CHICAGO – Highlighted by a trio of returning student-athletes and a pair of incoming freshmen, the Penn State women’s soccer program placed a quintet of Nittany Lions into the United States U18 and U19 Women’s Youth National Team camps that will run from March 31 to April 8 in Fayetteville, Georgia, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced Thursday.
Comprising Penn State’s trio of selections to the U19 Women’s Youth National Team were a trio of rising sophomores, namely defender Bella Ayscue, defender Kieryn Jeter and goalkeeper Kealey Titmuss, who each played pivotal roles in the Nittany Lions’ 2024 run to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. PSU’s pair of incoming freshmen on the U18 Women’s Youth National Team include the midfielder tandem of Riley Cross and Kennedy Ring, who will both look to make an immediate impact in Happy Valley as rookie performers during the 2025 campaign.
A native of Apex, North Carolina, Ayscue heads south for USYNT camp following an impressive rookie season in the Blue & White that featured 25 matches played and 11 total starts, with the first-year phenom making a strong case late in the season as one of PSU’s most impressive back line performers en route to the Elite Eight. Ayscue contributed one goal in her rookie season during the team’s NCAA Tournament opener against Stony Brook on November 16, while amassing five total assists for seven points in her debutant campaign. Titmuss, a native of Grand Blanc, Michigan, as well as Jeter, a native of Cumming, Georgia, both utilized their redshirts in 2024 training behind one of Penn State’s strongest rosters of individual talent in recent memory. Both Jeter and Titmuss possessed TopDrawerSoccer national player rankings as prospects and will look to elevate their skills further at this spring’s USYNT camps in Georgia.
On the U18 squad, Penn State landed a pair of incoming student-athletes including the Chatham, New Jersey, native Cross and the East Greenbush, New York, native Ring. Both student-athletes own individual rankings inside TopDrawerSoccer’s top 40 rankings, with Cross posting the highest individual mark in the Nittany Lions’ 2025 signing class at the No. 25 spot, while Ring landed the No. 36 individual ranking to see a pair of acclaimed young stars bolster the PSU midfield. Cross and Ring were both instrumental in Penn State picking up the No. 6 recruiting class in the nation in 2025, making PSU the highest-ranked signing corps in the Big Ten Conference in addition to being one of just three B1G members with a top 10 class.
United States U19 Women’s Youth National Team head coach Carrie Kveton called up 24 players, with 21 born in 2006 and three born in 2007, while Jen Klein will lead the U18 Women’s Youth National Team camp that will also feature 24 players, all born in 2007. Players born on or after January 1, 2006, are age-eligible for next year’s 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in Poland, meaning all 48 players attending camp will be training for a shot at the qualifying team for that tournament. The USA will face host Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Guyana in Group A play at the 2025 CONCACAF Women’s U20 Championship, set for May 29 through June 8 in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The top four finishers in the tournament will advance to represent the region at the 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.
The U19 Women’s Youth National Team camp roster features 21 college players and three National Women’s Soccer League professionals. The U18 Women’s Youth National Team camp roster features 14 youth club players, seven college players and four professionals, including Nittany Lion program alumna Katie Scott of the Kansas City Current, who is in her rookie year of competition in the National Women’s Soccer League.
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Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women’s soccer. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women’s soccer team on Instagram and X @PennStateWSOC, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at /PSUWomensSoccer.