Photo: Ed Zurga – Getty Images
By Billy McGee – @iambillymcgee
US Soccer just finished their development camp on January 25, where they called up 24 Women’s Youth National Team players to take part in a National Team Development Camp, with 21 of the players being college players. The players’ birth years range from 2003 to 2008. The camp ran alongside the senior women’s team’s January Camp in Carson, Calif.
The men’s USYNT also just recently finished a development camp that featured a group that had several participants from the college pathway. These recent camps highlight the continued emphasis on a partnership between USSF and colleges for both men’s and women’s soccer.
Here’s a list of the college players named to the USWNT camp:
Goalkeepers (3)
Valentina Amaral – Wake Forest – R-Sophomore – The Third-Team All-American started all 20 games in 2025, making 81 saves with a .794 save percentage, including a school record 12 saves against Florida State.
Caroline Birkel – Stanford – Freshman – The 2025 ACC Goalkeeper of the Year, played in all 25 games, making 47 saves with a .701 save percentage and helping lead the Cardinal to an ACC regular season and tournament championship. She has previous international experience, earning a bronze medal at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2024.
Sonoma Kasica – Notre Dame – Sophomore – In her two seasons with the Fighting Irish, Kasica has made 112 saves in 37 games with a save percentage of .755.
Defenders (7)
Natalie Bain – Xavier – Senior – A mainstay on the Xavier backline over the past four years, Bain has played in 85 games for the Musketeers, starting all of them. She was named an All-American as well as First-Team All-BIG EAST for the third consecutive season.
Ally Brown – Tennessee – Senior – The First-Team All-SEC defender played in and started 19 games, helping the Lady Vols keep 13 shutouts. Brown signed a professional contract with Lexington SC on January 22.
Macy Blackburn – Texas Tech – R-Senior – The Red Raiders all-time leader in assists with 46, finished her collegiate career with back-to-back Big 12 Defender of the Year awards. Following her final season at Texas Tech, Blackburn signed a professional contract with Racing Louisville.
Bella Devey – UNC – Freshman – Devey was the only freshman to start in all 21 games for the Tarheels, scoring five goals and assisting another four.
Gracie Falla – South Carolina – Senior – The standout senior started 84 of 86 games in her four years in Columbia, capping off her senior season by being named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Daya King – Duke – Freshman – King was a crucial piece on a Blue Devils defense that conceded just one goal in the NCAA Tournament on their way to a College Cup appearance. She started 22 matches and played the full 90 minutes in 19 of them on her way to being named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.
Sierra Sythe – Wake Forest – R-Sophomore – Sythe started all 20 games for the Demon Deacons and finished the season tied for the 10th most assists in the ACC with nine.
Midfielders (5)
Pearl Cecil – Virginia – Freshman – Cecil only appeared in nine games during her freshman season due to playing for the US U-17 Youth National Team. In her limited time with the Cavaliers, she notched one goal and one assist.
Sam Courtwright – Duke – R-Sophomore – The Texas native spent her first two college seasons at Texas Tech before transferring to Duke after the 2025 season. She contributed four goals and seven assists to the Red Raiders in 2025, being named First-Team All-Big 12 after missing the 2024 season with a knee injury.
Charlotte Kohler – Stanford – Sophomore – Kohler led the ACC with 17 assists, while also scoring 12 goals in her breakout sophomore campaign, being named All-ACC Second Team, and helping lead Stanford to a second consecutive College Cup appearance.
Y-Lan Nguyen – Stanford – Freshman – Nguyen caps off a trio of Stanford players called up to camp. She scored two goals and assisted another two in 25 games during her first season with the Cardinal, being named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. Nguyen was part of the 2024 US Women’s U17 World Cup roster.
Nyanya Touray – Florida State – Freshman – Touray primarily came off the bench for Florida State, starting just five games and contributing two goals and two assists. The freshman played 56 minutes for the Seminoles in their win over Stanford for the National Championship.
Forwards (6)
Lilliah Blum – UNC – Junior – Blum had a career high four goals in her junior season at Utah, before transferring to UNC for her senior season.
Alex Buck – Washington – Sophomore – Buck started all 25 matches for the Huskies, having a team-best nine goals and seven assists, earning a First Team All-Big Ten selection.
Seven Castain – TCU – Senior – The First-Team All-American and MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist scored 17 goals in her senior season for the Horned Frogs.
Wrianna Hudson – Florida State – Sophomore – Hudson (pictured above) appeared in 22 games, starting 14 of them for the National Champions. She led the team with 15 goals, including the only goal in the Seminoles’ National Championship win over Stanford.
Hope Leyba – Colorado – Junior – Leyba jointly led the nation with 22 goals in her junior season with the Buffaloes, including a pair of hat tricks against Fordham and Iowa State.
Ava McDonald – Texas – Freshman – McDonald led the Longhorns with nine goals on her way to being named SEC Freshman of the Year.
