University of Tennessee Athletics
Johnson Travels to Under-23 Training Camp
January 17, 2008 | Soccer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? University of Tennessee women???s soccer player Jaimel Johnson reported to training camp with the U.S. Under-23 Women???s National Team this week. Johnson was selected, along with 23 other players, by U.S. Head Coach Bill Irwin to participate in the first ever women???s U-23 camp from Jan. 12-20.
The training camp, being held at U.S. Soccer???s National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, Calif., will consist of team workouts, along with a number of scrimmages against Los Angeles-area club teams.
The selection is the first national team experience for Johnson, who becomes the seventh player in Lady Vol history to participate in training or competition on the national level. Teammate Kylee Rossi competed with the U.S. Under-21s for a tour against club teams in England in the summer of 2007.
The first camp of the new year will begin to prepare the Under-23s for this summer???s Nordic Cup. The U.S. is looking to take home its 10th title at the prestigious tournament which includes, among others, youth national teams from England, Germany and Norway.
Formerly the U-21 WNT, the age group changed to U-23 as a result of the Nordic Cup becoming a U-23 competition. As a result, the U.S. U-21s, who dominated the Nordic Cup for the past decade, will become a U-23 squad with no overage players for the summer tournament that brings the USA together with Europe???s top youth teams.
Johnson capped an outstanding 2007 season with a selection to the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA)/adidas All-America Third Team. The Dayton, Ohio, native led the Orange and White to a 15-5-2 overall record and its fifth trip to the NCAA Sweet 16. Along the way, Johnson posted a 0.88 goals against average, making 111 saves and posting 10 solo shutouts, while setting a new record for saves in a single season at Tennessee.
Johnson moved into third place all-time in the UT record books in career victories (21), minutes played (3,427) and shutouts (15), while her 0.95 career goals against average ranks second behind former Lady Vol Vanessa Phillips Bosshart (2002-05). The junior also recorded the third-best single-game performance by a Tennessee goalkeeper, registering 12 saves in the season-ending loss at Portland.
Former Lady Vol All-American and current interim Assistant Coach Keeley Dowling helped the U.S. Under-21s to a gold medal in the 2004 Nordic Cup.
The goalkeeper is one of four Southeastern Conference players to participate in the training camp, as Florida???s Ashlee Elliott, Ameera Abdullah and Stacy Bishop were also selected to the 24-player roster. Six student-athletes who participated in December???s Women???s College Cup are training with the team as well, including 2007 national champion USC???s Ashley Nick.
Under-23 Women's National Team Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (4): Cori Alexander (Portland), Joanna Haig (Louisville), Valerie Henderson (UCLA), Jaimel Johnson (Tennessee)
DEFENDERS (7): Marisa Abegg (Stanford), Rachel Buehler (Stanford), Carrie Drew (Notre Dame), Nikki Krzysik (Virginia), Kasey Moore (Texas), Brittany Taylor (Connecticut), Elise Weber
MIDFIELDERS (8): Ameera Abdullah (Florida), Yael Averbuch (North Carolina), Stacey Bishop (Florida), Kiki Bosio (Santa Clara), Brittany Klein (Santa Clara), Lindsey Ozimek (UNC-Charlote), Ashley Nick (USC), Meghan Schnur (Connecticut)??
FORWARDS (5): Danesha Adams (UCLA), Ashlee Elliott (Florida), Elizabeth Eng (Connecticut), Kerri Hanks (Notre Dame), Michelle Weissenhofer (Notre Dame)
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