U-17 WNT HEAD COACH KATIE SCHOEPFER NAMES ROSTER FOR FINAL ROUND OF 2025 CONCACAF WOMEN’S UNDER-17 QUALIFIERS IN TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Group Winner Will Qualify for 2025 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco;
U-17 WNT Will Face Trinidad & Tobago, Honduras and El Salvador in Group C;
U.S. U-17 World Cup Qualifying Roster Features Two Professional Players for the Second Time
CHICAGO (March 20, 2025) – U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team head coach Katie Schoepfer has selected a 21-player roster to represent the USA in the Final Round of the 2025 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers, which will be played from March 31-April 6 in Trinidad & Tobago.
The USA will face host Trinidad & Tobago (March 31 at 7 p.m. ET), Honduras (April 2 at 4 p.m. ET) and El Salvador (April 5 at 7 p.m. ET) in Group C with all the matches taking place at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad & Tobago.
Concacaf has once again changed the qualifying format for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which starting this year, will be staged annually and has been expanded from 16 to 24 nations. Instead of a tournament in which the top three Concacaf finishers qualify for the Women’s U-17 World Cup, 12 teams were drawn into three groups of four teams each with the winner of each group and the best second place team qualifying for the World Cup, set for Oct. 17-Nov. 8 in Morocco. The next five editions of the tournament will be held in Morocco.
With the start of the expanded annual U-17 Women’s World Cup this year, the Concacaf region has been allocated a fourth berth. Since the tournament’s inception in 2008, North America, Central America and the Caribbean have received three berths.
“These continue to be exciting times for our Youth National Teams,” said Schoepfer. “Having Concacaf World Cup qualifying and a World Cup every year means that that our players have more opportunities to experience the highest levels of tournament soccer. Qualifying tournaments are always special because we have something to play for. I’m looking forward to seeing this age group take on this opportunity.”
Four players on this roster played for the USA at the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic, helping the USA to a third-place finish, its best since the inaugural tournament in 2008. Those players are midfielders Kimmi Ascanio, Scottie Antonucci and Jaiden Rodriguez and goalkeeper Evan O’Steen. Ascanio is the only player on the roster who played in the last Concacaf U-17 World Cup qualifying tournament in 2024.
Final Round of the 2025 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Qualifiers by Position (Club; Hometown) Goalkeepers (3): Josie Biehl (San Diego Surf SC; Carlsbad, Calif.), Evan O'Steen (Solar SC; Grapevine, Texas), Peyton Trayer (Slammers FC HB Koge; Aliso Viejo, Calif.)
Defenders (7): Pearl Cecil (San Diego Surf SC; Encinitas, Calif.), Natalie Chudowsky (New York SC; Westport, Conn.), Izzy Dalke (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; Belleville, Ill.), Lauren Hemann (Bethesda SC; Potomac, Md.), Rhiannon Mahon (Solar SC; Celina, Texas), Cali O'Neill (North Carolina Courage Academy; Durham, N.C.), Sydney Schmidt (Jacksonville FC; St. Johns, Fla.)
Midfielders (6): Scottie Antonucci (Legends FC; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Kimmi Ascanio (San Diego Wave; Doral, Fla.), Riley Kennedy (North Carolina Courage Academy; Holly Springs, N.C.), Jaiden Rodriguez (San Diego Surf SC; San Diego, Calif.), Chloe Sadler (La Roca FC; Hyde Park, Utah), Charlee Siria (Ohio Elite SA; Lexington, Ky.)
Forwards (5): Ashlyn Anderson (Indy Premier SC; Carmel, Ind.), Maggie Currie (Mountain View Los Altos SC; San Jose, Calif.), Micayla Johnson (Chicago Stars; Troy, Mich.), Elayna Kocher (Penn Fusion SA; Allentown, Pa.), Nyanya Touray (Bethesda SC; Silver Spring, Md.)
This is the second U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifying squad to include professional players. In 2024, midfielder Melanie Barcenas from San Diego Wave FC and forward Alex Pfeiffer from the Kansas City Current were the pros on the roster. This time around, San Diego Wave midfielder Kimmi Ascanio – who is the only holdover from that 2024 World Cup qualifying roster but was not yet a pro -- and forward Micayla Johnson from the Chicago Stars represent the National Women’s Soccer League. Ascanio is heading into her second pro season while Johnson is a rookie this year and made her pro debut on March 14 against the Orlando Pride.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
• Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2008, are age-eligible for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. All 21 players selected by Schoepfer were born in 2008.
• The other two groups feature host Mexico, Haiti, Costa Rica and Bermuda in Group A and Canada, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua and host Panama in Group B.
• The change in format means the USA can no longer win a Concacaf U-17 Women’s Championship, of which it has won six, including the last four in a row. The USA won the Concacaf U-17 Women’s Championship in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2024. The 2020 competition was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
• Midfielder Kimmi Ascanio played in six league matches last year for the San Diego Wave totaling 145 minutes. She played two more matches in the NWSL x La Liga Summer Cup, totaling 27 minutes.
• At the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, Ascanio started all six games, scored the clinching goal against Nigeria in the quarterfinals and had an assist in group play against Korea Republic.
• Midfielders Jaiden Rodriguez and Scottie Antonucci spent most of 2024 with the U.S. U-16 GNT, but both made late runs to make the World Cup squad. Antonucci played in three games off the bench at the World Cup while Rodriguez played in five matches in DR as a reserve.
• Goalkeeper Evan O’Steen sat out the first match at the U-17 World Cup but then played every minute of the next five, allowing just one goal and winning the Golden Glove as the tournament’s top netminder.
• This group of U.S. U-17s comes into World Cup qualifying having had three training camps together – one in September of 2024 in Atlanta, one in January of 2025 in Mesa, Ariz., and one in February of 2025 in West Palm Beach, Fla. These Concacaf qualifiers will be the first international matches together for this group of players.
• Two pro clubs and 14 different youth clubs from 12 different states are represented on the roster, with five players from Southern California, three from Texas and two each from Maryland and North Carolina.
• Before heading to Trinidad & Tobago, the U-17s will train in Miami for a week. Schoepfer will bring five alternates to camp in Florida for training purposes – goalkeeper Hannah Folliard (Galaxy SC), defenders Marlee Raymond (United Futbol Academy) and Gracie Milam (Lou Fusz Athletic) and forwards Brooke Bunton (Jacksonville FC) and Audrey McKeen (Virginia Development Academy).
• Seven countries have already qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. In addition to host Morocco, China PR, Japan, Korea DPR and Korea Republic have qualified from Asia via nominations by the Asian Football Confederation based on results of the last three editions of AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup in Thailand in 2017 and 2019 and in Indonesia in 2024. New Zealand and Samoa have qualified from Oceania via the 2024 OFC U-16 Women’s Championship.
