BURLINGTON, Vt.  – University of Vermont field hockey freshman Sierra Espeland has been named to the United States National Team for the upcoming Field Hockey Indoor World Cup in Berlin, Germany. She most recently represented the United States last October in the Pan-American Games held in Guyana.
 
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Team USA Roster Release
Team USA Schedule and Roster
 
"I'm incredibly grateful for another opportunity to represent the US," Espeland said. "It's going to be such an unbelievable experience to be playing against some of the best teams in the world. I'd like to thank my parents, Coach Kate, and the UVM staff for helping me get to this point, and to Coach Jun for giving me this opportunity."
 
The 2018 Field Hockey World Cup takes place from Feb. 7-11, and all games will be played at Max-Schmeling Halle, a 7,500-seat facility.
 
Teams qualify for the World Cup through one of five continental qualifiers. The United States qualified after winning the Pan-American Cup last October. Additionally, there are seven at-large qualifiers that round out the field at 12 nations. The United States ranks 20^th in the world and makes its first-ever trip to the World Championships.
 
The Americans are slotted into Pool A along with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland. In Pool B, Australia, Czech Republic, Germany, Namibia, Russia, and Ukraine will battle to advance.
 
The US opens the tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 7 with a 4:25 a.m. (Eastern) game against Belarus, and quickly turn around to face Poland at 10 a.m. On Thursday, Feb. 8 the US faces Kazakhstan at 4:10 a.m. followed by a 10:15 a.m. start against Switzerland. The final group-stage game comes on Friday, Feb. 9 with a 7 a.m. start against the Netherlands.
 
The quarter-finals and semi-finals are held on Saturday, Feb. 10 with the championship game held on Sunday, Feb. 11.
 
In the most recent world championships, held in 2015, the Netherlands swept the competition, taking both the men's gold and the women's gold.