Content Courtesy of Diana Pugliese, Lancaster Online Sports Writer

The U.S. Women's National Team announced the roster for the Vitality Hockey Women's World Cup two weeks ago.

While a number of familiar faces made the final list as Team USA's roster was trimmed from 28 players to just 18, there are a number of newcomers getting ready for competition.

Here are five things you may not have known about the Americans heading to London.

World Cup Debuts

Only six members of Team USA - Jackie Briggs, Jill (Witmer) Funk, Kat Sharkey, Melissa Gonzalez, Michelle Vittese and Stefanie Fee - have played in the World Cup before. The number of first-timers in the tournament may not be surprising, but what about the fact that four athletes have earned less than 20 international caps?

Margaux Paolino (nine caps) and Tara Vittese (seven caps) are the newest members, having just been named to the national team in March. On the other side, Caitlin Van Sickle (113 caps) and Warwick graduate Alyssa Manley (86 caps) are the most experienced athletes making their World Cup debuts.

Youth Movement

The average age of Team USA is 25, one year younger than the Olympic Games team two years ago.

While the roster contains five players between 28 and 29-years-old, Briggs is currently the eldest member of the squad at the age of 30. Erin Matson is the youngest team member at just 18 with Ashley Hoffman and Margaux Paolino sitting second at 21-years-old.

College Allegiances

The roster is dominated by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Tar Heels led the way with six players either having graduated from or currently attending the University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill alumni include Briggs, Lauren Moyer, Van Sickle and Julia Young, while Hoffman is a rising senior and Matson will be a freshman in the fall.

Duke boasts three athletes in Lauren Blazing, Stefanie Fee and rising junior Paolino, while Michelle and Tara Vittese both went to the University of Virginia.

Family Affair

Hoffman, who joined the national team last March, had a much longer connection to Team USA. The midfielder's mom, Brenda, helped the Americans capture bronze at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

While Tara Vittese might be playing in her first major international tournament, the midfielder will have a very familiar face in sister Michelle. The sisters, who are also joined on the national team by middle sister Carissa, mark the first set of siblings to play for Team USA since Katie and Julia Reinprecht retired after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Final Cuts

“This year, it was very hard,” said USWNT Head Coach Janneke Schopman of the roster selections. “Some really surprising young girls moved up through the ranks pretty quickly, making it really hard to make that last decision. In the end, I picked a team that I think knows what to do, but then, at the same time, you leave some players behind that have showed tremendous growth in the last couple of months.”

“It's good to see they're growing and, to me, that is also the strength of this team,” she continued. “They all support each other, they're all working super hard together and I know that should we have an injury, I can pull someone up without a doubt – and that's a nice comfort to have.”