CHICAGO – Penn State women’s soccer freshman midfielder Katie Scott earned a roster spot on Nittany Lion alumna Katie Schoepfer’s United States U17 Women’s Youth National Team squad ahead of the 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced Tuesday afternoon.
Scott has been a consistent contributor to the United States U17 program since the start of this calendar year, earning nine caps in the most recent cycle of opportunities. The Fairview, Pennsylvania, native has been inextricably linked to the USYNT program since the beginning of her recruitment to Happy Valley, appearing on the U15 and U16 U.S. Women’s Youth National Teams in addition to appearances with the U17 Women’s USYNT at the 2024 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship in Mexico earlier this year. Scott was previously a part of the United States’ U15 CONCACAF Championship title-winning squad during her season with the team and helped lead the U16 squad to the French Mondial World Cup title during her stint with the organization.
After battling her way through injury in the early portion of the 2024 regular season at Penn State, Scott made her collegiate soccer debut in the Nittany Lion Big Ten Conference opener against the Michigan Wolverines, setting season-bests in shots, shots on goal, total assists and minutes played in the league opener. The rookie midfielder chipped in with a pair of helpers in the dominant 6-0 rout of the Wolverines on Jeffrey Field and has since appeared in six total matches for the Blue & White, including all five Big Ten Conference contests to date.
Scott is one of just four collegiate student-athletes participating in the U17 Women’s Youth National Team roster this season, with the Nittany Lion joining North Carolina’s Trinity Armstrong, Alabama’s Maddie Padelski and Duke’s Mary Long. Each of the four collegiate student-athletes participating at this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup were early enrollees who reclassified to begin their collegiate careers early, making each of them eligible for both college soccer and international obligations this year. Scott becomes the second current Nittany Lion to join a United States Youth National Team squad during the 2024 season, joining redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Gress, who recently returned from a Bronze Medal performance with the U19 team at the FIFA World Cup in Colombia earlier this month.
Schoepfer, the head coach of the U.S. U17 Women’s Youth National Team program, was in the U.S. Youth National Team player pools from the U17 to U23 levels and started all four years of her collegiate career at Penn State, twice earning All-America honors while scoring 48 career goals. In her professional career, the forward made 100 appearances with the Boston Breakers in two leagues -- Women’s Professional Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League. She played in the NWSL’s first four seasons, and her 100 games for the Breakers were the third-most in club history. The Connecticut native was inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 2019.
Schoepfer and Scott lead Team USA into Group B action on Wednesday, October 16 against reigning champion Spain (4 p.m. ET on FS2, Universo and Telemundo digital) at Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo. The U.S. will then face Colombia on October 19 (7 p.m. ET on FS2, Universo and Telemundo digital) in Santo Domingo and wraps up first round play against South Korea on October 22 (4 p.m. ET on FS2 and Telemundo digital) at CFC Stadium in Santiago de los Caballeros. All tournament matches will be broadcast in English on either FS2 or Fox Soccer Plus and in Spanish on the Telemundo family of networks.
Scott gears up for her final regular season contest with the Blue & White in the 2024 campaign this week, as the 15th-ranked Nittany Lions play host to the east coast-rival Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Big Ten Conference action this Friday, October 4. Kickoff from Jeffrey Field in Penn State’s penultimate regular season home match is slated for 5 p.m. (ET), with the match set to stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers on B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
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