Stephanie McCaffrey ready to show USWNT what she can do

Stephanie McCaffrey was on hand at Boston College vs. UVA this past weekend and took the time to answer a few questions about her callup to the national team.

The Bent Musket: Congrats on getting called up to the national team again. How do you feel?

Stephanie McCaffrey: I'm really excited. Nervous. Excited. Also just looking to get in there and show my strengths and any way to get noticed.

TBM: It's a pretty deep field at forward. Jill Ellis said it herself at an espnW summit where she said forward is probably the toughest place to fight your way in. Does that give you any added pressure or do you think that takes pressure off knowing that you just have to go in and do your best?

SM: I think if you go in saying, the number against me, I'm just here for the heck of it, that's a terrible attitude. I'm not really thinking about the depth. I think for me, if I play to my strengths and show what I can do, anything can happen. Are there five or six absolutely great forwards on the team, yes. But that doesn't mean I'm going to write myself off and not show everything that I possibly can.

TBM: It's the Victory Tour and Ellis said she wants to look at new players, so do you think that plays in your favor?

SM: Yeah. I mean, I'm just so fortunate and so excited to be able to be a part of the Victory Tour. It's such a special trip and set of games. I'm just really excited that we have a coach who's willing to give people like me and like Emily [Sonnet] a shot.

TBM: For the Breakers you guys struggled a little on offense this season and it maybe impacted the way you play? You were taking the ball pretty deep to the endline and looking to distribute. Do you think for the national team you prefer to be more of a target striker where they find your feet?

SM: No, actually. I think every national camp that I've been to, whether we're in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 I typically play wide on the right, just because I think my biggest strength is picking up the ball and running at players and typically you find more space out wide. I wouldn't necessarily credit me taking the ball endline as a Breakers attack problem - a lot of people don't know is that's my natural strength and tendency, is to drift wide. I wouldn't consider myself a pure goalscorer. I would almost say I'm more of an assist first, score second.

TBM: Would you compare yourself more to Heather O'Reilly then? Drifting wide, distributing?

SM: [laughing] Yeah, if I'm lucky enough to be.

McCaffrey is in camp with fellow Breakers teammate Alyssa Naeher. The USWNT will face Brazil on October 21 and October 25.