns FC traded a second and third-round pick in the 2018 NWSL Draft in exchange for the No. 21 overall pick from the Chicago Red Stars. She was a four-year starter at Princeton University, where she became the program’s all-time leader in goals scored (53) and points (122), while recording 16 assists in 68 games played (63 starts).
These will be the first international matches of the year for the U.S. U-23 WNT.
As the trip occurs before NWSL pre-season begins, and in continuing synergy between the NWSL and the U.S. Women’s National Team programs, Seattle Reign head coach Laura Harvey will coach the 22-player squad that features 17 professionals (16 from the NWSL and one currently playing in Iceland), four collegiate players and high school senior in Ashley Sanchez.
While this roster features mostly professional players, the rosters for the events for the remainder of the spring–including the roster for the preseason Thorns Spring Invitational presented by Tillamook–and summer will feature primarily collegiate players as the NWSL season will be in full swing.
U-23 Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (2): Casey Murphy (Rutgers; Bridgewater, N.J.), Madalyn Schiffel (Seattle Reign; Citrus Heights, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (7): Mandy Freeman (Sky Blue FC; West Covina, Calif.), Adrienne Jordan (IBV; Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kristen McNabb (Seattle Reign; Montville, N.J.), Kayla Mills (Sky Blue FC; West Covina, Calif.), Katie Naughton (Chicago Red Stars; Elgin, Ill.), Erica Skroski (Sky Blue FC; New Brunswick, N.J.), Samantha Witteman (NC Courage; Redondo Beach, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Morgan Andrews (Boston Breakers; Milford, N.H.), Tierna Davidson (Stanford; Menlo Park, Calif.), Christina Gibbons (FC Kansas City, Raleigh, N.C.), Tyler Lussi (Portland Thorns; Lutherville, Md.), Emily Ogle (Penn State; Strongsville, Ohio), Margaret Purce (Boston Breakers; Silver Spring, Md.), Ashley Sanchez (SoCal Blues; Monrovia, Calif.), Dani Weatherholt (Orlando Pride; San Clemente, Calif.)
FORWARDS (5):Celeste Boureille (Portland Thorns; San Francisco, Calif.), Makenzy Doniak (NC Courage; Chino Hills, Calif.), Ashley Hatch (NC Courage; Gilbert, Ariz.), Savannah McCaskill (South Carolina; Chapin, S.C.), Arielle Shipp (Washington Spirit; Westlake Village, Calif.)
