STANFORD, Calif. – Continuing to establish itself as a pipeline to senior national teams, Stanford will send eight players to various levels over the next month.
Former Cardinal Naomi Girma, Lo’eau LaBonta and Catarina Macario will play for the U.S. Women’s National Team, Kyra Carusa will suit up for Ireland, Kennedy Wesley will compete with the U.S. U-23 squad, and current Cardinal Shae Harvey, Charlotte Kohler and Caroline Birkel are set to represent the U.S. U-20 squad.
Girma, LaBonta and Macario were named to the 24-player training camp roster for upcoming matches against China PR at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday, May 31 and against Jamaica at Energizer Park in St. Louis on Tuesday, June 3. The roster features seven different players from the USWNT roster that faced Brazil in two matches in early April, headlined by the return of Girma, who has not featured for the USA in 2025 due to injuries but is back to fitness after helping Chelsea FC win the Women’s Super League title and FA Cup in England. If LaBonta, 32, who earns her first USWNT call-up, plays in St. Paul or St. Louis, she will become the oldest player to debut for the USWNT program in its 40-year history.
LaBonta, an 11-year NWSL veteran with four different clubs, earned her first U.S. Soccer call-up at the U-14 level in 2007. She also played with the U.S. U-15 GNT, but her most recent call-up was during her time at Stanford, where she helped the Cardinal to the 2011 NCAA title, when she played with the U.S. U-23 WNT.
Ireland head coach Carla Ward selected Carusa for the remaining two UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Türkiye and Slovenia. The first game sees Ireland take on Türkiye in Istanbul on Friday, May 30th. They will then finish up this Group campaign by hosting Slovenia in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork on Tuesday, June 3rd.
Wesley was one of 20 players called up to the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team training camp and matches in Germany. The U.S. team will be in Germany from May 26-June 3 and will play its German counterparts twice, on May 30 and June 2 at small stadiums outside of Stuttgart. The programming in Europe is another step in U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Emma Hayes’ emphasis on this age group and its importance along the player pathway to the full National Team.
Announced earlier this month, Birkel was selected as one of 21 players to represent the USA at the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in Costa Rica. Birkel, who enrolled early at Stanford and is entering her first season on The Farm in 2025, was one of the goalkeepers on the USA’s 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Team and is the only player on this qualifying team from that squad. The USA will take aim at one of four berths to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland and a record eighth Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship after dominant runs to the confederation crown in 2020 and 2022. The USA will face Guyana on May 30, Puerto Rico on June 1 and host Costa Rica on June 3 in Group A play at the tournament, which will run from May 29-June 8 in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The top four finishers in the tournament will advance to represent the region in Poland in the fall of next year.
Harvey and Kohler have been called up to the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team training camp being held from May 26-June 2 in Fayetteville, Ga. While the USA is also competing in Costa Rica with a team of players born in 2006 and 2007, including Birkel, this squad of players heading to Georgia were all born in 2005, making them too old for the next FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. To that end, this programming for the 2005s will allow 24 top college-aged players to continue their growth in the U.S. WNT programs with hopes of moving along the pathway to U.S. U-23 WNT and beyond. The roster features players from 18 different colleges and four players who have played for the USA in a FIFA Youth Women’s World Cup: goalkeeper Valentina Amaral and midfielders Kohler, Taylor Suarez and Melina Rebimbas, all of whom played for the USA at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India. Suarez was also at the 2024 FIFA U-20 WWC in Colombia. Harvey and defender Alyssa Gonzalez have been on Concacaf qualifying teams at the U-17 and/or U-20 levels.