Four Breakers Called into National Team

Boston Matches Chicago for Most Call-Ups from a WPS Team

May 7, 2009

WESTWOOD, Mass. -- Four Boston Breakers were among the 21 players called up to the U.S. Women�s National Team by head coach Pia Sundhage on Wednesday. The team will face Japan in a pair of matches, May 20 in Frisco, Texas and again on May 23 in Sandy, Utah.

The four Breakers, a total which matches the Chicago Red Stars for most from a WPS team, consist of forward Amy Rodriguez, midfielder Angela Hucles and defenders Amy LePeilbet and Heather Mitts. None of the four will miss any matches with Boston, and will join the national team following the Breakers home match against the Washington Freedom on May 17.

Angela Hucles

Angela Hucles was one of four Boston Breakers called into national team duty. (Chris Aduama/ADUAMA.com)

Rodriguez, Hucles and Mitts have all been mainstays with the national team recently and were each a part of the gold medal-winning squad that defeated Brazil last summer in the final of the Beijing Olympics. For LePeilbet, this is her first time with the team since 2006.

Since the Olympic triumph, both Hucles and Mitts have hit the 100 cap milestone, becoming the 24th and 25th Americans, respectively, to do so. Hucles earned her 100th cap against the Korea Republic in November, while Mitts reached the century mark in the previous U.S. match against Sweden in the final of the Algarve Cup in March.

Rodriguez, who had the assist on the game-winning goal in the USA�s 1-0 win over Brazil in the Olympic final, has scored six times in 35 international matches. LePeilbet has earned 23 caps with the national team from 2004-06.

These will be the first-ever international games for the U.S. during the WPS season and the first domestic matches of 2009 for a U.S. team which is in very early preparations for qualifying for the 2011 Women�s World Cup in Germany. Seventeen of the 21 players on the roster are currently playing in WPS, and Sundhage also named four collegiate players.

U.S. Women�s National Team Roster vs. Japan

GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Kelsey Davis (Portland), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica)

DEFENDERS (7): Brittany Bock (Los Angeles Sol), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Marian Dalmy (Chicago Red Stars), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Boston Breakers), Christie Rampone (Sky Blue FC)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Angela Hucles (Boston Breakers), Carli Lloyd (Chicago Red Stars), Christine Nairn (Penn State), Heather O�Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars), Lindsay Tarpley (Chicago Red Stars)

FORWARDS (4): Lauren Cheney (UCLA), Casey Nogueira (North Carolina), Amy Rodriguez (Boston Breakers), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)

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