Dallas’ Madison Haley produced a pair of assists to help send Stanford to the College Cup for the third straight year. Her performance in the 5-1 win over BYU on Friday evening caps off a week that saw Haley named to the US Women’s National Team’s talent identification camp in December.
The former Dallas Texans and FC Dallas WPSL striker missed out on the Cardinals’ 15-0 mauling of Prairie View A&M in the first round but added a goal in the two rounds prior to Friday’s quarterfinal win.
Wednesday saw the daughter of five-time Super Bowl winner Charles Haley named to Vlatko Andonovski’s 24-player identification camp as one of four Stanford players. While the camp isn’t a full USWNT camp with matches, it is a chance for the new national team coach to evaluate players on the fringes of the team prior to Olympic qualifying in January.
It does bring up the reminder that the state of Texas has lacked representation on the US Women’s National Team. Mia Hamm learned to play the game as a five-year-old in Wichita Falls, and Carla Overbeck grew up in Richardson prior to lifting the World Cup twice. The only DFW-born player to make a World Cup roster was Tracey Bates Leone, who was Overbeck’s team-mate on the Dallas Sting team who served as a precursor to the USWNT in the mid-80s. Leone made one appearance in the 1991 World Cup.
In more recent times DFW has seen a couple of players come and go. Coppell’s Chioma Ubogagu was called up to the USWNT in 2017 but made a one-time switch to represent England with few opportunities in the American side. Plano’s Abby Smith was called up without earning a cap, and Ft. Worth-born Taylor Smith has won ten caps, but opportunities for the pair also dried up.
On Friday, the Cardinals Junior made a surging run into the box to feed Catarina Macario for her 31st goal of the season in the 17th minute before squaring to the Brazilian across the box to double the lead on the half-hour mark.
The win against BYU – previously the only unbeaten side left in the nation – sets up a trip to San Jose’s Avaya Stadium on Friday, December 6. The semifinal pits Stanford against UCLA, with the Championship game taking place on Sunday.
The former Ursuline Academy of Dallas student turns her attention to the national team following the weekend, as the talent identification camp begins on Monday, December 9 in Bradenton, FL running through the 14th.