Women's Soccer: Blank Invited to National Camp
January 16, 2008 10:54 AM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
January 17, 2008
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| Carolyn Blank |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University women’s soccer player Carolyn Blank will attend the U.S. Under-20 (U-20) Women’s National Team training camp Jan. 19-26, in Carson, Calif. Blank is one of 26 players invited to participate in World Cup preparations at The Home Depot Center, an official U.S. Olympic training site.
“What an exciting opportunity for Carolyn to represent our country,” says Head Coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “I know she will represent West Virginia University well, she is a tremendous player who can make an impact on the world level.”
Blank, a second team all-region performer this past fall, is one of 11 midfielders in camp as the U.S. begins to focus on CONCACAF Qualifying for the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, to be held Nov. 20-Dec. 7, in Chile.
“We have selected and invited players that have shown the desire to represent their country in the 2008 World Cup in pursuit of one day playing for the USA at the senior level,” says U.S. Head Coach Jillian Ellis. "This initial camp to start the year will feature a lot of evaluation as we are looking at players from the college ranks as well as some players that have done well with our younger teams. In these early stages, it’s important that we try to look at as many players as possible. We have several potential players for the qualifying roster that are recovering from injuries and they will get an opportunity to attend camp at a later date."
Blank started all 25 games in 2007, earning second team all-BIG EAST honors. The sophomore was named to the BIG EAST Championship all-tournament team and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
Also, Izzo-Brown and four of Blank’s teammates will travel to Baltimore, Md., this weekend to be recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) at its annual convention.
On Friday, Jan. 18, Izzo-Brown will be presented with a regional coach of the year award. The 12th year coach is also up for national coach of the year honors after guiding WVU to its first NCAA Elite Eight appearance this season and winning both the BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles.
On Saturday, Jan. 19, seniors Ashley Banks and Kim Bonilla will be recognized at a luncheon for being named to the 2007 NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-America Soccer Team.
Also honored at the luncheon will be West Virginia’s three All-American – Banks, Greer Barnes and Amanda Cicchini. The trio became the fifth, sixth and seventh NSCAA All-Americans in program history, respectively.
Barnes and Cicchini were named second team All-Americans while Banks earned third team honors. The three selections tie North Carolina and UCLA for the most All-America picks in 2007.
