U.S. WNT goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris will undergo surgery on her left shoulder next week to repair a small tear in her labrum. Harris was initially injured during the USA's training camp in Bradenton, Florida, in late April, but was able to train full-out during the USA's May training camp in Princeton leading into the match against China on May 27.

The U.S. WNT training camp has been intense, challenging and highly competitive, but it will soon come to an end. The focus soon turns to this weekend when the will USA face China at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.
U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage will suit up 18 players for the match which will be the USA's first since April 3 when the Americans down Brazil, 3-0, in Japan in a match that was played in front of a smattering of fans due to the kickoff being moved four hours earlier as a small typhoon (is there such a thing?

A-Rod with a point blank chance vs. Jill Loyden

Training camp is going very well for the U.S. WNT with practice after practice featuring intense, competitive action, but at the same time the players are having fun. Yes, there are bodies flying and fantasice goals and saves, but also smiles around as the players participate in what has to be one of the most high level training environments a female player could experience anywhere in the world.

U.S. women's national team coach Pia Sundhage has called on 28 players for a May training camp in New Jersey ahead of a friendly against China at PPL Park on May 27, as the U.S. women continue their preparations for this summer's Olympics.

The U.S. women will train in Princeton from Thursday until May 25 in the build-up to the friendly, and this camp comes on the heels of an April camp in Florida in which 26 of the 28 players called upon this time around participated.

The U.S. team runs fitness
The U.S. team had a long but productive day today, running a fitness test in the morning, followed by weights with a lengthy and intense afternoon session on the field, all in the sweltering Florida heat. (Ok, so it wasn't as hot inside the weight room, but the sweat still was flowing as the team pumped iron).

Before the U.S. team left Sendai, midfielder Heather O'Reilly and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris took a brief tour of the inside of the HUGE statue next to the team's hotel. (The sixth largest statue in the world, mind you). We'll try to get a video up on their brief adventure before the end of the week, but here are a few pics.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. women's national team will play China at PPL Park on May 27 in a tune-up friendly prior to this summer's Olympics.

The last time the two nations met, the United States defeated China 2-0 at the Four Nations Tournament on Chinese soil in January of last year.

After lunch today, many of the U.S. players visited the areas of Sendai and Natori that were most impacted by the earthquake and tsunami a little more than a year ago.
The players visit the highest ground for miles, but it wasn't high enough for those trying to escape the tsunami

Of course the U.

U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage has named the 23 players that will travel to Japan for two of the biggest non-Olympic, non-World Cup matches the U.S. WNT has played in recent history, taking on Japan on April 1 in Sendai (6:30 a.m. ET) and Brazil on April 3 in Chiba (7 a.m.)
Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN2.

U.S. WNT head coach Pia Sundhage has named the 21 players who will suit up for the four 2012 Algarve Cup matches. She brought 23 players to Portugal so only goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris and defender Meghan Klingenberg (who suffered a slight ankle injury during training this week) will not suit up for the games.

The USA's practice on Saturday consisted of a closed-door training match against China on a stunningly beautiful afternoon in the Algarve.
The 90-minute scrimmage featured different U.S. teams in each half with the Americans coming away with a 3-0 triumph on goals from Alex Morgan, Heather O'Reilly and Sydney Leroux.

The U.S. WNT will depart for the Algarve region of Portugal next week in preparation for the 19th Annual Algarve Cup, a tournament that has become a fixture in the USA's yearly schedule and soccer culture.
U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage will bring 23 players to Portugal and choose 21 for the tournament roster.

Photo by John Todd/ISIphotos.com

U.S. women's national team coach Pia Sundhage has named a 23-player preliminary roster for the Algarve Cup in Portugal, and there are no surprises in the bunch.

Abby Wambach, Hope Solo and Alex Morgan are among the usual suspects who will compete in the tournament's Group B along with Denmark, Norway and defending World Cup champion Japan followed by a placement game from Feb.

Now that The USWNT team has qualified for the Summer Olympics after a superb tournament in Canada, Head Coach Pia Sundhage can now turn her focus onto her squads first friendly match of the new year against New Zealand. The match will be played at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas, marking the eighth time the USWNT will play in the Lone Star State.

photo by Stephen Brashear/ISIphotos.com

Fresh off a successful Olympic qualifying campaign, U.S. women's national team head coach Pia Sundhage has called up 28 players for its upcoming friendly against New Zealand.

Nineteen of the 20 players on the Olympic qualifying roster were summoned by Sundhage for the Americans' first game on home soil this year, including Alex Morgan, Hope Solo and Abby Wambach.

Amy Rodriguez's 88th minute goal gave the Philadelphia Independence new hope, as the team pulled even with the Western New York Flash at the end of regular time. It would be for naught, as the Independence eventually fell to the Flash on penalty kicks to lose the 2011 WPS Championship,

An incredibly defensive first half left the score at 0-0, but there were some lowlights to take from those 45 minutes.

In a game worthy of a Championship, the Western New York Flash defeated the Philadelphia Independence in a shootout 5-4 after the teams ended 120 minutes of soccer tied at one. Ashlyn Harris saved Laura del Rio's penalty on Philadelphia's fifth and final shot after every other shooter had converted for both teams.

photo by Michael Long

Game Time: 4 pm Saturday

TV: Comcast Sports Network

The Philadelphia Indpendence is back in the WPS Final for the second time in only their second year of existence. After dropping last year's final 4-0 to FC Gold Pride, this year's motto has been "unfinished business".

cover photo by Michael Long

The Independence won their fifth straight game on Saturday to go four points clear on the top of the table over the visiting Western New York Flash. Tasha Kai scored her lead leading 8th goal of the campaign and Sinead Farrelly scored her first ever career goal for the winner.

The Independence wasted Meghan Rapinoe's early first half goal and were defeated 2-1 by the Western New York Flash on Sunday evening at Widener University. Rapinoe struck after just 9 minutes before Becky Edwards and Marta answered back for the undefeated Flash before half time.

Philadelphia coach Paul Riley started the game with Amy Rodriguez as a lone striker, possibly trying to cope with New York's dynamic attack.

Week three of Women's Professional Soccer is in the books with two matches played over the weekend of April 23-24. The Boston Breakers traveled to Florida to take on magicJack which won 1-0 on Saturday. The WNY Flash traveled down to Atlanta to take on the Beat where they played to a 2-2 draw.

For magicJack, this was their first game ever after the game the week before in Philadelphia was postponed.

The 2nd week of Women's Professional Soccer is over and the season is well underway! The second week should have consistent three matches, but the Philadelphia Independence match versus magicJack was canceled because of severe thunder and lightning. Instead, just two matches were played. The Atlanta Beat earned a win over Sky Blue FC, and the Boston Breakers lost their home opener to the Western New York Flash.

CHICAGO (March 15, 2011) – U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has named a roster of 23 players to travel to the United Kingdom on March 21 in preparation for the USA's first match in England on April 2 at Brisbane Road in East London. The game will be televised live on ESPN2 at 3 p.

We know you never get tired of pictures from training, right? Here are a few from today.
Tobin Heath makes a diagonal run to the ball

The USA's four GKs train with Ashlyn Harris between the poles

Epic Battle: Rodriguez vs.

U.S. players get a good warm-up in the chilly climes of Chongqing

The U.S. team finished a busy day of training (which also included a post-dinner meeting) at a different field from the one it had been training on. The trip into the foothills was a bit odd (some small fields of vegatables, broken down brick structures, what looked to be an old damn, a road that definitely needed a guard rail where there was none, a few stray chickens, and some amazing art work upon entering the school where college was well), but after the team got there, they found another excellent field on which to train.

We're not quite sure of our French, but this picture looks as if the U.S. WNT goalkeepers are on some sort of a prisoner transfer for a chain gang. No, we just we caught them right after a tough drill. Nicole Barnhart (left) has 31 caps for the USA while Ashlyn Harris has yet to be capped at the full international level.

During the U.S. team's walk in the afternoon to shake out the legs and get some cool air in order to help fend off the jet lag, there were some youngsters setting off firecrackers on the street. The boys tried (and failed) to scare the U.S. players (not good on either their covertness or fuse-lighting timing).

Most people make serious New Year's Resolutions. The usually fall into the eat less, excercise more, stop smoking, spend more time with family, read more, smile more, type of categories.
We didn't want to hear those from the U.S. WNT players, so we asked a few some more amusing resolutions.