Franch Named To USA Team For 2020 Olympic Games
CHICAGO – Former Oklahoma State All-American AD Franch has been named to the United States Women's Olympic Soccer Team roster for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Franch is one of 18 players and two goalkeepers on the U.S. roster and also one of seven first-time Olympians for the squad. A native of Salina, Kan., Franch is the first-ever women's soccer Olympian from Kansas.
A member of the USNT team since 2012, Franch has earned five caps in her national team career. She has posted a pair of shutouts and was part of the squad that won the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
A three-time All-American at OSU during a career that spanned from 2009-12, Franch is the Cowgirls' career leader with 38 shutouts, and she helped carry the program to back-to-back NCAA Elite Eight appearances in 2010 and 2011.
Along with her USWNT duties, Franch is in her sixth season in the NWSL and has recorded 33 shutouts and 297 saves in her career.
The No. 6 pick in the 2013 NWSL Draft, Franch led the Western New York Flash to a regular season title and the championship game of the league playoffs in her first professional season; she finished second in the league's Rookie of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year voting after recording six shutouts and a league-leading 98 saves.
Franch is currently playing in her fifth season with the NWSL's Portland Thorns. She was the league's Goalkeeper of the Year in 2017 and 2018, and she set a league record with 11 shutouts in leading the Thorns to the 2017 NWSL championship.
The United States will open Group G play at the Tokyo Games on July 21 against Sweden before taking on New Zealand (July 24) and Australia (July 27).
Until 2016, the U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team had advanced to the gold medal game of every Olympic Women's Soccer Tournament that had been contested. The USA won the inaugural gold medal in 1996 in Atlanta, won silver in 2000 in Sydney and then won three-straight golds in 2004 (Athens, Greece), 2008 (Beijing) and London (2012).