BATON ROUGE – LSU Soccer’s freshman standout Megan Lee left Baton Rouge on Tuesday morning to join the New Zealand Women’s National Team for its training camp in San Francisco, Calif., as the Football Ferns are preparing for a two-match series with the world’s No. 1-ranked U.S. Women’s National Team over the next week.
A standout with New Zealand’s Under-17 and Under-20 national teams during her youth career, Lee now has an opportunity to represent her country at the highest level of world football.
New Zealand has the No. 19-ranked women’s team in the current FIFA/Coca-Cola Women’s World Ranking ahead of its two-match series with No. 1-ranked United States. The two nations will square off at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT before a second match on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m. at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
This marks the second time this year that Lee has been called up to play with the Football Ferns after also training with the squad in an international tour of Australia and Japan in the summer before arriving at LSU. She is still in search of her first career international cap for New Zealand at the senior level as she has yet to feature for the Football Ferns.
“We’re very proud of Megan and the opportunity she has to represent her country at the highest level,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “The highest honor any soccer player can receive is to represent your country on the international stage. Megan has already enjoyed a decorated youth career for New Zealand, and she’s now got a chance to move up and compete at the senior level.”
Lee enjoyed a decorated youth career in the New Zealand Women’s National Team system while representing her country at the Under-17 and Under-20 levels prior to her call up with the Football Ferns.
A native of Massey, Auckland, New Zealand, Lee made 15 appearances for New Zealand’s U-17 Women’s National Team from 2010-12, including her trips with the team to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad & Tobago in 2010 and Azerbaijan in 2012. She made six appearances with the U-17 team in 2010 and nine appearances with the squad in 2012.
Prior to her arrival in Baton Rouge for LSU’s training camp in August, Lee played up front and scored both goals in New Zealand’s 2-1 win over Australia in a U-20 international friendly held in July.
“The fact that we can easily bring young players such as Megan, Stephanie (Skilton) and Meikayla (Moore) into a settled squad shows how much depth of talent there is available,” said New Zealand senior coach Tony Readings in a press release on http://nzfootball.co.nz/. “It’s a testament to both the players and the people behind the Junior and Young Football Ferns that there is such talent available for selection. It shows the positive impact of investment into the future of the Ferns at all levels has had.”