USA Field Hockey will introduce its young, new-look Women's National Team to international play next month when the team travels to New Zealand for a five-Test series between 10-22 May.
With a new coach and a young team, the USA will meet New Zealand at Wellington on 14 May before travelling to Napier for a pair of games on 16 and 17 May. The two teams will then meet in Levin on 19 May before returning to Wellington for the series finale on 21May.
Under new coach Lee Bodimeade, the 18-member USA team features nine players who will be seeking their first international caps.
A high school junior Katie O’Donnell is the youngest member of the touring squad and joins Lauren Crandall and Lauren Powley on the U.S. senior team for the tour after earning silver medals with the U.S. junior team in last month’s Pan American Junior Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The three junior team players will have the opportunity to compete in the Junior World Cup in September in Santiago, Chile.
While the USA will introduce some of its youngest athletes on the tour, the team also includes veteran standouts Kate Barber and Carrie Lingo. One of the team’s most prolific goal scorers, Barber has appeared in a team-high 120 international contests while Lingo returns for her sixth year on the national team in adding to her 76 career matches.
The team also includes 2004 team veterans Robyn Kenney, Melissa Leonetti, Angie Loy, Dina Rizzo, Tiffany Snow and Amy Tran. Loy, Rizzo, Snow and Tran were all members of the 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament team that placed sixth in Auckland.
The USA roster also includes the return of Kristen Holmes-Winn to the U.S. team. The head field hockey coach at Princeton Univ., Holmes-Winn was invited to compete with the squad by the U.S. coaching staff after observing the former USA national team standout perform in drills and competition as a coach at the team’s training camp.
Holmes-Winn previously played with the USA National Team from 1995-2000. She was a member of the 1998 World Cup team and an alternate to the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team.
The young USA team will face a New Zealand squad that includes 11 Olympians. New Zealand placed sixth at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
The tour will mark the first international matches for the USA since earning a silver medal at the Pan American Cup in April, 2004.
USA Women's Team - New Zealand Tour
Kate Barber 120 caps
Sarah Dawson 0
Lauren Crandall 0
Kelly Doton 0
Kristen Holmes-Winn 34
Robyn Kenney 14
Claire Laubach 0
Melissa Leonetti 1
Carrie Lingo 76
Angie Loy 16
Angie North 0
Katie O’Donnell 0
Lauren Powley 0
Dina Rizzo 34
Sara Silvetti 0
Tiffany Snow 4
Amy Tran 16
Barb Weinberg 0
Head Coach: Lee Bodimeade
Manager: Kate Reisinger
Staff: Terry Walsh, Nick Conway, Steve Jennings, Justine Sowry, Chrissy Ames (Trainer)
