Catching up with U-21 USWNT Players Nicole Woods and Taylor Stone

The University of Louisville's Nicole Woods and Taylor Stone recently competed with USA Field Hockey's Under-21 team in a four-game test series in England in April.

In the test series against the England U-21 team. The U-21 USWNT lost the first match 3-1, but earned ties in the next three. A practice shootout followed each game with the U-21 USWNT winning all four shootouts.

Woods, a junior from Beverly, Mass., is in her second season with the U-21 USWNT and was a team captain in the series. She scored a goal to help her team to a 2-2 tie in the second game of the series and tallied a pair of shootout goals.

Stone, a sophomore from Herndon, Va., was playing in her first stint with the Under-21 team. The defender gained valuable experience against quality competition.

Since returning, the players recently discussed their international experience with GoCards.com.

On the experience of playing against England's U-21 team
Nicole Woods
"Our experience was pretty great, just to be able to play against some of the best players in the world – there's nothing you can really compare it to."

Taylor Stone
"This was my first time with the U-21 team, I previously traveled with the U-19 team, but it's a lot different. These girls are definitely a little bit more experienced, because most of them are college athletes. Luckily I had people like Nicole, who have been on the team for a while, because they took me under their wing and helped me through it."

What have you learned from this experience, what you can bring back to team at UofL next season?
Nicole Woods
"The game overseas is definitely a lot faster, especially between two countries. What we bring back is probably the quickness of the games such as playing the free hits quickly and going forward at speed."

Taylor Stone
"I agree with what Nicole said about the fast part of the game, but I'd also add the physical part of the game. They definitely body-up a lot more and you have to be smarter with the ball and protect it a lot more."

What were some of the highlights of the trip?
Nicole Woods
"We stayed on campus right next to the field so that helped us a lot with team bonding. Right after practice we'd go into video meetings and then hang out as a team, so I think that helped the team gel together and had an impact on the field."

Taylor Stone
"We went to London for a day. We saw Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Big Ben, so that was fun."

What have been some you favorite places to visit while playing with USA Field Hockey
Nicole Woods
"Mine definitely was the Junior World Cup. The tournament itself was probably one of the coolest experiences in my life, but having it be in Santiago, Chile was really cool. It's a great city and Elisa Garcia who was on our team two years ago lives there and I got to see her."

What have been some you favorite places to visit while playing with USA Field Hockey
Taylor Stone
"This was only my second international experience. I think this was my favorite, given the group of people, the coaches, the intensity of the game play."

On maintaining balance between the U-21 USWNT, college field hockey and school
Nicole Woods
"Luckily there are a lot of opportunities to make up schoolwork on the computer and stay in touch with them via email. I actually had to skype on professor, so that was pretty neat. It hasn't been too bad."

Taylor Stone
"You definitely need to have yourself organized, but we do get a lot of help. We let our coaches and sports performance coach know when we're traveling and they plan out when we should be training and when we can leave. Regarding school, just keeping contact with our professors – some of them have been very understanding."

University of Louisville Athletics

Catching up with U-21 USWNT Players Nicole Woods and Taylor Stone

Related News

Players Mentioned

Taylor Stone

Nicole Woods

Related Videos