Radford University Men’s Soccer alumnus Nick Mayhugh has been selected as one of 14 players who will represent the United States on the Paralympic 7-A-Side National team at the 2019 IFCPF World Cup, the organization announced this week.
A native of Gainesville, VA and a Patriot High School graduate, Mayhugh had his best season as a Highlander in 2018. He played in a career high 13 games including eight starts and contributed a pair of assists across 604 minutes on the pitch.
Mayhugh has plenty of experience playing on the international level already, earning his first cap with the U.S. Paralympic National Team during the IFCPF CP Football World Championships back in 2017. He also represented his country during the Copa America last fall when the PNT clinched a spot in the World Cup with a third-place finish.
Drawn into Group B for the 16-team tournament, the USA opens play on Monday, July 8 against Iran at 3 p.m. ET, faces Finland on Wednesday, July 10 at 3 a.m. ET and wraps up the group stage vs. Ireland on Friday, July 12 at 1:10 p.m. ET. All matches will be streamed and played at the Ciudad Deportiva Jose Ramon Cisneros Palacios, the training center for La Liga club Sevilla FC.
The 2019 IFCPF World Cup features 16 of the world’s top Para 7-a-side teams that qualified through IFCPF Regional Championships and the IFCPF rankings. Eight spots were determined by teams’ finishes at the IFCPF Copa America, European Championships and Asia-Oceania Championships, seven berths were secured by the best-placed teams in the IFCPF rankings and host Spain earned an automatic entry. Ukraine enters the tournament as reigning world champions after winning the 2017 IFCPF World Championships.
Mayhugh and the United States enter competition ranked No. 4 in the world, the team’s highest-ever ranking.
2019 IFCPF World Cup Roster by Position (Hometown)
GOALKEEPERS (2): Carter Alvey (Mount Washington, Ky.), Sean Boyle (Minneapolis, Minn.)
DEFENDERS (5): Andrew Bremer (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Joshua Brunais (Stafford, Va.), Jacob Crumbley (Fortson, Ga.), David Garza (San Diego, Calif.), Jacob Kaplan (Morganville, N.J.)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Adam Ballou (Virginia Beach, Va.), Tyler Bennett (Wadsworth, Ohio), Cameron DeLillo (Blandon, Pa.), Ben Lindau (Chicago, Ill.), Nicholas Mayhugh (Manassas, Va.)
FORWARDS (2): Shea Hammond (Upper Montclaire, N.J.), Seth Jahn (Lakeland, Fla.)
–RU Athletics
