Midwest Sends New Talent to Ireland

The Midwest U24 Thunderbirds are crossing the Atlantic once again, this time traveling to Ireland for a 10-day tour. Head coach Jeff Noe used an early-June tryout to narrow down the squad, whose 28 players hail from 19 different teams, ranging from NSCRO to the Women’s Premier League.

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“The team is really looking forward to international competition and an opportunity to see what they are capable of together,” Noe explained. “Only five of the players were on last year’s winning Can-Am squad, so it will be a new mix of talent.”

The Thunderbirds will arrive in Dublin, Ireland, in time to take part in the 10s tournament being held as part of the Women’s Rugby World Cup festivities. Later in the week, the team will have matches against Railway Union and then Ulster in Belfast. In between game preparation and the matches themselves, the Midwest all-star team will watch two World Cup pool games.

MIDWEST U24 THUNDERBIRDS

Megan Ahnen – Fort Wayne Women

Rachel Aufdembrink – Univ Minnesota

Sarah Berry – DePaul Univ

Amber Brevig – Univ Minnesota

Becca Bukvich – Univ Minnesota

Taylor Day – Ohio State

Melanie Eck – Wisconsin Women

Kelley Hirt – County Will Morrigans

Emily Hranchook – Detroit Women

Shannon Hustosky – Kent State

Bethany Kiedrowski – North Dakota State

Angie McCardle – Univ Northern Iowa

Mary Kate McNulty – Denison Univ

Allison Miedzielec – Davenport Univ

Averie Mitchell-Brown – Univ Minnesota

Sidney Montano – Chicago North Shore Women

Hunter Moreland – Davenport Univ

Betty Nguyen – Chicago North Shore Women

Justine Perl – Cincinnati Women

Elizabeth Reding – Iowa State

Leah Riese – Iowa State

Megan Salyars – Univ Northern Iowa

Faith Sorensen – Wayne State

Claire Tomashek – Univ Wisconsin – La Crosse

Hannah Trommer – Kent State

Danielle Walko-Suia – Notre Dame College

Sam Warneke – Wayne State College

Chloe Wickstrom – Pittsburgh Univ

Jeff Noe – Head Coach

Jeff Horton – Backs Coach

Xane Gerasimo – Forwards Coach

Alexandra Glorioso – Manager

Brianna Woodward – Medical

Stephen Newman – Tour Organizer