Five Bruins head to national women’s soccer training camp

This post was updated at 10:20 p.m.

Five UCLA women’s soccer players were named to the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team’s second training camp roster on Tuesday.

“It’s an honor every time I get called, and it never gets old,” said junior defender Abby Dahlkemper, who is a veteran of the U23 squad after receiving multiple call-ups in previous years. “It’s definitely a privilege and something that you have to continuously work hard for.”

The five players – sophomore forward Taylor Smith, junior midfielders Sam Mewis and Sarah Killion and junior defenders Caprice Dydasco and Dahlkemper – were all perennial starters for the 2013 season, in which the team won the program’s first national championship.

Smith contributed a total of eight goals in the Bruins’ season, the second highest on the team, including a crucial extra-time clincher against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.

The midfielders’ biggest contribution on the field of play was seen through their playmaking. Killion led the team in assists with a total of 12, while Mewis tied the UCLA record for most assists in the playoffs with five.

Dahlkemper and Dydasco’s impact was mainly felt on the other side of the field as key contributors to the team’s defense that only let in an average of 0.296 goals per game, the lowest in the nation.

UCLA leads the nation in the number of players called up from a single university to the U23 team with five – something that the players feel is not only a testament to the strength of the team and program, but will also benefit them by creating an air of familiarity when training starts.

“I think it definitely has a ‘home away from home’ kind of feel; we just are so comfortable with each other, and it’s nice having so many other Bruins on the team,” Dahlkemper said. “Having five girls called from the same team really says something about the team and the talent.”

While the UCLA players expect a feeling of kinship when they head to the training camp with their teammates, there will also be familiar faces of another kind – former opponents.

The Bruins may be used to competing for different goals with these players during the season, but when training camp hits, they’ll all be wearing the same jersey and representing the same team and nation.

“Our rivals, our opponents will come together now for the national team and contribute all our skills and work together as one,” Dydasco said. “I think it’ll help me continue a high level of training and make me vulnerable to the things I need to work on so I can get better and train hard for the season to come.”

The Bruins will join the rest of the U23 squad in Chula Vista, from June 7-14, for the training camp.

Compiled by Aubrey Yeo, Bruin Sports reporter.