February 25, 2008

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Freshman Ryan Thomas was one of 23 players called on by head coach Thomas Rongen to participate in a U-20 U.S. Men's National Team domestic training camp in New Orleans from February 19-24.

The team, made up entirely of collegiate players, gathered in New Orleans on Feb. 19 to train before playing two games in a four-team event. On Saturday, Feb. 23 the U.S. faced the Honduras U-20 MNT in a wild game that tallied four yellow cars, one U.S. ejection, and two Honduras ejections. The game ended in a 0-0 draw and the U.S. went on to win in a penalty shootout, 4-2.

On Sunday, they defeated CD Victoria, a youth team from Honduras. Thomas , earned his first appearance for the U.S. on the week, and played the full-90, aiding them to a 3-2 victory. The win, combined with the previous day's shootout triumph, was good enough to win the tournament crown.

The U.S. U-20 MNT will next gather in April, when it heads to Portugal for the Campos Verdes International Tournament.

U.S. U-20 MNT Training Camp Roster
February 19-24
GOALKEEPERS (2): Warren Gross (Penn State), Austin Guerrero (University of Portland)
DEFENDERS (6): Stuart Amick (University of Massachusetts), Greg Eckhardt (Clemson University), Andre Mittoo (South Florida), Ike Opara (Wake Forest), James Shupp (Virginia Tech), Chris Taylor (University of Tulsa)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Richard Balchan (Indiana University), Shawn Chin (Boston College), Daniel Cruz (UNLV), Blair Gavin (Akron), Wilfrido Lara (DePaul University), John Okafor (Brown University), Michael Stephens (UCLA), Spencer Thompson (Michigan State)
FORWARDS (7): Blake Brettschneider (University of South Carolina), Cameron Brown (University of North Carolina), Steven Cabas (Florida International), Daniel Kelly (Indiana University), Peri Marosevic (University of Michigan), Ryan Thomas (Stanford University), Andrew Weideman (University of California)