Sky Blue FC players Erica Skorski, Kayla Mills and Mandy Freeman are headed to Spain. (Photos: ISI Photos, courtesy of Sky Blue FC)

Sky Blue FC defenders Mandy Freeman, Kayla Mills and Erica Skorski Friday were named to the U.S. Under-23 women’s national team roster for three friendlies in La Manga Spain.

The team will be there from Feb. 25-March 7 and will play three matches, taking on its counterparts from Japan (March 2), England (March 4) and Norway (March 7).

These will be the first international matches of the year for the squad.

As the trip occurs before National Women’s Soccer League preseason begins, Seattle Reign head coach Laura Harvey will direct the 22-player squad that features 17 professionals (16 from the NWSL and one playing in Iceland), four collegiate players and high school senior in Ashley Sanchez.

Three of the players represented the USA at the 2016 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea in goalkeeper Casey Murphy, midfielder Emily Ogle and Sanchez, who became the first U.S. player to score in a U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cup in the same cycle.

Following the trip to La Manga, the next event for the U-23 side will see the team take part in the Thorns Spring Invitational in Portland, Ore. from March 26-April 1.

The Americans will take on three NWSL teams at Providence Park, playing the Houston Dash on Sunday, March 26 at 5:30 p.m. ET followed by Portland taking on Chicago at 8 p.m. ET. On Wednesday, March 29, Chicago faces Houston at 8 p.m. PT and the USA will face the Thorns at 10:30 p.m. ET. The USA closes out the tournament against Chicago Saturday, April 1 at 8 p.m. and Portland ends the tournament against Houston at 10:30 p.m. ET.

The roster:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Casey Murphy (Rutgers; Bridgewater, N.J.), Madalyn Schiffel (Seattle Reign; Citrus Heights, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (7): Mandy Freeman (Sky Blue FC; West Covina, Calif.), Adrienne Jordan (IBV; Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kristen McNabb (Seattle Reign; Montville, N.J.), Kayla Mills (Sky Blue FC; West Covina, Calif.), Katie Naughton (Chicago Red Stars; Elgin, Ill.), Erica Skroski (Sky Blue FC; New Brunswick, N.J.), Samantha Witteman (NC Courage; Redondo Beach, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Morgan Andrews (Boston Breakers; Milford, N.H.), Tierna Davidson (Stanford; Menlo Park, Calif.), Christina Gibbons (FC Kansas City, Raleigh, N.C.), Tyler Lussi (Portland Thorns; Lutherville, Md.), Emily Ogle (Penn State; Strongsville, Ohio), Margaret Purce (Boston Breakers; Silver Spring, Md.), Ashley Sanchez (SoCal Blues; Monrovia, Calif.), Dani Weatherholt (Orlando Pride; San Clemente, Calif.)

FORWARDS (5): Celeste Boureille (Portland Thorns; San Francisco, Calif.), Makenzy Doniak (NC Courage; Chino Hills, Calif.), Ashley Hatch (NC Courage; Gilbert, Ariz.), Savannah McCaskill (South Carolina; Chapin, S.C.), Arielle Shipp (Washington Spirit; Westlake Village, Calif.)

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.