Redshirt junior Ingrid Wells will play with the United States U-23 National Team in Spain for the next two weeks.
WASHINGTON - Georgetown University women's soccer player Ingrid Wells (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) departed today for what will be two dreams weeks for the redshirt junior.
Wells flew from Washington, D.C. to Chicago on Monday, where she met the rest of the United States U-23 National Team. From Chicago, the team traveled to La Manga, Spain and will be there until March 2 for a tournament featuring the U-23 teams of Sweden, Norway and England.
"For me, I want to get better as a player," Wells said. "These camps are such a great opportunity to play with such great players at a high level and in a different environment. It's good to challenge yourself as a player and it's a privilege to get these opportunities, so I just hope to continue to develop and make the most of it."
United States Head Coach Bill Irwin will carry a roster of 18 players, 10 of whom are professionals in WPS. It will be one of the most professional-laden women's youth teams the United States has ever sent to an international competition. Eleven players on the roster have represented the United States in FIFA youth Women's World Cup competition and three players recently finished a training camp with the full national team.
The USA will open its tournament on Feb. 25 against Sweden, face England on Feb. 27 and finish on March 1 against Norway. The U.S. U-23s traveled to La Manga two years ago for two matches and defeated the Norway U-23s, 1-0, and the England U-23s, 3-0.
The trip overseas is nothing new for Wells, who was a member of the U-20 team that won a gold medal in Chile in 2008. She has also trained with the U-23 team last summer and was selected for a training camp in California in January.
"Over the summer, I went to Germany for a tournament and to England with this team so it was pretty good experience," Wells said. "We have practices every day and then we'll have games. They're all good teams so it should be a good experience."
Wells earned First Team All-America honors after helping lead Georgetown to its best season in program history, reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and finishing the 2010 campaign with a 15-7-2 overall record. The BIG EAST Conference Midfielder of the Year and a three-time All-BIG EAST First Team selection, Wells tied for the team lead in scoring with 28 points, setting a school single-season record for points in a season. Wells scored nine goals and recorded a team-high 10 assists. She finished tied for fifth in the BIG EAST in points (28, 1.17 per game), tied for third in assists (10, 0.42 per game) and tied for seventh in goals (9, 0.38). Nationally, Wells finished 25th in the country in total assists.
"Obviously, when our team does well it helps out everyone individually and I think that has been the case for me," Wells said. "Our spring season started when we got back from Christmas break and I've been practicing so I feel like I'm ready."
This experience will be a bit new for Wells as she steps up into a higher level of competition, but it is nothing that the she doesn't feel she can't handle.
"I think I'm at the point in my career where it's not new for me, so I've become more comfortable as time has gone on," Wells said. "I think my style of play when I'm with the national team is really possession-oriented and I think that's worked for me there. I think the more experience I've gotten, the more comfortable I've felt."
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