Katie Bethke Gets Another USWNT U-23 Call Up

2011 January 5

by Brian Quarstad

The University of Minnesota’s Katie Bethke has been called back to the U.S. Women’s U-23 National Team for a January training camp in Carson, Calif.

Head coach Bill Irwin has called 24 players to the camp that will overlap with the full US Women’s National Team camp. Of the 24 players called up, 10 are college seniors eligible for the WPS draft, which will be held during the camp on Jan. 14 at the NSCAA Convention in Baltimore. Bethke is one of those players finishing her last season of eligibility this past fall where she helped her Gopher team make it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Georgetown 1-0 in the final minute of play.

Bethke, an Eau Claire, Wis. native, was called into the same camp last April and performed well enough to be invited to travel with the team to Germany a month later to play three high quality matches.

The U-23s begin a year in which the focus will be on this summer when the Nordic Cup is scheduled to return. The annual tournament for Europe’s top U-23 women’s teams that has long also included the United States has been on hiatus for two years.

Full Roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Kristin Arnold (Texas A&M; Centennial, Colo.), Adrianna Franch (Oklahoma State; Salina, Ks.), Alexa Gaul (Texas; Naperville, Ill.)
DEFENDERS (6): Amber Brooks (North Carolina; New Hope, Pa.), Cassie Dickerson (Ohio State; Kalamazoo, Mich.), Lauren Fowlkes (Notre Dame; Lee’s Summit, Mo.), Lindsey Kowal (Harvard; East Meadow, N.Y.), Nikki Marshall (Washington Freedom; Mead, Ohio), Kathryn Williamson (Florida; McKinney, Texas)
MIDFIELDERS (9): Bianca D’Agostino (Wake Forest; Longmeadow, Mass.), Becky Edwards (Out of Contract; Downingtown, Pa.), Colleen Flanagan (Virginia; Downingtown, Pa.), Megan Jesolva (California; La Mirada, Calif.), Christine Nairn (Penn State; Bowie, Md.), Casey Nogueira (Sky Blue FC; Raleigh, N.C.), Elli Reed (Portland; Park City, Utah), Ingrid Wells (Georgetown; Montclair, N.J.), Keelin Winters (Portland; Englewood, Colo.)
FORWARDS (6): Katie Bethke (Minnesota; Eau Claire, Wis.), Sarah Hagen (UW-Milwaukee; Appleton, Wis.), Melissa Henderson (Notre Dame; Garland, Texas), Stephanie Ochs (San Diego; San Diego, Calif.), Christen Press (Stanford; P.V. Estates, Calif.), Katie Schoepfer (Out of Contract; Waterford, Conn.)