NOTRE DAME, Indiana – After a successful run with the U-20 Women’s National Team in December, freshman defender Brianna Martinez was selected again to represent the United States for their upcoming Women’s U-19 La Manga Tournament in Spain.
This will be Martinez’s second stint with the U-20 National Team after playing in the Nike International Friendlies this past December. The Albuquerque, N.M. native started both friendlies against France and China at left back.
Martinez is coming off a fantastic freshman season for the Irish. She started 16 of 17 games during her first collegiate season, missing just one game due to illness. She was one of six freshmen to start this season and one of two (Brooke VanDyck) to start 10+ games.
Martinez played all 90 minutes in seven games, including the entire game in the 1-0 road win over Wake Forest. Martinez was ranked in TopDrawer Soccer’s midseason and end of season top-100 freshman list.
In the tournament, the US will face the U-19 sides from Germany on March 1, France on March 3 and Sweden on March 7 in La Manga but the opponents will feature players from the same birth years as the U.S. team as it embarks on the first year of the new two-year cycle. This is the second tournament for the U-20 squad with hopes of qualifying for the 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
–ND–