This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Jill Ellis directed traffic from the center of the pitch, as she usually does, at the Ute Soccer Field, hollering instruction as some of the world's premier talents went through various drills. When star forward Alex Morgan took a sharp angle toward a cross and buried it into the back of the net, Ellis applauded and then scanned the field on the campus of University of Utah, seeking out another drill to zero in on.

Directing the show is now firmly in the hands of the 48-year-old. The Jill Ellis regime is upon the U.S. Women's National Team. Named head coach on May 16, Ellis leads the No. 1 team in the world toward qualifying for next summer's 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada. The USWNT has spent the last week in Utah preparing for Saturday's international friendly against rival Mexico at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, and for more important matches in the near future.

Looking beyond Saturday's match against Mexico the USWNT has its sights set on a return to the World Cup and the final. Qualifying starts in mid-October, when it faces Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala and Haiti.

Gone is former coach Pia Sundhage, who coached the team to two Olympic gold medals and an Algarve Cup title. Her five years as head coach ended in September 2012, and the U.S. Soccer Federation had been searching for a viable replacement ever since. It had tapped Ellis as the interim coach, but the Federation hired Tom Sermanni in January 2013. He was let go in April, and Ellis eventually snagged the full-time gig.

"I think that she sort of brought back what USA is always about," said midfielder Heather O'Reilly.

Intensity. Competitiveness. Eagerness. That's how she described this group as currently constituted under Ellis.

And if the USWNT is to find its way back to the World Cup final, the ability to exorcise the demons of the 2011 final penalty shootout loss to Japan starts this week, continues next week in Rochester, and eventually into qualifying. Ellis and her staff have called 28 players into this camp. Eighteen will be made active for Saturday's friendly, while 20 will be named to the World Cup Qualifying roster.

"I see it as, for a coach, it's a dream, right? It's pretty awesome," Ellis said of her first go-round as head coach.

The match against Mexico will likely feature Morgan, O'Reilly, Abby Wambach, Sydney Leroux, Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo and other stars in camp ahead of the friendly. —

Mexico at USA

O Friendly match at Rio Tinto Stadium

Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Series history • The U.S. leads 27-1-1.