The US Women got back together for their first action since the Algarve Cup final in mid-March for a friendly against cross border rival Canada. Japan had pulled out of a North American tour including matches against the US and Canada. To make up for the matches lost, the Canada agreed to a friendly against the USA.

The match took place at BMO Field, home of the MLS' Toronto FC. This was the first meeting between the two teams since the Olympic quarter-final in which Natasha Kai scored the game-winning goal in over time to give the US a 2-1 win, and get them to the semifinal against Japan.

The US took the lead early in the first half. Shannon Boxx took the ball to the top right side of the box and released a shot that got past Canadian goalkeeper, Karina LeBlanc in the 3rd minute.

The match did not have a lot of action as was expected and was a little slow. Canada had more possession though, but the US was able to score again in the closing minutes of the first half. This time it was Megan Rapinoe, who started at center midfield. She took the ball inside the area, cut to her right around a defender and bent a perfect ball to the lower right corner of the goal.

She sent the US into the locker rooms with a 2 goal lead. Halftime changes included Nicole Barnhart coming in for Hope Solo, who had only a couple touches on the ball with her feet. Rachel Buehler subbed in for Amy LePeilbet.

The US came into the second half hungry for more goals. In the 67th minute, Angela Hucles received a pass form Abby Wambach. Her effort went high over the crossbar.

In the 71st minute Heather O'Reilly stole a ball at the top of the box and dribbled inside the area. Her shot also went high over the bar.

Canada gave the US a corner kick in 78th minute. Hucles played the ball to the far post where Wambach was able to keep it in play. The Canadian defense was not able to clear the ball, and second-half substitute Lindsay Tarpley found the back of the net to give the US a 3-0 lead.

Just three minutes late, Lauren Cheney, who had just come in for Amy Rodriguez, sealed the win on a cross from O'Reilly. She headed the ball into the goal from a tight angle.

The US backline was pretty solid throught the match, and cut down Canada's chances. Christine Sinclair was not able to score her 100th goal. Abby Wambach did not find the net either. The good thing is the teams will meet again twice in July. The first match will be on July 19th at Rochester Rhino's Stadium in Rochester, NY. Kick-off is at 3pm ET and will air live on ESPN. The next match will be on July 22nd at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, SC. The match is set to start at 8pm ET and will air live on FSC.

Since the start of WPS is almost here, the US Women's National Team will have a limited amount of playing time. They started out with the Algarve Cup in early March, and will be back together after in late May for a two-game series against Japan.

The first match will be on May 20 in Frisco, Texas at Pizza Hut Park, home of the Major League Soccer's FC Dallas. This will be the first match there since a 6-2 win for the USA against Canada on May 12, 2007, and their first match-up against Japan since the 4-2 win for the US in the Olympic semifinal. Kick-off is set for 7:30 pm CT. Ticket prices range from $18-$80 plus VIP on-field seats for $125. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 am CT. If you are not able to go to the game, you can follow live on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker.

The second match-up will be on May 23 in Sandy, Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium where Real Salt Lake of the MLS plays their home games. Tickets start at $18, plus on-field seats for $150 and go on sale on March 21, at 10 am MT. This game will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel at 4 pm MT. Fans can also follow live on MatchTracker.

The US and Japan have had a long history dating back to 1986. They also played each other in the 1991 and 1995 FIFA Women's World Cups as well as in the quartefinals in the 2004 Olympics, and most recently at the Beijing Olympics in Group play and in the semifinal. Japan has never defeated the US, but tied 3 straight games played between 2000 and 2004.

Japan will most likely feature its star player, midfielder Homare Sawa of the Washington Freedom, along with midfielder Aya Myama of the Los Angeles Sol and forward Eriko Arakawa of the FC Gold Pride.

After a disastrous season for David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy, The Home Depot Center was finally the stage of some high quality football. On Saturday, December 13th, the US WNT played China in a friendly match as part of the Achieve Your Gold Tour; a fan celebration of the Olympic Gold Medal won by the USA Women's National Team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. 

The cold weather on a Saturday night (not typical for Southern Californa) the $18 for the cheapest ticket and $15-dollar parking fee could haven been the main reasons for the low attendance.  But on the field what the 3,619 fans saw was the same determination, quality and team work which is a characteristic of Pia Sundhage's girls. 

After a goalless first half I remember turning to my Junior Journalist and friend Alondra Hernandez and saying: "If the USA want to break China's defense and win this match they will need to put Amy Rodriguez in to speed up the offensive plays." Well, it seems that I was right on the spot. A-Rod was on the pitch when the team came back from the locker room for the final 45 minutes and on her second or third play on the right side of the attack she sprints on the wing and puts her head up to deliver a perfect low cross to Tina Ellertson who slid dow to score her first goal ever for the Olympic Champions.

The match was also a great opportunity for the fans to see Kristine Lilly, the player with most appearances for any National Team in the world (men or women) back on the pitch after giving birth to her first daughter 4 months ago.

The USA played with: 1-Hope Solo; 2-Heather Mitts, 3-Christie Rampone, 4-Rachel Buehler (15-Kate Markgraf), 17-Lori Chalupny (19-Marian Dalmy); 9-Heather O’Reilly (21-Kacey White), 7-Shannon Boxx, 11-Carli Lloyd, 16-Angela Hucles (13-Kristine Lilly); 20-Tina Ellertson (12-Lauren Cheney), 5-Lindsay Tarpley (8-Amy Rodriguez)

Both teams will face each other again on wednesday, December 17th at the Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. For details and tickets CLICK HERE. 

It was a great weekend of soccer that started on Friday with me and Alondra interviewing Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd and Pia Sundhage and they talked to us about their Olympic experience and the Women's Pro Soccer League that will kick off next spring.

Watch the video and send your comments:

Notre Dame v. Stanford, North Carolina v. UCLA will play this friday, December 7th in the semifinals of the 2008 NCAA College Cup. The Final Four will happen at the Wakemed Soccer Park in Car, North Carolina and that means that one of the teams already enters the semifinals with the support of the home crowd.

But which one of these number one seeded schools has the best shot at moving to the Final and winning the College Cup?

As I mentioned, all these for schools were seeded number 1 when the playoffs started. So this edition of the final four is a true battle of the best women's soccer college programs in the country.

NOTRE DAME ... X ... STANFORD 

The Fighting Irish X Cardinals

The only of the four  teams with a clean record Notre Dame won all their 25 matches this season with a total of 81 goals scored and only 10 allowed.  Being the only unbeaten team of the season is a boost for the girl's confidence but it may also play in favour of the opponent as motivation. 

Stanford could be considered the worst of the best four. No, I'm not saying they are a bad team or evenlabeling the Cardinals as underdogs. They got to the semifinals with merit. An ultra strong defense and great team work are the main characteristics of the team. 

  NORTH CAROLINA ... X ... UCLA

Tar Heels X Bruins

A clash of titans in this semifinal. North Carolina has one of the most entertaining rosters of all the soccer teams in the United States  (needless to say that includes the MLS teams too). Tobin Heath was part of the USA Women's National Team that won the Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing and is no longer a promising talent. She has already proved to be able to demolish defenses playing as a winger. And the Tar Heels also cont on Casey nogueira who is the closest to Marta that one can have. Do I need to say more? Oh yeah. They have the most efficient attack of the season with 86 goals but I'm sure you had already figured that out.

On the other side we have the best defense of the season: UCLA. The Bruins only allowed 5 goals and has the largest number of shut-outs this season with 19. And even though UCLA didn't score as many goals as the Tar Heels one can't ignore the power of having Kara Lang, Lauren Cheney and Christina DiMartino orchestrating the team's offensive plays. Another advantage for the Bruins is the fact that noone is considered a superstar on the team. Defense, midfield and offense are very well balanced and efficient enough to take the team to the title.

Now for my predictions:

Stanford will have to bet on Notre Dame's mistakes and not miss the opportunities because on paper the Fighting Irish is a better team. I believe Notre Dame will move to the final with a 2-0 win.

On the other match anything can happen but I will cheer for UCLA. I live in Los Angeles and I really enjoy going to the Bruins matches. They need to mark Casey Nogueira very closely and  prevent the Tar Heels from taking all the offensive initiative. If the Bruins play like they did against USC and against Duke they have huge chances of moving to the final. I'd say UCLA win 2-1.

The order was determined via lottery and the results were:

1. Boston Breakers

2. Chicago Red Stars

3. Bay Area

4. NY/NJ Sky Blue FC

5. Los Angeles 

6. St. Louis

7. Washington Freedom

This will be the order in the first round. For the second round, the last team (Washington) will choose first and move up until the first team (Boston) chooses last. Then it goes back to the initial order, from 1-7, for the third round, and switch again for the fourth and so on until the draft is completed.

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The US Women have announced the next 3 matches of the Achieve Your Gold Tour. This time they will take on South Korea. The first game will be on November 1st at the University of Richmond Stadium in Richmond, Virigina, home of midfielder Angela Hucles, and kickoff is at 6 p.m. ET. The second game will be in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of defender Heather Mitts. The US takes on South Korea again on November 5th at Paul Brown Stadium at 7 p.m. ET. The last game of the set is on November 8th at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida with kickoff at 7 p.m. ET.

Leslie Osborne was in a rather strange place in August. While her team was in China, she was in her home watching her team play live at 4 and 6 in the morning (in the west coast), going through some of the same emotions as her teammates, when instead she could have been there. She was likely to be there, at the Olympics, but her dream no longer had a chance of becoming a reality when she tore her ACL this past May during one of the team's sessions at their training camp, in preparations for the Peace Queen Cup in South Korea. 

She has been a key player for the US WNT since stepping up when Shannon Boxx got injured in 2006. Since then, she has been a main-stay on the team. She took Shannon Boxx' spot and played as a defensive midfielder. The next year she was on the roster for the 2007 Womens World Cup in China, where she started 3 games and shut out opponents to help get her team to the final stages of the tournament.

When she tore her ACL, it was a devastating blow to the team. Other players had to fill in for her. About 3 weeks later, defender Cat Whitehill tore her ACL at a training session in South Korea as the team was preparing for their first game of the Peace Queen Cup tournament, and that was just as devastating. Young players like Stephanie Cox and Rachel Buehler had to fill in for her. Just about 2 weeks before the team left to Beijing, the team suffered another great loss- Abby Wambach, their best and leading scorer. She fractured her tibia and fibula in the last Send-off Tour game against Brazil after colliding with a defender going for a 50-50 ball.

With the team already missing 3 key players, everyone counted them out, and were dropped from the list as a favorite to win the Gold, but Abby, Cat and Leslie had full faith in each of their teammates' abilities, and knew that if they really wanted to win, they would have to play as a team and come together in the toughest time of the year.

As she is just relaxing and recuperating from surgeries, I asked to interview her, and she gladly accepted. She took the time to answer questions about her team at the Olympics, the new women's professional soccer league, WPS, and when she was planning to play again.

Alondra: How did you react to your injury, knowing you'd be out for the Olympics?

Leslie: Well I don't know how I would react to my injury to tell you the truth. If someone would have told me I would tear my ACL and miss the Olympics I would be devastated. It was funny, I haven't cried once since I have tore my ACL and had ankle reconstruction. I almost feel like it happened for a reason, I just didn't know why it had to happen to me. After getting cut from the 2004 Olympics, this was my main goal in life.

A: How did you feel watching your team play on TV?

L: It was weird watching my team. I felt like I was part of the team until they got to the quarter finals. After that, I was like "Wow they are amazing," and I didn't feel part of that. I look up to them, and I am so proud to be part of that team.

A: How did you feel when your team was on the top podium receiving their gold medals?

L: I think I was sad to some degree that I could have been up there on the podium, but like I said I was so proud of them. They did something unbelievable and I was so proud of them, some more than others is the best way to put it. Maybe I will have the chance in 2012.

A: What WPS teams would you like to play for the most?

L: I would like to play in the Bay Area or Chicago*. I love it in Northern Cal and see myself being happy there. I also wouldn't mind playing in Chicago, since I grew up there and played lots of soccer there. My family would be very happy. Honestly, I will make the most out of any situation I am put in.

A: What are you most excited for when playing professional soccer?

L: To play in a league and to represent soccer in our country. I can't wait for little girls to be able to look at their role models and see that they have an opportunity to have a career in soccer and athletics. We have something so special that is about to happen and I can't wait to be part of it.

A: What are you looking forward to when being a professional soccer player?

L: I think competing every day and playing more games. I am excited to have a different coach, to train and play against international players, and to have a home base. I am super excited, I have dreamed about this league coming back for so long. There are so many great things that will come out of this. Both for my career and for my life, most importantly for all those little girls out there.

A:You haven't won a World Cup at the senior level yet, but you won the U-19 FIFA Women's World Cup in 2002. Can you talk about that experience?

L: That team and that world championship was amazing. I will never be part of a team like that, well I hope some day I will. Those girls will be my best friends forever.

A: Are you planning to be back on the field with the National Team or your new club team?

L: I am just starting to run. I will be planning to be back 100% for the new league. I can't wait.

*The interview happened a few days before the domestic allocation was announced. Leslie will play for the Bay Area WPS Team.  

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WOMEN'S PRO SOCCER LEAGUE BY VISITING THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE www.womensprosoccer.com OR HERE AT OLEOLE www.oleole.com/blogs/wps  

THE LEAGUE KICKS OFF IN APRIL 2009. TICKETS ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE. CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS 

The players of the WNT were put into their new teams- the teams in the new women's soccer league in the USA, the WPS. Each team got 3 players from the WNT player pool today they were announced.

Bay Area: Nicole Barnhart, Rachel Buehler, Leslie Oborne

Boston: Angela Hucles, Kristine Lilly, Heather Mitts

Chicago: Carli Lloyd, Lindsay Tarpley, Kate Markgraf

Los Angeles: Shannon Boxx, Stephanie Cox, and Aly Wagner

New Jersey: Natasha Kai, Heather O'Reilly, Christie Rampone

St. Louis: Hope Solo, Lori Chalupny, Tina Ellertson

Washington: Abby Wambach, Cat Whitehill, Ali Krieger