Big changes on U.S. women's national team; we got younger

Just 13 of the 23 members of the USA's 2015 Women's World Cup championship team were named to the roster for Olympic qualifying, signaling big changes on the national team.

Retirements (Abby Wambach, Lauren Holiday, Lori Chalupny andShannon Boxx), injuries (Christie Rampone and Megan Rapinoe) and pregnancies (Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux) account for eight of the world champions who are missing, but Coach Jill Ellis also did not select veterans Whitney Engen and Heather O'Reilly.

Ellis has made room for a talented group of young players, none older than 23, who won roster spots. Indeed, two of the new guard,Crystal Dunn and Lindsey Horan, could start in Olympic qualifying, which will take place Feb. 10-21 in Frisco and Houston, Texas.

Here's a look at the seven newcomers ...

CRYSTAL DUNN (23).  Dunn was the last cut on the 2015 Women's World Cup team and used that as motivation. There was no keeping her off the national team for long as she led the NWSL with 15 goals and was named in the league MVP in her second season with the Washington Spirit. She scored four goals and added three assists on the fall Victory Tour and looks to have won a starting spot on the wing in place of the injured Rapinoe. Dunn is the latest in a long line of North Carolina products to star on the national team. (She joins backup keeper Ashlyn Harris, Meghan Klingenberg and Tobin Heath-- all Tar Heels -- on the qualifying roster. Both Engen and O'Reilly, who missed out, played at Carolina.)

JAELENE HINKLE (22). What is it about Colorado girls soccer? Mallory Pugh, Horan and Hinkle all hail from Colorado -- Horan from Rush and Pugh and Hinkle from Real Colorado. Hinkle starred at Texas Tech and was taken with the No. 7 pick by the Western New York Flash in the 2015 NWSL College Draft and started all 20 games. She's probably the least heralded of the newcomers on the national team, but she impressed during the Victory Tour with her play at outside back, where she will be No. 4 on the depth chart behind Ali Krieger, Klingenberg and Kelley O'Hara.

LINDSEY HORAN (21). Horan made history when she signed with French club Paris St. Germain out of high school in Colorado, spurning a full ride from North Carolina. Injuries slowed her down in 2014-15 and she decided to leave PSG after the fall campaign for the Portland Thorns of the NWSL. A move back home to play regularly on the national team was likely going to be the only way she'd nail down a spot. Horan, only 21, mostly played up front in France but has settled in as a starter for the national team in midfield, in the role Holiday played at the 2015 Women's World Cup.

STEPHANIE McCAFFREY (22). The Boston College product is a beneficiary of the under-23 national team, getting international experience she lacked during her youth days. She was born and raised in Winchester, Massachusetts, and played for the Stars of Massachusetts. A trade in the middle of the 2015 NWSL College Draft kept her close to home as she joined the Boston Breakers. Despite the Breakers' last-place season, McCaffrey earned a call-up to the national team in the fall and scored in her debut against Brazil in October. She was considered a long shot to make the qualifying roster but probably benefited from Leroux's surprise announcement that she was pregnant.

SAM MEWIS (23). Mewis got her first chance to train with the national team in January 2014. Among her teammates was older sister Kristie, who plays for the Boston Breakers. They grew up in nearby Hanson, Massachusetts, and starred for local youth club Scorpions FC. While Kristie stayed close to home, attending Boston College, Sam went to UCLA and was part of the great Bruin team that won the national title in 2013. A year before, she had played on the U.S. U-20 Women's World Cup championship team with current U.S. teammates Morgan Brian, Julie Johnston and Dunn. Mewis was the third of three UCLA players taken 2-3-4 in the 2015 NWSL College Draft behind Brian and signed with the Flash.

MALLORY PUGH (17). Pugh scored in her debut for the USA on Saturday in the 5-0 win over Ireland and showed why she has been tipped by coaches as the best player to come along since Mia Hamm. Heady stuff for a 17-year-old who is a senior at Mountain Vista High School. U.S. Soccer's 2015 Young Player of the Year was attending her first senior national team camp after leading the USA to the Concacaf U-20 women's title in December. (She's still eligible for the 2016 and 2018 U-20 Women's World Cups.) Her father recently debunked rumors that she would forego a scholarship to UCLA to turn pro with the Thorns.