Roberts Helps U20 US National Team to CONCACAF Title, 2016 World Cup

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras –University of Kansas soccer’s freshman midfielder, Parker Roberts, concluded another stint with the U.S. Women’s National Team Sunday, helping the squad to the Under-20 CONCACAF Championship with its 1-0 win over Canada in the tournament final inside theEstadio Olimpico Metropolitano. Roberts played in four of the team’s five matches throughout the 10-day tournament and aided in the team’s automatic berth to the 2016 U20 Women’s World Cup.
 
Roberts, who played in 20 of Kansas’ 21 matches and was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team during the Jayhawks’ fall campaign, started in Team USA’s midfield in four of the squad’s five CONCACAF Tournament matches, including the final against Canada Sunday night. Of those four matches, Roberts played the full 90 minutes on three occasions; in the team’s 2-2 draw against Mexico (Dec. 4), in the 6-1 win over Panama (Dec. 7) and in the 1-0 win over Canada (Dec. 13). She also started and played 65 minutes in the 6-0 U.S. victory over Haiti (Dec. 9).
 
Though Roberts didn’t post many offensive statistics playing as the holding midfielder, she assisted in the dominant U.S. midfield, which controlled the possession statistics in each of the four matches she played in, holding the ball for an average of 58 percent of the match time. Roberts also had a hand in the dominant American defense that allowed just three goals throughout the five-match tournament and an average of 5.3 opponent shots in the four games Roberts played.
 
The championship victory marked the Americans’ fourth-straight U20 CONCACAF trophy, and qualified the team for the 2016 U20 World Cup to be played next November in Papa New Guinea.
 
                                                                                     
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