July 13, 2010
U.S. Soccer Media Center • U.S. U-20 WNT Home Page
DRESDEN, Germany - Penn State women's soccer has two representatives set to step on the pitch tomorrow as the United States takes on Ghana at Noon ET in Dresden's Rudolf-Harbig Stadium in the Americans' FIFA U-20 World Cup opener. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Sophomore midfielder Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) and incoming freshman forward Maya Hayes (Livingston, N.J.) lead the American charge in Germany this month. The Ghana match is the first of three group games for the United States squad, which will also take on Switzerland on July 17 in Dresden and South Korea on July 21 in Bielefeld.
The Switzerland game will be broadcast on ESPNU and the South Korea match will be on ESPN2. Both matches will take place at Noon ET. All games will also be broadcast on ESPN3.com, ESPN's live online streaming network.
The Americans are the defending U-20 Women's World Cup Champions having won the tournament in 2008. That competition, which was held in Chile, featured two Nittany Lions as well in Nairn and three-time NSCAA All-American Alyssa Naeher. Naeher captured the Golden Glove award given to the best goalkeeper in the tournament, while Nairn was a key contributor in the midfield, starting four of the six matches and adding two assists.
Nairn is one of two returners from that squad, joining fellow captain Sydney Leroux of UCLA on the squad. She will wear No. 11, while Hayes will don No. 16. The speedster out of New Jersey has been a key reserve off the bench for the Americans, notching a goal against the Norway U-23 team in February, a 1-0 win at the La Manga Cup in Spain.
Stay up to date with all the Nittany Lions' progress in Germany this July by following GoPSUsports.com. Frequent updates will be made about Nairn's and Hayes' experiences at the World Cup with full game reports.
For more information the Penn State Sport Camps 2010 visit http://www.outreach.psu.edu/psu-sport-camps/
For complete coverage of Penn State women's soccer, please visit http://www.GoPSUsports.com/sports/w-soccer.
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--NITTANY LIONS--