Auburn Soccer's Richter and Rivera Help Guide United States to First-Ever Women's World Cup

May 30, 2002

AUBURN- Auburn soccer's head coach Karen Richter and sophomore goalkeeper Megan Rivera have helped the United States Under-19 women's soccer team earn a berth into the first-ever FIFA Youth Women's World Cup.

Richter, who enters her fourth season at Auburn, is an assistant coach for the U.S. team that defeated Costa Rica 14-1 last week in Tobago to win their group and earn the 12th and final spot in the World Cup to be held in Canada from Aug. 17 to Sept. 1, 2002.

''Our two weeks in Tobago were tremendous,'' Richter said. ''To end the trip with our best performance, beating a quality Costa Rica team and qualifying for the first-ever Youth Women's World Cup was incredible. It is such an honor to represent our country, and we are looking forward to the next three month as we continue our quest to be World Champions.''

Rivera, the All-America goalkeeper for the Tigers, served as the back-up keeper for the United States and entered the match against Costa Rica in the 70th minute. The U.S. outscored its three opponents in the qualifying round 34-1 and out-shot them 123-5.

The U.S. will now head to Europe to play six matches in mid-June before a two-week training camp in San Diego in July. The FIFA Under-19 Women's World Cup begins Aug. 17th with the U.S. taking on England at 3 p.m. CDT. The U.S., placed in Group C for the tournament, will then play Australia on Aug. 19th at 9:15 p.m. CDT and will finish the group play against Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) on Aug. 21st at 9:15 p.m. CDT.