Mr. Kleenex confident of success

"Our team is incredibly athletic right now," notes Ryan. "Our level of speed, power, and agility, is getting off the charts."

Cheney named Gatorade HS Player of the Year

U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team star Lauren Cheney, who scored four goals and had a key assist at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament last January to help the USA clinch a berth in the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship in Russia, has been named the 2005-06 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year, Gatorade® Thirst Quencher, in partnership with Scholastic Coach & Athletic Director magazine.

Mr. Kleenex wants Kai

"Coach Ryan wants me to come into residency (full-time training at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.) from April to September. I'm meeting with my counselors at UH to see what I can work out." - Natasha Kai

Rumor Mill

New Jersey coach Charlie Naimo has his sights set on Washington Freedom's Joanna Lohman.
Ajax California will feature as many as five US WNT players.

Random thoughts

What a huge recruiting advantage UCLA women's soccer head coach Jillian Ellis has over all other programs.
Soccer Buzz will rank UCLA' recruiting class as the best in the country.
Ellis, in her position as U-21 national team coach, has virtually unlimited access to top players in the country and can bring in to national team camp any player she is interested in.
Will it bring a national championship in year eight?.

Algarve Cup roster

U.S. ROSTER:

GOALKEEPERS (2): Jenni Branam (2), Hope Solo (3);
DEFENDERS (6): Tina Frimpong (1), Amy LePeilbet (2), Heather Mitts (3), Christie Rampone (6), India Trotter (1), Cat Whitehill (6);
MIDFIELDERS (7): Shannon Boxx (3), Carli Lloyd (1), Kristine Lilly (9), Marci Miller (1), Leslie Osborne (2), Lindsay Tarpley (4), Aly Wagner (5);
FORWARDS (5): Natasha Kai (1), Heather O'Reilly (4), Amy Rodriguez (2), Abby Wambach (3), Christie Welsh (3).
Number of Algarve Cups attended, including 2006, in parenthesis.

USA U-21

USA U21 - 1
England U21 - 2

USA U-21

USA U21 - 3
Scotland WNT - 1

Rainey named coach at Iowa

The University of Iowa Athletic Department has announced the hiring of Ron Rainey as its new head soccer coach.
Rainey joins the Hawkeyes from Ball State University, where he served as the school's head coach since the program's inaugural season in 1999. Under his tutelage, the Cardinals posted a 70-52-17 record in seven seasons.

Moving up, moving down

Vancouver, which has added Christine Sinclair and Tiffeny Milbrett to it's roster has moved up to a number 3 spot in the world and a number 1 in North America.
#3 Vancouver Whitecaps,
#4 FC Indiana,
#7 New Jersey Wildcats,
#8 California Storm,
#9 Ottawa Fury,
#10 Washington Freedom,
#19 New England Mutiny,

Milbrett joins Canadian club

Vancouver Whitecaps Director of Soccer Operations Bob Lenarduzzi announced today the signings of US international forward Tiffeny Milbrett.

Michelle Akers

"When I began playing, I didn't even think about a Women's World Cup," she said in a November 1991 article in the Orlando Sentinel. "When I watched Pele play in World Cup, I never dreamed that someday the women would be playing for a world championship. Now my horizons have widened.
"I want to win World Cup, and I want to play in the Olympics, and that dream, I believe, now has a chance."

W-League Finals to be hosted by Vancouver

Vancouver Whitecaps Director of Soccer Operations Bob Lenarduzzi and United Soccer Leagues announced Tuesday that the 2006 W-League Final Four Championship will be held at Swangard Stadium on August 4 and August 6 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

U21s

The U.S. U-21 women's national team will play three matches, including a test against Scotland's national team, during its British tour Feb. 10-17.
The tour will be a homecoming of sorts for U.S. head coach Jill Ellis. The UCLA coach was born in Folkestone, England.
Penn State star Tiffany Weimer heads the all-collegiate U.S. team that features three other Nittany Lion teammates.

U.S. ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS: Ashley Phillips (Clemson), Kati Jo Spisak (Texas A&M); DEFENDERS: Rachel Buehler (Stanford), Mary Castelanelli (UCLA), Kendall Fletcher (North Carolina), Holly Gault (Kansas), Hayley Hunt (Stanford), Denay Riley (Penn State); MIDFIELDERS: Jen Buczkowski (Notre Dame), Bristyn Davis (UCLA), Sheree Gray (Penn State), Sarah Huffman (Virginia), Allie Long (Penn State); FORWARDS: Liz Bogus (Arizona State), Natalie Budge (Portland), Kerri Hanks (Notre Dame), Ashlee Pistorius (Texas A&M), Tiffany Weimer (Penn State).

Ames, Iowa liquor store owners excited

"Rebecca Hornbacher expressed excitement in the 2006 women's soccer recruiting class in a statement on Wednesday.
The fourth-year head coach said she felt it was one of the most athletic classes in the program's history.
She also said she didn't believe the class was affected by her pending legal investigation. Hornbacher is facing OWI charges, but has yet to be tried.
"Our recruiting class, both the parents and the student athletes, have shown support for me through this situation," Hornbacher said.
"They believe in me as the leader of this program and their commitments are solid."
Hornbacher said she sent letters to the athletes' families following the December arrest. She lost a $9,000 salary increase and received an official letter of reprimand in her personal file."

That's right, keep sending your daughters to Ames, Iowa...

WPSL adds team in Colorado

The Women‚s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) has announced the expansion of the league into Colorado Springs with the creation of the Colorado Springs Sabers Soccer Club. The Sabers have been in development for the past 9 months and have been formed by a group of local business persons and soccer enthusiasts led by Head Coach, Erik Oman. League commissioner Jerry Zanelli welcomed the Sabers into the league by saying, "We are excited to have the Colorado Springs Sabers join the WPSL and we look forward to seeing an extremely competitive program this summer in Colorado Springs."

Ohio State Inks 10 players

Head Women's Soccer coach, Lori Walker, announced the addition of 10 student-athletes expected to join the Buckeyes next Fall.
The 2006 recruiting class includes Ashley Bowyer, Lauren Robertson, Cassie Dickerson, Marisa Simon, Lauren Steuer, Ali Schwach, Shawn Skladany, Kristin Howard, Delina Papa, Erica Aamoth, and Lauren Thomas.

BIG 10 CONFERENCE FINISH
1997 - 7th
1998 - 7th
1999 - 5th
2000 - 11th
2001 - 4th
2002 - 7th
2003 - 5th
2004 - 2nd
2005 - 9th

Top 3 college coaches

In alphabetical order:
Anson Dorrance - no explanation needed
Mark Krikorian - a winner wherever he goes
Randy Waldrum - fewer national team players compared to any other top 10 school, consistently top 5

It's party time at Iowa State!!!

Iowa State head coach Rebecca Hornbacher will welcome nine student-athletes to the 2006 soccer team in the fall, her fourth recruiting class at ISU. The class of 2006 will include players from Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. Iowa State will return 17 players in the upcoming season off a 2005 squad that qualified for the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. ISU finished the regular Big 12 season with the best conference record in school history and tied for second in the Big 12 regular season standings.

"After coming off our first ever NCAA tournament berth, this group of young women will help our team achieve our goal of putting ourselves in a position to win a Big 12 Championship," Hornbacher said. "My staff has done a phenomenal job in the recruiting process and I feel that this class adds a unique blend of tremendous athleticism, speed and dynamic play. We have added strength in all positions. These young ladies are great students with excellent character and will be fine representatives of the soccer program at Iowa State University."

Please, don't drink and drive.

26 players to prepare for Algarve Cup

U.S. women's national team coach Greg Ryan called 26 players into a training camp at The Home Depot Center Feb. 6-19, 2006, to prepare for the Algarve Cup, which will be held March 9-15 in Portugal.

GOALKEEPERS (4): Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Jen Branam (Placentia, Calif.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.)

DEFENDERS (7): Tina Frimpong (Vancouver, Wash.), Amy LePeilbet (Reno, Nev.), Stephanie Lopez (Elk Grove, Calif.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Nandi Pryce (Casselberry, Fla.), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Kristine Lilly (Wilton, Conn.), Marci Miller (St. Charles, Ill.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.)

FORWARDS (7): Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), India Trotter (Plantation, Fla.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.), Christie Welsh (Massapequa Park, N.Y.)