March 9, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Freshman goalkeeper Jenny Rizzo will join the United States' U21 junior national team at the 2016 Junior Pan American Games, as announced this week by USA Field Hockey and U21 head coach Janneke Schopman.
"I first found out about the opportunity from "Stu" (Assistant Coach Stuart Smith) who was talking to me after a game and told me that Janneke Schopman, the U21 head coach, had been looking at me and was interested in me trying out for the team," said freshman goalkeeper Jenny Rizzo. "November came and she told me I could go to their camp which was in Virginia so over thanksgiving break I went to the University of Virginia and was with the team."
"After camp she invited me back for the January series against Great Britain and we had four or five games against them and it was after that she told me that she was going to add me to the roster and from there she would make evaluations about who would travel to Junior Pan-Ams."
"I went to the University of North Carolina for training camp in February and there were three goalkeepers and she could only take two, I made the cut"
Rizzo was one of 18 athletes selected to the U.S. roster for the championship, which will be held March 30-April 10 in Trinidad & Tobago. Team USA will compete in Pool B along with Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, host Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela. The top two finishers at the Junior Pan American Games will receive berths to the Junior Women's World Cup, slated for Nov. 23-Dec. 4 in Santiago, Chile.
A native of Hershey, Pa., Rizzo finished her freshman season for the Nittany Lions having started 19 games finishing with 95 saves and a goal against average of 1.63.
"I'm really excited because just a few months ago I would've never seen myself here and I've never traveled internationally so that exciting as well."