April 3, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - UCF women's soccer defender Nikki Moore (Virginia Beach, Va.) was recently selected to participate in the United States Under 20 Training Camp to be held in Los Angeles April 5-13. Knight head coach Amanda Cromwell also will travel to the Home Depot Center in California to serve as an assistant coach for the national squad.
The camp has invited players from across the country to compete for roster spots on the U20 team, which is preparing for CONCACAF qualification (The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) and then ultimately a shot at the FIFA U20 World Championship in Chile in November.
"We are so proud of Nikki Moore for being invited into the under 20 national team camp," said Cromwell, who helped lead the Knights to their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007. "This is a world cup year for the U20s so it's a great opportunity for her to make a team that will be playing for a world championship. We will definitely miss her for our last two spring games but the team is so excited for her to go to national camp and represent UCF.
"As one of the assistant coaches for Tony Dicicco next week, I will have the unique opportunity of coaching Nikki at the next level and seeing for myself how she competes against the best players in the country in her age group. I have no doubt she will excel and I hope she gets selected for future camps."
The United States will pick a training pool of approximately 26 players from the April camp as well as its two previous tours (Chile and Cyprus) to continue preparations for qualification in May. Moore will open her camp with two training sessions on Sunday with an 11 vs. 11 scrimmage in the afternoon.
Moore played in all 23 matches last year as a sophomore, scoring one goal and adding six assists for eight points from her position in the back. She helped the UCF defense allow just 21 goals on the year and goalkeeper Jennifer Manis post a 0.87 goals-against average. As a team, the Knights racked up 10 shutouts to finish the season 15-4-4 overall. At the end of 2008, Moore earned a spot on the All-Conference USA First Team and the NSCAA All-Southeast Second Team.
Cromwell, meanwhile, is no stranger to spending time with the United States national teams. She was part of the U.S. Soccer U14 Girls' Development ID Camp in Pomona, Calif., last summer and was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1991-98. Cromwell wrapped up her ninth season with the Knights in 2007 as UCF claimed its second C-USA regular-season title in three years.
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