Negron to fight for place on Under-21 national team

Is Esmeralda Negron the next Mia Hamm?

It's too early to tell. But maybe her participation in the U.S. national team's Under-21 training camp will shed some light on the Princeton women's soccer star's potential at the national level.

Negron, a junior forward for the Tigers, found out last week that she had been invited to the training camp at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Along with 24 other talented collegiate players, she will compete for one of the 18 spots on the Under-21 national team.

Negron will miss over a week of school for the training camp, held April 14-25. Tough competition awaits her in California beyond even the fight for one of the coveted 18 Under-21 spots.

The 25 training camp participants will first face off against the Mexican national team in two contests. Later, they twice take on the U.S. national team — a squad that features Hamm and other top American players.

The players will spend the remainder of the 11 days training and showcasing their skills.

Negron is excited about competing at the national level and the prospect of making a name for herself at the camp.

"I'll be able to test myself and see if I can play at the next level," she said. "I can get a lot of exposure, hopefully."

Negron is not entirely sure what the future holds in terms of soccer plans beyond her Princeton career, but she has lofty ambitions.

"If I can make it, I'd like to play pro," she said.

Selection to the Under-21 national team would bode well for Negron's future soccer career, as over half of the U.S. national team's player pool are former Under-21 team members.

If Negron clinches a spot on the Under-21 team, she will have a summer full of international competition awaiting her. The squad will travel to a number of different tournaments, battling top teams in its age group from all over the world.

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Among those tournaments is the Nordic Cup, a July tournament in Iceland that features some of the best European players in their age division.

The invitation to this training camp brings a magical end to Negron's phenomenal junior year. Not only did she lead the Tigers in scoring last season, but she also tied a Princeton record for single-season goals scored with 13. Her 27 career goals place her second all-time in the Tiger record books in that category.

Among the individual honors Negron collected for the fall season were nominations to the first-team All-Ivy League (as a unanimous selection), the first-team All-Mid-Atlantic-Region, and the third team All-America. She was also named the 2003 Ivy League Player of the Year.

Her efforts helped earn Princeton its 11-3-3 record and an at-large NCAA tournament bid. The Tigers dropped their first-round contest to Villanova, 2-1, the third straight year the team has dropped its opening round match in the NCAAs.