NEWARK, Del. - - Freshman midfielder Manuela Restrepo has a new team to play for this spring.
The Wilmington University women's soccer student-athlete has been called up to the Colombian U-20 Women's National Team to play in a pair of friendly games in early March.
The Colombian team will travel to Costa Rica to play the friendlies on March 3 and March 6, beginning a new preparation micro-cycle for the South American Championship in Chile this April. The first and second place teams from that event qualify for the 2022 U-20 Women's World Cup in August, set to take place in Costa Rica.
Manuela Restrepo is one of three Colombians playing in the United States to be called to the team. She is joined by Southern Mississippi freshman Ilana Izguierdo and Angela Daniela Baron of the D'Feeters Kick Soccer Club in Farmers Branch, Texas.
Restrepo started in all 20 games for the Wildcats last fall, scoring two goals and added five assists as a central midfielder. Her first collegiate goal tied the game against Goldey-Beacom, 1-1, in the 55th minute while she also scored the second goal of a 4-0 win against Staten Island. She had two assists against Georgian Court in the regular season and assisted on the first goal of a 4-1 win against Georgian Court in the CACC Tournament Semifinals.
She is the first student-athlete to be called to a national team in program history and believed to be the first active student-athlete to participate with a national team in University history.