Heather Mitts/WUSA, Charge (Credit: ALLSPORT)
VILLANOVA, PA (September 17, 2002) - The Philadelphia Charge’s Lorrie Fair, Jenny Benson and Heather Mitts were among 28 players named on Tuesday by U.S. Women’s National Team coach April Heinrichs to compete in training leading up the 2002 Nike Cup.

The trio were also recently with the national team, earning a call up and caps in a friendly against Scotland back on September 8. Fair and Benson each started in that game, with Mitts coming off the bench as a second-half sub in an 8-2 rout. Fair captained the team in earning her 100th career cap, while Benson recorded an assist in her first start and third appearance.

Heinrichs will trim the roster to 18 for the three-game 2002 Nike Cup tournament. The Americans will first play Russia on Sunday, September 29 at 4 pm in Uniondale, NY. Then they will travel to Cary, NC for a Wednesday, October 2 game against Australia and a Sunday, October 6 contest versus Italy.

Fair, Benson and Mitts are all competing for spots on with the national team for the 2002 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, which is the final qualifying round for the World Cup. The Gold Cup begins at the end of October.

Fair, a 24-year-old midfielder, is a national team veteran, having become the second youngest player in US WNT history to appear in 100 career matches. She had five assists for the Charge this season, missing two games due to national team duty.

Benson also missed a Charge game this past season to be with the national team. The defender was a finalist for the WUSA’s 2002 Humanitarian of the Year Award, a Second Team All-WUSA selection and was named a starter for the upcoming WUSA All-Star Game in Portland, OR.

Mitts, a defender, has three appearances all-time with the national team.