Virginia Tech women’s soccer player Mandy McGlynn will compete on the US Soccer Under-20 Women’s National Team, as they embark on a four-game European Tour.
The rising sophomore from Jacksonville, Florida, spent the early portion of the summer as a member of the US Soccer Under-19 Women’s National Team on its trip to the Czech Republic.
“Being involved with the U-20 Women’s National team is always so amazing and humbling,” McGlynn said. “It’s defiantly one step closer to a short-term goal of mine, which is making the U-20 World Cup roster for next summer.
“I have been doing a lot of traveling with the national team and it’s defiantly tiring. However, I am so grateful for the opportunity to represent my country and do what I love at the highest level. Plus, I get to explore the world with an amazing group of ladies and create memories that will last forever. Every camp makes me a stronger goalkeeper mentality and physically, which will help my performance in the upcoming season with Virginia Tech. I just can’t wait come back home to Blacksburg and kick off the season.“
McGlynn started in 16 of the team’s 19 matches for the Hokies in 2016. She finished with 58 saves and held a 1.17 goals-against average. McGlynn also logged six shutouts on the year and recorded an 11-4-1 overall mark in her first season as a Hokie.
McGlynn missed three games in her freshman campaign, as she traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to compete with the US Soccer Under-18 Women’s National Team.
The U-20 WNT will travel first to St. George’s Park, England’s National Team Training Center in Burton-upon-Trent, north of London, where it will face England on July 5 and July 7. The team will then travel to Rheine, Germany, where it will face the only other country besides the USA to have won three U-20 Women’s World Cup tournaments. The matches against Germany will take place on July 10 and July 12.
The USA won the World Cup in 2002 (beating Germany in the semifinal), 2008 (beating Germany in the semifinal) and 2012 (beating Germany in the final) while Germany won in 2004 (beating the USA in the semifinal), 2010 (as the host) and in 2014 (beating the USA in group play). Korea DPR won in 2006 and most recently in 2016.
The U-20 WNT is midway through the first year of a two-year cycle with the focus on qualifying for the next U-20 Women’s World Cup and the four matches in Europe add to the preparation schedule that has already included matches against some of the best youth women’s programs in the world in Norway, Germany, France and Japan.
— Courtesy of VT Athletics
