The USWNT will be getting together to play a couple of friendlies against China and Jamaica at the end of May and beginning of June, respectively. This means we get a roster drop!

GK: Claudia Dickey, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Mandy McGlynn

Defenders: Kerry Abello, Naomi Girma, Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox, Tara McKeown, Avery Patterson, Emily Sams, Emily Sonnett

Midfielders: Lo’eau LaBonta, Sam Coffey, Lindsay Heaps (née Horan), Claire Hutton, Olivia Moultrie, Lily Yohannes

Forwards: Michelle Cooper, Lynn Biyendolo (née Williams), Catarina Macario, Emma Sears, Ally Sentnor, Alyssa Thompson, Gisele Thompson

Of the roster announcement Hayes said “As has been one of our focuses this year, this camp and the following camp are going to be two amazing opportunities to develop squad depth.” The commitment Hayes has to avoiding a 2023 World Cup situation is admirable. Only 23 players can make the roster in 2027, and I think if everyone in the pool was available and healthy we could make some solid guesses who would be making it. In case of injury or other circumstances, though, the US needs other players to have experienced the national team environment and that scale of game who are ready to be the next player up.

Hayes also reported that Korbin Albert, Mia Fishel, Jaedyn Shaw would be joining the U23 camp who will play matches against Germany. The remainder of that roster can be found here. The reintroduction of the U23 program allows US Soccer to more smoothly integrate the next generation of players into the senior team. In the case of Albert, Fishel, and Shaw, Hayes has said that it gives these players with USWNT experience more minutes than perhaps they would get with the full team right now.

This is a fun roster! How can a roster with Kansas City Current captain Lo’eau LaBonta not be fun? This is the 32 year old’s first call up to the USWNT and it’s certainly deserved. Considering that the US midfield options feel like an abundance of 10’s and Sam Coffey, I think it’s great that LaBonta is getting some recognition. Obviously Claire Hutton and Lily Yohannes have been playing in the midfield too but they’re both literal teenagers. Additionally, Hal Hershfelt is only just now returning from her ankle injury from earlier this season so a question mark remains over whether she’s still being considered. LaBonta brings a level of leadership, professional experience, and maturity that might be good when trying to see how this midfield fits together.

Some other points of interest are Lynn Biyendolo and Naomi Girma’s returns to the roster after injury kept them out of the last camp. Olivia Moultrie also comes back into the senior team after a few camps where she was either called into the U23 or not at all. Michelle Cooper’s inclusion on this roster suggests that recovery from her injury is going well and she’s ready to get back out there. Then Gisele Thompson as a winger? I personally didn’t like that experiment with Angel City, but that sister-sister goal was pretty amazing so maybe it’s worth trying? Not sure how I feel about that considering that depth at the outside back position needs to be fleshed out. We’ll see.

The goalkeeper situation is interesting. For the past couple of games, Abby Smith has started over long-time starting keeper Jane Campbell for the Houston Dash with no announcement of any injury. Campbell is also not on this roster. Regarding the U23 roster announcement and the ongoing question of Alyssa Naeher’s succession as the US’s #1 goalkeeper Hayes said “What I don’t want to do is develop a goalkeeper for ‘27 and then we’re in exactly the same position again,” Hayes said. “I want to ensure that from 27 to 28 to 31, that we get the development pathways right for the goalkeepers so that it is a lot more seamless than it is for me.” Does this signal that the chapter is closed on the #2 and #3’s from the Andonovski era? Are Jane Campbell, 30, Casey Murphy, 29, and Aubrey Kingsbury, 33 too old to be seen as keepers that could play through the 2031 World Cup when Naeher ended her international career at 36? Perhaps. Perhaps Campbell does have a knock and is still in the pool. The other call ups of Claudia Dickey, 25, Mandy McGlynn, 26, and Phallon Tullis-Joyce, 28 are meant to give opportunities to her backups, and players like Jordan Silkowitz, 25 and Angelina Anderson, 24 are even the next generation. Honestly, I’m much more inclined to believe the former. However, even if some cuts from the race have been made, the battle for #1 still seems to be ongoing and far from being done.