Ashley Hatch, Alex Morgan left off USWNT’s youthful Gold Cup roster
U.S. Soccer veterans Ashley Hatch and Alex Morgan will not be suiting up for the Women’s National Soccer Team during this month’s 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup.
Interim head coach Twila Kilgore prioritized young talent when assembling the 23-player roster that will represent the U.S. in its second-to-last tournament before the 2024 Paris Olympics. She is leading the team until new coach Emma Hayes takes over at the end of Chelsea’s season.
The Gold Cup roster, which was released Wednesday, features nine players born after the U.S. won the 1999 FIFA women’s World Cup.
There are only two players with at least 100 caps, or appearances, for the national team and seven players with fewer than seven caps, according to the U.S. Soccer press release.
“We are going to take our next steps together as we continue to evolve our style of play and provide opportunities for players to grow into possible future roles and partnerships,” Kilgore said in the press release. “There is something special about tournament play and what it can bring out of players. We are hopefully going to be together for a month and we are looking forward to both finding and enjoying that working rhythm required to be in tournament for long stretches while upholding and driving our standards forward. We can’t wait for the opportunity.”
One of the young players included on the roster is 18-year-old Olivia Moultrie, who won U.S. Soccer’s 2023 Young Female Player of the Year award, as the Deseret News previously reported.
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Who is Olivia Moultrie?
Moultrie, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, earned her first call-up to the senior national team in October 2023, when the team played in Sandy and San Diego.
Kilgore cited Moultrie’s performance with her National Women’s Soccer League club, the Portland Thorns, to explain how the young player earned the call-up.
“Olivia has been doing a really good job with her club. She does a great job between the lines. She has good patience between the lines, and when she gets the ball, she’s able to accelerate the attack, bring other people into the play. She’s starting to create opportunities for herself in the league,” Kilgore told the Deseret News before the team’s match in Utah.
Moultrie didn’t get to take the field in either Sandy or San Diego. She had to wait until December to make her debut for the national team in Florida.
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Who is on the USWNT 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup roster?
Moultrie and 22 other players will head to California to play in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, which will run from Feb. 17 to March 10. The U.S. will play either Guyana or the Dominican Republic in its first game on Feb. 20.
The following players are on the USWNT’s 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup roster:
Goalkeepers
Jane Campbell.
Casey Murphy.
Alyssa Naeher.
Defenders:
Alana Cook.
Abby Dahlkemper.
Crystal Dunn.
Tierna Davidson.
Emily Fox.
Naomi Girma.
Casey Krueger.
Jenna Nighswonger.
Midfielders:
Korbin Albert.
Sam Coffey.
Lindsey Horan.
Rose Lavelle.
Olivia Moultrie.
Emily Sonnett.
Forwards:
Mia Fishel.
Midge Purce.
Trinity Rodman.
Jaedyn Shaw.
Sophia Smith.
Lynn Williams.
Mallory Swanson will be one of three non-roster players who will train with the team. Swanson is coming off a knee injury she suffered in April 2023. Despite only playing in six games, she still led the team with seven goals last year.
The other two non-roster players are Savannah DeMelo, who was on the World Cup roster, and Gisele Thompson, the younger sister of Alyssa Thompson, who was also on the World Cup roster and the first high schooler picked in the NWSL draft last year.
Will Ashley Hatch or Alex Morgan make the 2024 Olympics roster?
Hatch was previously called up to the team’s December training camp and games, but Morgan was left off the roster. Morgan has been the team’s long-time striker, and Hatch has served as her backup but was snubbed from last summer’s World Cup roster.
Wednesday’s roster announcement calls into question whether Hatch or Morgan, who will turn 35 in July, will make the team’s Olympic roster.
What has Ashley Hatch said about the Olympics?
The former BYU Cougar told the Deseret News in October that she was “hopeful” about her Olympic chances after her World Cup snub and felt optimistic that a new coach could help her secure that roster spot.
“I think having a new coach come in is huge,” she said. “I obviously wasn’t selected by the last one, so it gives me kind of a little bit of a renewed sense of hope that maybe this one will want me as part of the roster. But also, I understand that like there’s a lot of work that has to go in on my end to prove myself to whoever is the new coach.
“It’s definitely a process that all of us players continue to go through year after year. I’m always going to be hopeful. That’s just the type of person I am, so we’ll see.”
But Hatch had a different tune while on the “All In” podcast a month later, as the Deseret News previously reported. She said her processing of her World Cup disappointment had changed her perspective on the Olympics, but that she would still cherish that opportunity.
“That opportunity would mean a lot, but going through what I’ve went through, I’m approaching it a little differently,” she said. “I understand that if I got the opportunity to play for (the) U.S. in the Olympics, I would cherish that so much, and I would be so excited and so honored. But I also know that if that opportunity doesn’t come my way, that I still have lots to offer the sport of soccer and that I have so much more value than that.”
