LA JOLLA, Calif. - University of California San Diego women's soccer student-athlete Elisa Martinez has been selected to participate in a training camp for the Mexico U-20 national team in the capital city of Mexico City.
The training period will serve as a tryout for the side which will represent Mexico at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, to be held in Papua New Guinea from Nov. 13-Dec. 3. Mexico will compete in Group D alongside Germany, Venezuela and South Korea, opening the tournament on Nov. 14 against South Korea at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby, the capital and largest city in Papua New Guinea.
The in-progress camp at Mexico City's famous CAR, or Centro de Alto Rendimiento (Center for High Performance), actually began last Friday, July 22, but Martinez has yet to join due to her club commitment. She is currently in Frisco, Texas, at the US Youth Soccer National Championships with GU19 So Cal Blues.
Martinez expects to arrive in Mexico this Sunday, July 31, or perhaps sooner should So Cal Blues not make Saturday night's title match. She will be observed by Mexican Football Federation officials, under the direction of head coach Roberto Medina, through Sunday, Aug. 7, with an opportunity for her stay to be extended another week. UC San Diego's first practice session is set for Monday morning, Aug. 15.
Martinez, a local product out of El Cajon, is headed toward her third season of college soccer and second in the UC San Diego program in 2016. The rising junior spent her first year out of San Diego's Francis Parker School at the University of Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls, S.D., prior to returning home and transferring to UCSD.
As a sophomore in 2015, Martinez appeared in 19 matches, drawing nine starts as an offensive central midfielder. She finished with one goal, a game-winner, and four assists for six total points. In fact, Martinez worked her way into long-time UCSD head coach Brian McManus' starting lineup for each of the final nine contests, with the team posting a 7-2 mark during that stretch, including a postseason run.
Triton teammate Itzel Gonzalez represented Mexico at the U-20 level and was a back-up goalkeeper at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Japan. The native of Tijuana, Mexico, who attended Artesia High School in Lakewood, will be a fifth-year Triton this season. Gonzalez is vying to become the new starting goalkeeper for UC San Diego following the graduation of four-year starter Kelcie Brodsky.
UC San Diego completed the 2015 campaign at 15-6-1 overall, with a record ninth California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament title. Having earned their league's automatic entry, the Tritons made a return trip to the NCAA Division II Championship after a two-year hiatus, falling 2-1 to Seattle Pacific in a driving rainstorm in Bellingham, Wash., in a first-round tilt on Nov. 12. They return all 10 starters apart from Brodsky.
UC San Diego opens the 2016 season at home on Thursday night, Sept. 1, hosting 2015 West Region finalist Azusa Pacific. Kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium is slated for 7 p.m., after the Triton men also begin their year against APU at 4:30 p.m.
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