COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Former Terrapins Katie O'Donnell and Jill Witmer have been selected to the U.S. women's national team roster for the Hockey World League Semifinals in Valencia, Spain June 10-21.
The Hockey World League Semifinals will take place at the Valencia Hockey Stadium. With two pools of five teams, Team USA, ranked fifth worldwide, will match up with No. 6 Germany, No. 14 Ireland, Uruguay and No. 11 South Africa. The USWNT is set to play Uruguay in their first pool game on Thursday, June 11 at 7: 00 a.m. EST.
The Hockey World League is a relatively new concept, which allows more nations a chance to qualify for the Olympic Games. Teams that have made it through Hockey World League Rounds One and Two move on to compete in the Semifinals. Teams with a world ranking of 1-11 have an automatic bye to the Semifinal round. Following all the Semifinals, the six highest placed teams will be offered a prized participation at the Olympics.
“This selection has been extremely competitive which is testament to the strength of the group and the dedication and commitment of the players,” said U.S. head coach Craig Parnham. “There is a nice balance to the squad with some highly experienced players along with some exciting emerging talent.”
“We are looking forward to the challenge of the upcoming Olympic Qualifying events whilst we remain focused on the final stages of our preparations over the next couple of weeks.”
Following the Hockey World League Semifinals, the U.S. Women's National Team will head to Toronto in July for the Pan American Games. The games will be played at the University of Toronto, on two world-class field hockey pitches.
For all information regarding the Hockey World League Semifinals including the full schedule, click here to check out the event page.
The final game of Team USA's series vs. Ireland last week will be replayed through the Universal Sports Network at 1 p.m. ET as part of USA Field Hockey's partnership with the Universal Sports Network. For more information, click here.
-Terps-
