Posted at 6:25 p.m., Monday, January 15, 2007
Ex-UH star Kai on U.S. team for Four Nations event
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Natasha Kai, a former University of Hawaii standout, was named to the U.S. women's soccer team for the Four Nations tournament in China, U.S. Soccer announced yesterday.Kai, a Kahuku High alum, has 17 caps and six goals in her international career.
Kate Markgraf will captain the team, filling in for Kristine Lilly. Lilly and fellow scoring star Abby Wambach are skipping the tournament to rest for the buildup to the Women's World Cup in September, also in China.
In addition to Markgraf, U.S. coach Greg Ryan selected six others who played on the 2004 Olympic team: goalkeeper Briana Scurry, defenders Cat Whitehill and Heather Mitts, midfielder Angela Hucles, and forwards Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O'Reilly. Hope Solo, who started 18 of the team's 22 matches last year, will join Scurry as the goalkeepers.
Fourteen of the 20 players are 24 or younger. Ryan selected three international newcomers: 17-year-old Casey Nogueira and 20-year-old Yael Averbuch, both from the University of North Carolina, and 19-year-old UCLA star Lauren Cheney.
Ryan also selected India Trotter, the Florida State star who earned her first and only career cap in last year's Four Nations.
The United States will face Germany (Jan. 26), England (Jan. 28) and China (Jan. 30) in the annual competition that brings together four of the world's top teams.
