Kerry Abello is the latest Penn State product to make the U.S. women’s national team

When people talk about the top college teams that create women’s pro soccer players, the list is usually pretty short: North Carolina and Stanford, of course, then Florida State, then UCLA, Santa Clara, and, these days, Texas.

Penn State isn’t talked about as much because it has won just one national championship. But the Nittany Lions have produced a lot of U.S. national team players over the decades, and not just World Cup winners and Olympians like Ali Krieger, Alyssa Naeher, and Sam Coffey.

The list of those who’ve made the senior squad just grew by one. On Tuesday, Kerry Abello earned her first invitation to the big stage for a gathering that starts next week.

A 25-year-old defender, Abello has become a stalwart with the Orlando Pride. Last year, she helped the team win its first championship and the regular season title. Earlier this month, she became the first Pride player to play 50 straight games.

“She’s been a steady performer in the league, particularly defensively, but I think this season, I’ve seen an improvement in her game going forward,” U.S. manager Emma Hayes said in a news conference Tuesday. “There’s no denying as a low fullback, she’s a good stand-up [defender], good defender, positionally very good, she keeps the play really simple, but I think she’s started to add a little more to her locker going forward. … That was the part of her game that I really wanted to see a little bit more of.”

Abello has played a few positions over the years, but she’s been a left back lately. You can never have too many of those, especially for a U.S. program that rarely has much depth there.

So even with veteran Crystal Dunn and 22-year-old Avery Patterson on this 24-player squad, Hayes made room to give Abello a look.

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“Sometimes I want a fullback to stay low, and sometimes I want them to get high in the attack, depending on the strategy or the tactics for the game,” Hayes said. “And that was probably the one reason why I hadn’t called her in before. So I’ve seen that development in her, and, again, I think her consistency has put her in that position.”

The U.S. will play China on May 31 in St. Paul, Minn., and Jamaica on June 3 in St. Louis. The latter game will honor St. Louis-born U.S. star Becky Sauerbrunn, who retired from playing at the end of last year. (China was set to be the opponent in both games but told U.S. Soccer last month that it could play only the first one.)

As usual, this squad has plenty of familiar names, including three who haven’t been with the U.S. lately. Centerback and vice-captain Naomi Girma is back after an injury absence, midfielder Olivia Moultrie hadn’t made the cut since October, and forward Lynn Biyendolo didn’t make the April games against Brazil.

Abello, who played for many U.S. youth teams, is not the only newcomer. Veteran Kansas City Current forward Lo’eau LaBonta, renowned for her scoring exploits and outstanding goal celebrations, got her first call-up too. If the 32-year-old plays in a game, she will become the oldest debutante in U.S. women’s national team history.

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Seattle Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey has a shot at her first cap in her second invitation to a camp. There’s a wide-open competition to succeed Naeher, and none of the three netminders on this squad have much national team experience yet. Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who’s been playing well for England’s Manchester United, is the likely starter, with the Utah Royals’ Mandy McGlynn rounding out the unit.

(If you’re wondering, Manchester United’s women’s team is not as famous as its men’s squad, but the Red Devils finished third in the Women’s Super League this season and qualified for next season’s Champions League.)

“We all know they don’t have the international experience, say, of Alyssa Naeher, but that’s what this is about,” Hayes said. “We are creating [these] exposures for a less developed group of goalkeepers that, you know, a lot of them have under five caps. We’ve got to start building that.”

Among the many familiar names not on this squad, three are injured: centerback Tierna Davidson (ACL), midfielder Rose Lavelle (ankle), and forward Trinity Rodman (back). Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson also are out of action as expectant mothers.

Those who didn’t make the cut include goalkeepers Jane Campbell and Casey Murphy, outside back Jenna Nighswonger, midfielders Korbin Albert and Jaedyn Shaw, and forward Mia Fishel. Albert is not on a U.S. roster for the first time in Hayes’ tenure. Fishel came back in March from an ACL injury but has played only four games for England’s Chelsea since then.

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Albert, Shaw, and Fishel instead will go with the U.S. under-23 team to a two-game series in Germany during this FIFA window. The full roster will be announced Wednesday, with the teams agreeing to each have five overage players on their squads.

“Yes, [Fishel] could come in, sit on the bench for us, but it’s much better for her to go and play in Germany and get the experiences so that these players are tracking to compete in the place that we want them to come 2027,” Hayes said, referring to the next World Cup. “So, yes, she hasn’t had the games at Chelsea, but she’s been training, she’s been fit, she’s available. And I think the trip to Germany for her, plus Jaedyn, plus Korbin, will be, again, another step in their development.”

Goalkeepers (3): Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign) Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United, England)

Defenders (8): Kerry Abello (Orlando Pride), Crystal Dunn (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Emily Fox (Arsenal, England), Naomi Girma (Chelsea, England), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC)

Midfielders (6): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyon, France), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Lo’eau LaBonta (Kansas City Current), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns), Lily Yohannes (Ajax, Netherlands)

Forwards (7): Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign), Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Catarina Macario (Chelsea, England), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC)

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