USA Field Hockey names women’s Pan American Games roster, an Olympic qualifier to the 2024 games in Paris

Before you know it, it’ll be October.

And, for USA Field Hockey, it’s another opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. Head Coach David Passmore, on Monday, announced the 16 athletes (and two provisional) traveling to compete in the South America contest.

The athletes were selected at the conclusion of a two-match test series against Canada and was hosted by USA Field Hockey earlier in September. The athletes selected to the roster will be participating in the games in Santiago, Chile from October 25 to November 4.

“This was one of the hardest selections I’ve had to make with spots on the roster so competitive,” Passmore said. “While it is always great for a coach to have competition this also means that some athletes who have performed well have missed out simply because others were better at this time. That said, we view ourselves as one ‘united’ group and whatever players in a game, series or tournament represent the whole United Eagles squad.”

Here is the announcement:

“For USA, five veterans from the Peru edition were selected to the Chile roster. That includes co-captains Amanda Golini (Randolph, N.J.) and Ashley Hoffman (Mohnton, Pa.), along with goalkeeper Kelsey Bing (Houston, Texas), Linnea Gonzales (Bel Air, Md.) and Danielle Grega (Kingston, Pa.). This is paired with the new talent of Ashley Sessa (Schwenksville, Pa.) and Abigail Tamer (Dexter, Mich.).

2023 USWNT Pan American Games Roster 

Kelsey Bing (Houston, Texas), Sanne Caarls (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands), Leah Crouse (Virginia Beach, Va.), Emma DeBerdine (Millersville, Pa.), Amanda Golini (Randolph, N.J.), Linnea Gonzales (Bel Air, Md.), Danielle Grega (Kingston, Pa.), Ally Hammel (Duxbury, Mass.), Ashley Hoffman (Mohnton, Pa.), Karlie Kisha (Hamburg, Pa.), Ashley Sessa (Schwenksville, Pa.), Meredith Sholder (Fleetwood, Pa.), Abigail Tamer (Dexter, Mich.), Jillian Wolgemuth (Mount Joy, Pa.), Beth Yeager (Greenwich, Conn.), Maddie Zimmer (Hershey, Pa.)

The two provisional athletes are Kelee Lepage (Honey Brook, Pa.) and Jenny Rizzo (Hershey, Pa.).

2023 USWNT Pan American Games Schedule 

*all times are listed in Eastern Time Zone, which is -1 hour behind local time

The No. 16 United Eagles sit in Pool A with No. 3 Argentina, No. 25 Uruguay and No. 47 Trinidad and Tobago. Pool B consists of No. 14 Chile, No. 15 Canada, No. 29 Mexico and No. 40 Cuba.

USA will open up PAG competition with Trinidad and Tobago, an opponent they last faced at the 2022 Pan American Cup, and dominated by a score of 16-0. Next, they will play Argentina, their toughest pool opponent, who they met in March during the 2022-23 FIH Hockey Pro League and fell in both meetings, 0-3. In their final pool game, the United Eagles will face Uruguay, a squad they haven’t seen since the 2015 edition of the PAG. In that contest, USA won 5-0.

“We are taking a week regeneration now and will come together for 3 weeks of hard training before we depart for Chile,” added Passmore. “With the scheduled matches against South Africa being canceled, we won’t have the benefit of international competition but are thankful to members of the Junior and Development U.S. Men’s National Team for supporting us with some game play before we start.”

“We have a tough pool with No. 3 ranked Argentina and a fast improving Uruguay team so first need to ensure we qualify for the semifinals which ensures our Olympic Qualifier berth. Hopefully then we will be aiming for a medal and winning the event. Recent years has seen significant development in Pan American Hockey Federation and with Chile, Canada and Argentina all competing in last year’s World Cup the team knows there will be no easy matches.”

The winner of the women’s 2023 PAG qualifies for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The teams that come in second, third and fourth will be placed in an FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier in January 2024.”