After qualifying for the 2012 Olympics by defeating Costa Rica in the semifinal, the U.S. WNT has just one more task at hand and it won't be an easy one. The Americans will face Canada in the championship game of the tournament in front of a crowd expected to be more than 20,000 screaming Canadians at BC Place on Sunday evening.

By Joel Greenwaldt
@JoelGreenwaldt (On Twitter)
At this point of the MISL season, it's safe to say that barring an unprecedented collapse by one or both teams, the Milwaukee Wave and Baltimore Blast will win their respective divisions. While it's no surprise that either of these teams will likely be the top seed in their respective semifinal playoff match ups, the biggest shocker may be that the race for the top spot in each division has virtually been secured this early in the season.

photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

The CONCACAF Olympic Women's qualifying tournament takes place later this month, and we now know who will be representing the U.S. women's national team in it.

Head coach Pia Sundhage has named a 20-player squad for the eight-team tournament in Vancouver, B.

D.C. United U-15 Academy squad excels at Disney Soccer Showcase
United's U-15 squad finishes prestigious youth tournament unbeaten
Washington, D.C. (January 10, 2012) – D.C. United's U-15 Academy team recently traveled to Orlando, Fla. to participate in the annual Disney Soccer Showcase.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The 2012 MLS regular season schedule has been unveiled, and it is the longest ever in the league's history.

MLS's 17th season begins on March 10 and ends with MLS Cup on December 1, the first time the championship game will be decided in the final month of the year.

Despite the numerous struggles WPS was faced with in 2011, the Boston Breakers remained a solid squad. Thanks to an impressive post-World Cup run, the club earned its second-consecutive playoff appearance. Although they may have fallen short of the Championship game, 2011 was a remarkable year nevertheless for the Breakers.

It has been a while since we previewed a Championship game, instead focusing on the no less riveting events further down the ladder. But which to choose? Two of last year's big-hitters, Leeds and Reading, meet at Elland Road this weekend, but neither have done much to grab the attention so far this term.

It has been a while since we previewed a Championship game, instead focusing on the no less riveting events further down the ladder. But which to choose? Two of last year's big-hitters, Leeds and Reading, meet at Elland Road this weekend, but neither have done much to grab the attention so far this term.

[I]t has been a while since we previewed a Championship game, instead focusing on the no less riveting events further down the ladder. But which to choose? Two of last year's big-hitters, Leeds and Reading, meet at Elland Road this weekend, but neither have done much to grab the attention so far this term.

Because of MLS' relative newness to the sports scene, MLS fans have more "ownership" in the league's success. Unlike fans of the NFL, MLB and other mainstream sports, fans of Major League Soccer have real concern about their league and its place on the sports landscape. Fans work hard to bring friends to games, introduce family to the sport and cheer for MLS teams in international competitions.

Perhaps only in the nonrevenue-producing universe of collegiate men's soccer would Creighton University, a small Jesuit college in Nebraska, be considered a more desirable destination than the University of North Carolina.
But that is essentially what the highly regarded Elmar Bolowich said when he stunned the soccer community last February with his decision to leave Chapel Hill after 22 years as coach and with the Tar Heels building toward a potential second N.

By Joel Greenwaldt
Baltimore Blast (5-1) vs. Missouri Comets (5-3)
Game Time: 12/9/2011 7:35PM
http://www.misllivesoccer.com/
What needs to go right for the Blast:

• Stop the recent skid at home: Dating back to the last season's MISL Championship Game, the Baltimore Blast have lost their last two games at home.

Rachel Quon -- ISI PhotosEclipse Select Communications
CHICAGO -- The third time was the charm for Eclipse Select Soccer Club alumna and Stanford junior defender Rachel Quon (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest). Quon and the Stanford defense posted its 18th shutout of the season, none bigger than Sunday's 1-0 win over Duke to win the NCAA Women's College Cup in Kennesaw, Ga.

The playoffs and MLS Cup final are being completely revamped in 2012.

Instead of rotating the MLS Cup between different cities, starting in 2012, the MLS Cup final will be played at the home venue of the participating team with a higher regular-season point total. No more neutral fields, which is something that the MLS has done since 1996.

Well Vasco is back. I have been away for awhile, health issues. Well the MLS season is over and the best team money can buy in MLS won the whole darn thing. The Cup and the shield, congrats to Bruce and the gang on their victory.
Lets recap some of the 2011 season. We saw two new MLS teams, that came up from USL, Portland which started slow and came on strong, and almost made the playoffs, and Vancouver that came on weak, and got worse.

For the first time in too long, the best team in Major League Soccer won the MLS Cup.

That's great for MLS.

Sure, nobody likes to root for Goliath to beat down David, but there were lots of reasons to hope and be happy Los Angeles won last night. Now that they've set Houston aside with a 1-0 victory (which would've been 2-0 if Robbie Keane had not been wrongly called offside on his goal), you don't have to think about some team that played as ugly as Colorado getting hot for a few weeks and then parading around for a year as your league champs.

The morning after losing a championship game is never enjoyable. Despite the fact that you tell yourself ahead of time, it's just great to be here, no one expected us to make this run, we're playing the best team in the league, all the things to try to prepare yourself mentally, it sucks.

Fortunately for Dynamo fans, the 2011 season which at one point looked on the verge of being a second straight season without playoffs, turned in to a magical run all the way to the brink of a third MLS Cup.

As expected the Supporters' Shield winner will host MLS Cup, a welcome and long overdue change.

But the top five in each conference - Montreal joins the now 10-team Eastern Conference while the nine-team Western Conference remains the same - will now qualify for the playoffs. The fourth and fifth place teams will play a single game to determine who advances to play the conference champion in the two-game aggregate score semifinals, while the second and third place teams faceoff in the other semi.

Is this goodbye? David Beckham could play his last MLS game for the Galaxy Sunday in the MLS championship game - and not even the club knows whether he will return (AP Photo).

Or, at least David Beckham, whose five-year MLS contract expires at year's end, has not shared his decision privately - if he has made one - with Galaxy owner Anschutz Entertainment Group and President Tim Leiweke, who spoke to reporters Friday at Home Depot Center during the MLS MVP presentation ceremony.

By Joel Greenwaldt
Disappointment is really the only word that seems to come to mind when you think back on the 18-7 season opening loss the Baltimore Blast suffered at the hands of the Syracuse Silver Knights. The game was eerily similar to last season's 16-7 championship game loss to the Milwaukee Wave.

By Joel Greenwaldt
Disappointment is really the only word that seems to come to mind when you think back on the 18-7 season opening loss the Baltimore Blast suffered at the hands of the Syracuse Silver Knights. The game was eerily similar to last season's 16-7 championship game loss to the Milwaukee Wave.

KSU Soccer Stadium will soon play host the the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's College Cup Finals. Sixty-Four teams started the tournament and are fighting towards a spot in Kennesaw, GA. The semifinal matches will be played on December 2nd at 5 & 7:30 PM followed by the championship match on Sunday, December 4th at 1 PM.

Another MLS Cup, another expansion draft.

For most clubs around the league, that's what the year's final match really means. The day after Sunday's championship game, MLS teams must submit to the league office the list of eleven players they plan to protect in the Nov. 23 expansion draft.

The draft's rules are largely the same as last year, tweaked a bit to account for the Montreal Impact drafting alone, whereas last year's draft had two expansion teams.

Watch live as the UW-Green Bay men's soccer team faces Wright State in the semifinals of the Horizon League tournament at 4 p.m. today in Valparaiso, Ind. The winner advances to Sunday's championship game.

The Phoenix (11-6-1) beat Illinois-Chicago 2-0 behind goals from sophomores Luke Goodnetter (Brookfield East) and Sam Krenzien (Wauwatosa West) in Tuesday's quarterfinals to earn the matchup against the Raiders (10-6-2), who beat Green Bay 2-1 on Oct.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Brian Span (So., Somers, N.Y.) scored the golden goal with 20 seconds remaining in double overtime to propel the fourth-seeded Virginia men's soccer team to a 4-3 victory over fifth-seeded Wake Forest Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the 2011 ACC Tournament at Klöckner Stadium.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

As the ACC Tournament gets into full swing tonight at campus sites up and down the East Coast, all signs point to a rematch of last year's final between top-seeded North Carolina and No. 2 Maryland.

That's not to say other schools won't make a push as they look to secure postseason berths.

The Galaxy claimed the Western Conference title Sunday in Carson against Real Salt Lake. But the silverware they really want is the MLS Cup trophy (Photo by Staff Photographer Sean Hiller).

One more game. One more win. After Sunday's vintage performance against a very good, but weakened, Real Salt Lake team just one more step remains for the Galaxy to claim a third league title: MLS Cup 2011 Nov.

Article by Jon Parker
Seeing as we are the home of MLS in the UK, we thought it only fitting to write an article about arguably Britain's most beloved player, following his exploits during the MLS Playoff season. I speak of course about the second most capped England player of all time, David Beckham.

Ilya Ksenidi (West Allis Hale/UW-Green Bay) scored late in extra time and was one of five Croatian Eagles players to convert during penalty kicks as they got past the Milwaukee Kickers 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the Wisconsin Open Cup final Sunday at Croatian Park in Franklin.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - The Minnesota Stars had one of their best performances of the season last Saturday in the 1st leg of the NASL Championship game at the NSC Stadium in Blaine, Minnesota. A dominating 3-1 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers sent the Stars off to South Florida this week with a "somewhat" [.

Major League Soccer's playoffs begin today. You know the playoffs, right?

It's that high-anxiety time everyone around MLS points toward for eight months. Really, longer than that if you count the anticipation that builds as early as the annual January draft.

And the playoffs as a concept even serve as a flashpoint for debate; plenty of supporters would rather they be eliminated outright.

Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) set up Robyn Gayle's 88th-minute winner as the Canadian women's national team slipped past Colombia 2-1 on Tuesday night in Guadalajara, Mexico, to advance to the championship game of the Pan American Games.

Sesselmann served a free kick into the box that Gayle chested down and finished to send the Canadians to a rematch with Brazil in Thursday's final at Omnilife Stadium.

After 10 years at the helm, Steve Nicol won't be returning to the New England Revolution.

The club and Nicol agreed to a mutual parting of the ways, according to a press release, meaning that the longest-tenured coach with a single team in league history is looking for a new club.

MISL Press Release:
October 24, 2011 – (Milwaukee, WI) - The Milwaukee Wave has announced the team has re-signed six more players from last season's championship winning squad, on top of the three already signed.
The returning players are: defensemen Jonathan Santos, Joe Hammes, Jonathan Greenfield and J.

MISL Press Release:
October 24, 2011 – (Milwaukee, WI) - The Milwaukee Wave has announced the team has re-signed six more players from last season's championship winning squad, on top of the three already signed.
The returning players are: defensemen Jonathan Santos, Joe Hammes, Jonathan Greenfield and J.

By FRANCO PANIZO

HARRISON, N.J. -- MLS Commissioner Don Garber held an informal press conference at halftime of the U.S. men's national team friendly with Ecuador Tuesday night, and he discussed a bevy of topics, including MLS scheduling and expansion.

The first thing Garber touched on were the comments made recently by U.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

With the latest batch of international friendlies in the rear view mirror, the U.S. national team is looking forward to its next set of games, which will both take place in Europe.

The United States' next two friendlies will be played during the Nov.

The following Baltimore Blast 2011-2012 MISL Season predictions are provided to Indoor Soccer News courtesy of guest blogger, Lewis Melcher.
Here is what I see for the beginning of the 2011-2012 season:
I do not see the Blast blowing out teams. Since the Blast will have a lot of new players to get used to playing with their veterans I would expect that they will loose steam early on with five back-to-back games and two games with only one day off on the schedule.

The following Baltimore Blast 2011-2012 MISL Season predictions are provided to Indoor Soccer News courtesy of guest blogger, Lewis Melcher.
Here is what I see for the beginning of the 2011-2012 season:
I do not see the Blast blowing out teams.

Where Are They Now: Not Languishing in the Lower Divisions

by Anthony Belinko

For whatever reason these players moved on from the top flight of American soccer and were picked up by teams in the lower divisions. These are all the players that were found from the Philadelphia Union's previous ranks and all of them did or are doing very well in their leagues.