Marlborough Chosen for U.S. U-20 Women?s National Team

Lincoln - Nebraska's Morgan Marlborough has added another accolade to her outstanding soccer career, as she has been selected to the 20-player roster for the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team. Marlborough will join the team in Guatemala City for the 2010 CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship this month, an eight-team tournament that will send three nations to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

"This is a great accomplishment for Morgan," Nebraska head coach John Walker said. "She has put in a lot of hard work this fall and it is nice to see it pay off for her. The experience she will gain from World Cup qualifying will be invaluable in her development as a player."

Marlborough will leave Lincoln this week and play for the U.S. in three matches from Jan. 19-30 at Guatemala City's 17,000-seat Estadio Cementos Progreso. The event consists of two groups of four teams each with the top two finishers after group play meeting in the semifinals. The U.S. is the reigning U-20 world champion and starts competition against Jamaica on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 4:30 p.m. CST. The team will then face Trinidad & Tobago at 4:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, Jan. 23, before ending group play vs. Mexico on Monday, Jan. 25 at 4:30 p.m. CST. All of the matches will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel.

The group winners will play the runners-up from the opposite group on January 28, with the championship and third-place matches set for Saturday, Jan. 30. The Group A field consists of Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala.

The winners of the semifinal matches and of the third-place match will qualify for the U-20 Women's World Cup, held July 13-Aug. 1, 2010 in Germany.

"It's a really big honor," Marlborough said. "Ever since I was little my goal was to play Division I soccer, then make the U.S. National Team and play professional soccer. It's great that I've been able to achieve another goal so I'm really excited for this."

Marlborough made the cut for the 20-player roster after she was invited to Team USA U-20 National Team Training Camp in Gainesville, Fla., last week. There, the Husker was among the top women's college soccer players in the nation, but impressed head coach Jillian Ellis to gain a spot on this year's squad. Ellis recently finished her 11th season as the head coach at UCLA.

A native of Lee's Summit, Mo., Marlborough was a 2009 freshman All-American and named the Big 12 Offensive Player and Rookie of the Year after compiling one of the best seasons in school history. She led the conference in scoring with 21 goals and added seven assists (49 points), totals that rank fourth and fifth on the NU single-season goal chart. In 2010, Marlborough will enter her sophomore season just five goals away from reaching Nebraska's all-time top 10 list for career goals.

Ten different colleges are represented on the U.S. roster, including three players from Florida State and two from Boston College, Stanford and UCLA.

The United States has a storied history of success in international play, participating in all four FIFA U-20 Women's World Cups with championships in 2002 and 2008.

2010 CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship Qualifying Tournament
Thursday, Jan. 21-USA vs. Jamaica, 4:30 p.m. CST (Fox Soccer Channel)
Saturday, Jan. 23-USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago, 4:30 p.m. CST (Fox Soccer Channel)
Monday, Jan. 25-USA vs. Mexico, 4:30 p.m. CST (Fox Soccer Channel)
Thursday, Jan. 28-Semifinals (Fox Soccer Channel)
Saturday, Jan. 30-Championship (Fox Soccer Channel)

Group A: Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala
Group B: USA, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica

United States Under-20 Women's National Soccer Team Roster
Pos-Name (School; Hometown)
GK-Bianca Henninger (Santa Clara; Los Gatos, Calif.)
GK-Taylor Vancil (Louisville; South Elgin, Ill.)
F-Maya Hayes (Aristics Club; West Orange, N.J.)
F-Sydney Leroux (UCLA; Phoenix, Ariz.)
F-Morgan Marlborough (Nebraska; Lee's Summit, Mo.)
F-Tiffany McCarty (Florida State; Laurel, Md.)
D-Amber Brooks (North Carolina; New Hope, Pa.)
D-Vicki DiMartino (Boston College; Massapequa, N.Y.)
D-Crystal Dunn (Albertson SC; Rockville Centre, N.Y.)
D-Kendall Johnson (Portland; Portland, Ore.)
D-Toni Pressley (Florida State; Melbourne, Fla.)
D-Rachel Quon (Stanford; Lake Forest, Ill.)
MF-Zakiya Bywaters (UCLA; Las Vegas, Nev.)
MF-Elizabeth Eddy (So Cal Blues, Costa Mesa, Calif.)
MF-Kristie Mewis (Boston College; Hanson, Mass.)
MF-Samantha Mewis (Scorpion SC; Hanson, Mass.)
MF-Christine Nairn (Penn State; Bowie, Md.)
MF-Teresa Noyola (Stanford; Palo Alto, Calif.)
MF-Jenna Richmond (McLean SC; Centreville, Va.)
MF-Casey Short (Florida State; Naperville, Ill.)

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