SOMERVILLE, Mass. When Katie Schoepfer was substituted out of the game in the 70th minute of Saturday night's 3-2 Breakers victory over the Western New York Flash, the sellout crowd at Dilboy Stadium erupted in applause. With the help of Schoepfer and her first career hat trick, the Breakers solidified their place as the top team in WPSL Elite and extended their unbeaten streak to four.

It's a new week, and unfortunately we're following up a disappointing New England Revolution result, this time a tough 2-2 draw to Houston after a set-piece disaster and a late goal. It's worth remembering, though, that last season, any draw at all would have been cause for celebration. We've certainly come a long way from there, a fact that isn't lost on everybody.

Kyah Simon scored two goals to help send the Breakers to a 4-1 win against FC Indiana before a sold-out Dilboy Stadium on Friday.

Simon scored the second and third Boston goals while Katie Schoepfer opened the account in the 9th minute. Tameka Butt capped the Breakers' scoring with a 57th minute effort.

Kyah Simon scored a second half goal to lead the Breakers to a 1-0 exhibition win over the D.C. United Women on Saturday in Boyd, Md.

The Australian striker broke a scoreless tie when she grabbed a Jessica Luscinski pass and put it through in the 56th minute. Alice Binns made a pair of sensational saves en route to her second straight clean sheet.

As the U.S. Soccer Development Academy action picks up locally, there are some Academy players taking their game outside of the country.

The Santa Cruz Breakers U-15/16 team gets set for the Mondial Montaigu tournament starting Friday, April 6, in France, while the New England Revolution U-15/16 pool formed a U-17 team to compete in the 2012 Future Champions Gauteng tournament in South Africa.

Former Breakers' star Kristine Lilly returned to the Breakers on Friday - this time, as an assistant coach (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com.

Kristine Lilly, the most capped player in soccer history, was named as assistant coach of the Breakers, the team announced on Friday.

The long-time U.

Veteran U.S. Women's National Team and WPS midfielder Heather O'Reilly will join the Breakers this season in between National Team commitments, the club announced on Monday.

O'Reilly, who's won two gold medals with the National Team (2004 and 2008) and played in two World Cups (2007 and 2011), has been capped 155 times at the senior team level.

The Breakers added another familiar face on Monday by bringing back defender Elli Reed for the upcoming season.

Reed played in nine games for the Breakers in 2011 after she was released by the Western New York Flash during the preseason. She was the 8th overall pick in the 2011 WPS Draft.

The 22-year-old defender recently featured with the U.

The Breakers welcomed back defender Taryn Hemmings on Tuesday (Photo: David Silverman / DSPics.com)

Another recognizable name will don the Breakers' blue this year, as team announced on Tuesday that defender Taryn Hemmings is returning to the team for its first year in WPSL Elite.

Hemmings, who played for the Breakers for the past two seasons, will join fellow returnees Leslie Osborne and Katie Schoepfer on the field for Boston this spring.

The Breakers added another piece to their roster by adding midfielder Amanda DaCosta on Monday.

Former magicJack midfielder Amanda DaCosta was added to the Breakers roster, the team announced on Monday.

DaCosta, who was recently invited to U.S. Women's National Team U-23 camp in January, was drafted by magicJack in 2011 before signing with Sky Blue FC in the offseason.

The Breakers are back.

Less than two weeks after Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) folded its tent for the 2012 season, the Breakers announced on Thursday that it will compete in the new Elite Division of the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) this year.

"The WPSL recognizes the importance of a professional women's soccer league in America," WPSL Commissioner Jerry Zanelli said in a statement.

Couple of pieces I found on the web.

First, our friends at New England Soccer Today reports that Milton Caraglio has signed with a Chilean club, C. S. D. Rangers. Here is the link: http://nesoccertoday.com/?p=8201

This is a definite weakening of an area which was not a strong point last year.

Breakers' midfielders Meghan Klingenberg and Keelin Winters were among 31 players called into U.S. Women's National Team camp by head coach Pia Sundhage on Wednesday. The camp will run from Dec. 3-20, and will take place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Klingenberg started in 10 games for the Breakers in 2011 after the team acquired her from the now-defunct magicJack squad on June 1.

Tukwila, Wash.-- Seattle Sounders FC U18 Academy team (3-0-1) and U16 Academy team (2-1-1) played De Anza Force today in a northwest division showdown in United States Development Academy (USSDA) play.

The U18 team won by a score of 2-1.

Goal Scorers: Jim Oganga, Dominique Dismuke

The U16 team won by a score of 3-2.

Tukwila, Wash.-- Seattle Sounders FC U18 Academy team (2-0-1) and U16 Academy team (1-1-1) played Victoria Highlanders today in exhibition play, in preparation for USSDA Northwest Division play next weekend.

The U18 team won by a score of 3-2.

Goal Scorers: Dominique Dismuke (2), Jordan Schweitzer

The U16 team won by a score of 6-0.

BOCA RATON, FL Keelin Winters' 31st minute goal wasn't enough to lead the Breakers back to the WPS semifinals this season, as the Breakers fell to magicJack 3-1 Wednesday night at FAU Soccer Stadium.

The rookie midfielder's tally leveled it after Abby Wambach's first goal gave the home club the early lead in the 6th minute.

- Jason Davis
An American club went to Mexico and won a game last night. We should be doing back flips, right? Throwing ragers, cracking the seal on our best bottles of special edition liqueur, inviting the breakers of "The Streak" (FC Dallas, in case you hadn't heard) to our homes to eat our food and sleep with our wives.

CAMRBIDGE, Mass. With their playoff hopes on the line, the Breakers got two goals from Lauren Cheney as their 2-0 victory over Sky Blue FC earned them a trip to the WPS postseason on the final day of the regular season.

Cheney, who only recently came back from an ankle injury she suffered earlier this summer, scored in the 1st and 18th minutes while Alyssa Naeher made seven saves on the night to help steer Boston to its second consecutive WPS playoff appearance.

Time for our weekly roundup of the weekend that was in MLS. In Montreal, the Impact moved one more marketing step closer to their 2012 kick-off, with the unveiling of their new logo. Click here to check out an image. According to the officials involved, the logo has eight distinct elements heavily focused on the history and traditions of Quebec, Montreal and soccer.

Sammy Scofield -- Chicago Red StarsChicago Red Stars Communications
CHICAGO -- The 2011 Women's Premier Soccer League Championship field is set, with four organizations making their way to the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex out of a 62-team field.
The host Chicago Red Stars face Tampa Bay Hellenic in the second semifinal match this Saturday at Benedictine (3 p.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Veronica Boquete's 83rd minute strike broke a scoreless tie and delivered Philadelphia to a 1-0 win over the Breakers at Harvard Stadium on Wednesday night.

Boquete's goal was her fourth of the season while keeper Nicole Barnhart, who stopped all three shots she faced, picked up her second clean sheet of the season.

Alex Morgan scores an amazing goal for the Flash with the out-side of her boot against the Breakers.

Julie Ewing -- Chicago Red StarsCHICAGO -- The Women's Premier Soccer League, Chicago Red Stars and webcast partner Ollin Omnimedia announce that the 2011 WPSL Semifinals and Championship will include a live webcast of three matches this Saturday and Sunday as the Red Stars host the event at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex in Lisle, Ill.

The four Women's Premier Soccer League semifinalist field is set when the Chicago Red Stars host the 2011 WPSL National Championship from July 30-31 at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex in Lisle, Ill.
The Red Stars face the Tampa Bay Hellenic at 3 p.m. Saturday, and the Boston Aztec Breakers Reserves face the Orange County Waves at 1 p.

With all these big name clubs coming to the United States for the mid-season friendlies you may have noticed that though the Seattle Sounders play Manchester United that match is not part of the World Football Challenge. Which is a little odd. Because the WFC is a real tournament - just look. You see, last night's match between Manchester City and Vancouver Whitecaps FC mattered.

PRESS RELEASE

Allston, MA (July 10, 2011) The Breakers got a goal each from rookie Keelin Winters and first-year Breaker Katie Schoepfer, and keeper Alyssa Naeher made three saves to record her league-leading fourth shutout of the season in Boston's 2-0 win Sunday night over the Atlanta Beat.

PRESS RELEASE

Allston, MA (July 10, 2011) The Breakers got a goal each from rookie Keelin Winters and first-year Breaker Katie Schoepfer, and keeper Alyssa Naeher made three saves to record her league-leading fourth shutout of the season in Boston's 2-0 win Sunday night over the Atlanta Beat.

ALLSTON, Mass. The Breakers had some veteran presence on the field, but it was the rookies and unsung heroes who made the difference in last night's 2-1 victory over Magicjack at Soldiers Field.

The Breakers had to cope with the World Cup duties of defenders Rachel Buehler, Amy LePeilbet, and Stephanie Cox plus midfielders Kelley O'Hara and Lauren Cheney.

After a long break for the spring high school soccer season in Washington that allowed the California teams to pick up some ground in the Academy league standings, the Sounders returned to action this weekend and got right back to winning.

Here's a good summary from the official site. It includes tidbits like this:

In the sixth minute, Okoli scored off an assist from Aaron Kovar for the early 1-0 lead.

The Philly Soccer Page » Mondragon, Ruiz are Union's top paid players
Striker Carlos Ruiz and goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon are Philadelphia Union's highest paid players this season, according to salary data released this weekend by the Major League Soccer Players Association.

Thoughts on Portland | Philly Union Talk

Can't win 'em all eh?

Saturday 9th April - Football League 2
Apparently prescriptions for anti-depressants are at an all time high. Walking through the blossom filled parks of Cheltenham on the way to Whaddon Road you wouldn't credit that the town's football team was responsible for this surge in consumption. That is until you got to the sparsely populated ground.

... about the Pats any more (as DaddyCornblog would say). Sadly, the Pats and Eagles are gone ... so now we're hoping for a Steelers-Packers Superbowl. (That's what the consensus is in these parts ... and HollyCornblog agrees, so you know it's gonna happen.)

Quite the shocker in Foxboro yesterday, eh?