Ali Riley Signs with Pali Blues

The defending USL W-League Champion Pali Blues Soccer Club announced today their first acquisition for the 2009 season after signing New Zealand National Team midfielder Ali Riley. The Stanford University junior comes to the Blues one summer after playing every minute of the 2008 Olympic Games for New Zealand.
"We are so excited to get the ball rolling with the signing process, and I cannot think of anyone better then Ali,” Blues head coach Charlie Naimo stated. “Not only is she a great player with a world of experience, she is a Palisadian. We had hoped she would have been with us last year, but she was competing in the Olympics."
Riley has over 20 caps with the New Zealand National Team, and she was a member of the Football Ferns’ first World Cup club in 2007. She hit the first and only international goal for New Zealand in an Olympic tuneup against China on July 17, 2008, and she had an assist in the first goal of their opening Olympic match last summer. She showed her versatility on the pitch this past fall after converting from forward to defender for her junior season at Stanford.