University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC's Bowen Earns First Olympic Team Berth
July 11, 2016 | Women's Soccer
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - Great news came recently for University of North Carolina women's soccer player Katie Bowen as she was named to the full squad for New Zealand for the 2016 Olympic Games competition next month in Rio de Janeiro.
Bowen, a 2016 Tar Heel graduate who played on Carolina's NCAA championship team in 2012 and earned All-ACC honors and All-America accolades during her time in Chapel Hill, was a traveling reserve for the Football Ferns (as the NZ women's squad is known) at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. She was a member of the full New Zealand team when it played in the World Cup in Canada in 2015.
Led by coach Tony Readings, the New Zealand team for the 2016 Olympics is an experienced side. It includes 18 full team members and four traveling reserves. The team includes seven players competing in their third Olympic Games. Five of the players on the team have 100 or more caps with New Zealand.
The New Zealand women's team, ranked No. 17 in the FIFA world rankings, will face defending Olympic champion United States of America on August 3 in Belo Horizonte in its first match in group play. New Zealand will also face No. 3 France and No. 24 Colombia in group action.
Bowen, who plays for FC Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League, has 37 total caps in her career with the NZ National squad. To illustrate the experience of the NZ side, 14 of the 18 players on the team have more caps than Bowen, who turned just 22 this past April.
