A day after releasing her United States Women’s national team roster for January, head coach Jill Ellis has added one more player to bring the total number of players up to 30. Sarah Killion of NWSL side Sky Blue FC was the player added. Ellis will look at these 30 players to determine her who she wants to bring for the SheBelieves Cup in March.
Killion receives her second ever call-up
This will be Killion’s second ever call-up to the senior roster for the USWNT. In her second year with the Sky Blue, she appeared in 18 of the 20 games during the NWSL season and played 1,620 minutes. She scored three goals and assisted on one other.
Her prior experience at the national level came with the US Women’s U-20s and U-23’s. She has yet to be capped by the senior squad but if she has a good showing in camp, she could see time on the field in March.
Killion has experience with national team mainstays
Even though this is just her second call-up, she has had previous experience with some of the most experienced players that have several caps with the senior team. She has previously played with the likes of Morgan Brian, Crystal Dunn, Julie Johnston, Samantha Mewis and Kealia Ohai all at the national youth level. She was also a member of the 2012 U-20 squad that won the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup that won the title where she was the starting center midfielder.
When Ellis spoke with US Soccer about the upcoming SheBelieves Cup and being a viable option for that tournament, this is what she had to say:
"The 11 days of camp will give myself and the other coaches a great opportunity to gauge where each individual player is at. With the tournament, right around the corner, the players that are fit and ready to perform will definitely help their case towards a roster invitation. We will do a little testing and then jump right into 11v11 as much as possible. The other teams in our tournament will have players active in their leagues, so in that sense, we need to get played in as quickly as possible. During this camp, we have a busy week planned and putting our players in the positions and situations they face in the game as much as possible will be the priority."
If Killion works hard and shows her worth, she could very well see herself at that tournament.