American striker Katie Stengel bolsters Canberra United's bid for W-League glory

The American forward joins the club on a one-year loan deal from Utah Royals for what will be her fourth season in the W-League, having played stints with the Western Sydney Wanderers and Newcastle Jets.

Stengel finished second in the Golden Boot race behind Kerr with 10 goals in the 10^th edition of the league, but played limited minutes last season after suffering a stress fracture.

The 27-year-old striker comes off a solid season in the National Women's Soccer League where she featured in 24 matches with Utah, who finished within one win of the playoffs.

Stengel looms as a huge boost to United's finals charge as coach Heather Garriock looks to build a robust side capable of coming a W-League challenger.

"It's about time Canberra gets back in there and I would love to make the finals and do all I can by scoring as many goals as possible," Stengel said.

"I want to progress on things I've worked on this past season, continue to get better and be challenged by the talent.

"I talked to Heather [Garriock] a little while back during my NWSL season and she expressed her interest but I also expressed why I was hesitant to come because of the stuff happening in my off-season. She sold it and made Canberra sound like the place I had to be, so I was on the plane over here."

The American forward is one of five international players set to wear lime green this summer, joining Elise Thorsnes in the frontline.

Stengel arrived in Canberra last week to begin preparations for the season, with United to start its season against Perth Glory at McKellar Park on Sunday, November 17.

The American recruit had her first chance to find her rhythm in the new-look side when Canberra ramped up its preparations with a pre-season clash against Western Sydney on Saturday.

Canberra fielded an under-strength side without three international recruits and Karly Roestbakken, pulling off a 3-all draw.

"It's a decent place to start and we can go from there," Stengel said.

"Everybody got minutes [on Saturday] and it was good for the team to have a core group getting used to playing with each other but also let some of the younger players get some time as well. I think they'll improve down the road."

Meanwhile, the Roestbakken-led Young Matildas secured their semi-finals spot in the under-19s AFC Championship with a 1-0 victory over Vietnam.

Sixteen-year-old striker Mary Fowler scored a late winner to keep Australia's hopes of qualifying for the under-20s World Cup alive.

The Young Matildas will play either Korea Republic or Japan on Wednesday, with the top three teams earning qualification for next year's World Cup in Nigeria.