3 with Utah ties get called up by United States Women’s National Team

SALT LAKE CITY — The United States Women’s National Team will be getting together later in October for the first time in seven months as the coronavirus pandemic continues, and three players with Utah ties are on the 27-player training camp roster announced by head coach Vlatko Andonovski on Thursday.

Utah Royals FC defender Kelley O’Hara is not a surprise, as she’s a USWNT veteran, but former BYU star Ashley Hatch of the Washington Spirit and Utah native Kealia Watt of the Chicago Red Stars are two who have only gotten sporadic looks from the top team over the years.

The selections come as Andonovski, who was hired last October to replace Jill Ellis, delivers on his promise to audition new players, although it was surely made easier by virtue of the fact that a number of roster regulars won’t be present.

“We want to reward players who have done well for their clubs and give them a chance to step up and perform in our environment,” Andonovski said in the announcement. “We have a lot of uncapped players and a few who have had the chance to earn a few caps, but we know that deepening our player pool is important as we head into 2021.”

Among those regulars who won’t participate is URFC forward Christen Press, who opted to play for Manchester United in England during the pandemic.

“For this camp, it just did not make sense for the players in Europe to leave their club environments, where they are getting quality training games, as they are just starting to get settled,” Andonovski said. “But this opens up the important opportunity for other players to step up and show if they can contribute to the National Team during our run to the Olympics.”

The camp will be held from Oct. 18-28 in Commerce City, Colorado. Twenty-three of the players are in the National Women’s Soccer League and four are still in college. Everyone involved will essentially be in a bubble in the Denver area.