U.S. boss adds Branam and Solo to Scurry and Mullinix for residency camp

It’s no surprise that Briana Scurry and Siri Mullinix are on April Heinrichs’ list, but the other two goalkeepers might raise some eyebrows. The United States national team coach named four goalies to her roster for the pre-Olympic residency camp, which will convene at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., on April 17. Scurry, a star at the ’99 Women’s World Cup, had a spot reserved for her despite the fact she’s played only one game this year. The inclusion of the 23-year-old Mullinix became a mere formality with her recent stellar performances in Portugal. College players – North Carolina’s 19-year-old Jenni Branam and Washington’s 18-year-old Hope Solo – round out the foursome, beating out veterans Saskia Webber and Tracy Ducar, who were a part of Tony DiCicco’s World Cup squad last summer. “The players that dominate the under-21 national camps will be brought on to the women’s national team,” Heinrichs said. Branam earned rave reviews last fall when her North Carolina Tar Heels won their 15th NCAA championship. She is only a freshman. So is Solo. The teenagers have played extensively with youth national teams. Solo started for the U.S. under-18 team that won the Pan Am Games last summer. Branam and Solo have only one international appearance between them with the senior team. And Branam earned that cap on March 14 at the Algarve Cup. What is most surprising is not that they got the nod over Webber or Ducar, whose time has come and gone, but that they got the nod over Notre Dame star LaKeysia Beene. She had been in the second tier of keepers, along with Mullinix, that was expected to someday replace Scurry. Beene worked her way up the ranks, as Mullinix did, by starting for a few years with the U.S. under-21 team. Beene has three caps with the senior team and is hoping for more. But she’s being replaced, at 22, by even younger players. “We are going to have an opportunity to evaluate Keysia again,” Heinrichs said. “But this year I think the younger generation sneaked up on her.” Beene agrees with a youth movement, if not with her own exclusion. She said, “I don’t know how many years Bri has left, but it’s time to develop younger goalkeepers.

Scurry and Siri for Sydney?

Given the limitations of an 18-player Olympic roster, Heinrichs will choose two goalies for Sydney. DiCicco had three on his 20-player World Cup roster. Scurry will be one of those Olympic keepers, assuming she returns to the form that made her the best keeper in the world last year. She is recovering from a pulled quadriceps muscle. The former Massachusetts star was also out of shape prior to the last camp. “I truly believe Bri will be healthy and be back at level of last year,” Heinrichs said. “I think her overall fitness and health with regards to her injury are all a concern to us. But Bri is a world-class goalkeeper, and she really etched that in our minds with the Brazil game in the World Cup. She was great in that semifinal.” Mullinix should be the other Olympic keeper. She has little more game experience (5 caps) than Branam and Solo, but she’s been to numerous training camps and has played extensively for the U-21 team. Mullinix is the best of the four keepers at playing the ball with her feet and can come off her goal line well, which is a necessary skill because the national team plays its defenders high. She enjoys competing with Branam, who replaced her in the UNC nets and is currently her roommate in Chapel Hill. Last fall, Mullinix watched as Branam gave up just six goals and compiled a 0.30 goals-against average in her first collegiate season. Branam, who hails from Placentia, Calif., is a physical presence in the net but isn’t as polished as the older keepers. “Jen Branam is pretty special in regards to power in the kicking game and courage and aggressiveness,” Heinrichs said. “She has a tremendous ability to keep the ball out of the net. It’s not the cleanest technique or the most sophisticated technique, but it’s pretty effective.” While Branam is gutsy, Solo is big. At 5-foot-9, Solo is the tallest U.S. keeper and at 140 pounds she’s agile. The Richland, Wash., product is strong in the air and good with the ball at her feet. She needs to work on shot-stopping and on playing higher in the penalty area. But then she has a few years to improve. Solo played well against a boys team in a U-21 camp at ARCO in late March, and Heinrichs, who attended the camp, took notice. by Soccer America associate editor Dean Caparaz