Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – The U.S. U-20 Women's National Team and Hokie Mandy McGlynn just finished their trip to La Manga, Spain, where the Women's National Team participated in the U-23 La Manga Tournament to prepare for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup being held in France on Aug. 5-24.
McGlynn, a rising junior from Jacksonville, Florida, helped lead the U-20 team to a 3-0 finish at the La Manga Tournament, as the U.S. faced Sweden, England and Italy. Posting a 2-0 record, McGlynn saw starts against Italy (2-1), recording three saves in the contest, and Sweden (4-1), against whom she tallied five saves.
The experience of playing in a tournament featuring teams that have players several years older than herself is one she hopes will help her and her team get ready for World Cup competition
"It's been really good," McGlynn said. "We've been playing really strong opponents to get ourselves ready. We decided to play up in the La Manga Tournament, so we played U-23 teams, which was a really good challenge for us. We did well, so I think we're well prepared, and we still have a couple more camps and games against other countries going into the World Cup."
Though getting herself ready for the World Cup is currently her top priority, McGlynn still hopes to take what she has learned these past few months with the National Team to further her game for the Hokies in the upcoming fall.
"Just having that experience under my belt will help me tremendously at Tech and against ACC teams that we will face, just knowing what to do and seeing those situations before," she said. "Just leading from the back – I think we'll have a good run."
With all of the traveling back and forth with the U-20 team, and the responsibilities she has in Blacksburg, it can be tough, but McGlynn feels the reward of it all will certainly pay off.
"It's been crazy, especially since I'm not with my team. It's hard being away from them because I love them so much." McGlynn said. "It's been a good experience, and I'm definitely glad that I kinda took the semester off doing two online classes, so I'm not struggling there and just focusing in soccer and being with the U-20's."
McGlynn also took the time to tell what she believes is key to those who have the aspirations of one day playing for their National Team.
"Just focus on being consistent," she said. "That's the major thing to play at the level that I am at right now. Just playing consistent in every day training environments and just always look to improve little things day-by-day."
Hopefully, the consistency she has brought to the U-20 team will help her elevate to even greater heights this upcoming season for the Hokies. Last year, she posted a career-high seven shutouts, which moved her to third on the all-time list. She now has 12 career shutouts.