Defender Brittany Bock, 22, received her first call-up to the U.S. Women's National Team today in the wake of a 12-day camp at Home Depot Center and ahead of the Oct. 29 game against Germany.

She was an integral part of the Sol's defense last season.

Also named to the roster were Torrance's Shannon Boxx of the Sol and USC product Amy Rodriguez.

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GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica) DEFENDERS (6): Brittany Bock (Los Angeles Sol), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Out of Contract), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom) MIDFIELDERS (8): Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Tobin Heath (North Carolina), Angela Hucles (Boston Breakers), Lori Lindsey (Washington Freedom), Carli Lloyd (Out of Contract), Heather O'Reilly (Sky Blue. Click to continue reading...

Crunching some numbers and shaking them until they give up some useless information about the 148 players who played in Women's Professional Soccer this season:

• Five players - Kristine Lilly (Boston Breakers), Aya Miyama (Los Angeles Sol), Caroline Jonsson (Chicago Red Stars), Becky Sauerbrunn and Homare Sawa (Washington Freedom) all played every minute of every game.

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Final shots for the day:

*Sol defenders Brittany Bock and Stephanie Cox and midfielder Shannon Boxx were among 26 players called into Pia Sundhage's 12-day USWNT camp that begins Sept. 21 at Home Depot Center. Bock gets her second call-up of the year after also making the U.S. roster for the May 25 game against Canada in Toronto she was forced to miss after suffering a heel injury in training the day before.

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United States Women's National Team coach Pia Sundhage has named 26 players for a training camp running from September 21st to October 2nd in Carson, California. GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Ashlyn Harris (North Carolina), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica); DEFENDERS (8): Brittany Bock (Los Angeles Sol), Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Lori Chalupny (St. Click to continue reading...

The Sol (11-2-4) can clinch the inaugural WPS regular season title with just a point on the road tonight at FC Gold Pride (3-9-3), a team that hasn't won in eight games and are 0-3 against LA this season.

Gold Pride will play on just three days rest after taking the field Sunday, while the Sol have had a considerably longer opportunity to relax, sustaining a rare 1-0 home loss July 8 to St.

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Cristiane nets first hat trick in WPS history
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Momentum has been difficult to find for the Chicago Red Stars in their Women's Professional Soccer debut. And with a road trip and some key absences on the horizon, a victory Sunday was of the essence.
Thankfully for the Red Stars, Brazilian sensation Cristiane is heating up with her play making abilities, and she did so in a big way with the first hat trick in WPS history as Chicago earned its second straight win, defeating FC Gold Pride, 3-1, at Toyota Park. Click to continue reading...

United States Women's National Team coach Pia Sundhage has announced the roster for the July 19th (Rochester - 3pm - ESPN) and July 22nd (Charleston - 8pm - FSC) friendlies against Canada. GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica) DEFENDERS (7): Rachel Buehler (FC Gold Pride), Stephanie Cox (Los Angeles Sol), Lori Chalupny (St. Click to continue reading...

Chicago Red Stars forward Ella Masar will miss 4 to 6 weeks because of a hip injury suffered during Sunday's 1-all draw against FC Gold Pride in Women's Professional Soccer action. The team announced Wednesday that the former University of Illinois standout tore four muscles when colliding with FC Gold Pride goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart in the second half. Click to continue reading...

Cristiane scores in 2nd straight; Chicago nets another draw
The Chicago Red Stars kept their unbeaten road record intact Sunday as they played FC Gold Pride to a 1-all draw in Women's Professional Soccer action at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
Brazilian Cristiane (above) scored a goal for a second straight game in the 47th minute as Chicago (2-3-4, 1-0-3 on the road) earned its first point after falling behind an opponent. Click to continue reading...

U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage was kind enough to move up the USA's pre-game meeting tonight so the squad could go to a local sports bar and watch the WPS match between the Los Angeles Sol and FC Gold Pride. (Of course, Pia wanted to watch the game too...). Almost the entire team took in the Sol's 2-0 win, a great victory on the road any way you slice it as they played without four starters (two Americans, two Canadians) that are here in Toronto for the match tomorrow. Click to continue reading...

We don't know how much PT they will get on Monday, but props to the four collegiate players that U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage has called in four this event, all of whom have represented the USA at a FIFA youth Women's World Cup. The players have just 17 caps between them, but 16 of those belong to Lauren Cheney, one of the top forwards in the country at UCLA and a member of the gold medal-winning 2008 Olympic Team. Click to continue reading...

When you are a soccer player, it goes without saying that you'd rather hurt your hand than your foot (unless you are a goalkeeper). We're not sure what caused the rash or wrist/thumb/arm/hand injuries on the U.S. Women's National Team, but as you can see, Shannon Boxx and Marian Dalmy both are sporting some protection for injuries. Click to continue reading...

Just over a week ago, when the USA's two matches against Japan in Texas and Utah were changed to one match against Canada in Toronto, U.S. goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart realized that her passport was expired. Whoops! Yes, you need a passport to travel to Canada. In the words of Forrest Gump..."It's this whole other country. Click to continue reading...

After some big-time shuffling last week following Japan dropping out of its North American tour, all systems are go for the USA's match against Canada on Monday night in Toronto. Kudos to the behind-the-scenes U.S. Soccer and Canada Soccer staff and officials for the juggling act that brings the U.S. Click to continue reading...

In a bit of a rush this morning, as usual. Our black lab Willie came up lame yesterday. He has a chronic shoulder problem which something seems to have exacerbated. This morning he seems a little bit better, but still not himself. He'll be turning 10 this summer, so it's worrisome to see him hurting.

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Yup, it's Mother's Day. Hope yours is a good one, whether you're celebrating someone or being celebrated yourself. The universe has been kind enough to send sun, a steady breeze, and cooler temperatures hopefully making relatively pain free outdoor work a possibility for the hordes of mothers in New Hampshire who will be out there tending gardens and planting, perhaps, Mother's Day flowers.

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So Abby Wambach and Kia MacNeill have garnered one match suspensions as Tonya Antonucci (WPS Commissioner) made the call (after the WPS Disciplinary Committee had decided differently). Let the controversy roil and the debating continue. It probably isn't a bad thing for WPS to have everyone kinda riled at this point in the young season.

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Marta scored once and Karina LeBlanc recorded her third consecutive shutout as the Los Angeles Sol blanked FC Gold Pride 1-0 on a hot Sunday at Home Depot Center.

Marta's goal, her third consecutive, was all Los Angeles needed to beat FC and stay perfect in the Women's Professional Soccer standings.

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It's a sweltering afternoon in Carson and to call this crowd "sparse" - or even a crowd, frankly - would be charitable.

The Sol XI (4-4-2): goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc; defenders Brittney Bock, Stephanie Cox, Allison Faulk, Manya Makoski; midfielders Ali Wagner, Shannon Boxx, Aya Miyama, Camille Abily; forwards Christie Welsh, Marta.

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Hmmm - the usual internet issues this morning - and an e-mail from FairPoint indicating that my webspace is now available.  Hey FairPoint - it ain't my webspace that's the problem.  Could you maybe help me with the little e-mail issue that I've now contacted you about TWICE?  (Never mind the time spent waiting on [. Click to continue reading...

November 20, 2008 - The San Francisco Bay area's entry in the new Women's Professional Soccer league will be named FC Gold Pride. The franchise unveiled its name Wednesday along with its gold-and-black color scheme and a logo featuring a growling lioness in mid-stride.  Their tagline? Welcome to the jungle. Click to continue reading...

As the Senate gets ready to vote on a new bill to stave off economic disaster, and Sarah prepares (feverishly) to debate, and George Will joins the ranks of those who see her as unqualified to serve ... and some (unfortunately) find themselves feeling sorry for the lipsticked pitbull ... my thoughts turn (feverishly) to [. Click to continue reading...

UCLA men 2 (2-3-1) Santa Clara 0
No. 2 UCLA women 3 (7-0-1) New Mexico 0
No.4 USC 4 (7-1-0) SMU 0
Long Beach State 3 (5-2-2) Utah State 0
Pepperdine 0 (3-4-2) Marquette 0
Arizona State 2 Cal State Northridge women 1 (5-3)
Sacramento 1 Cal State Northridge men 2
Loyola Marymount women 4 (4-3-2)Oral Roberts 1
Loyola Marymount men 0 (1-2-3) No.

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The Women's Professional Soccer League announced its allocation of members of the U.S. women's national team on Tuesday, establishing a foundation for the seven-team league set to kick off next spring.

U.S. Olympic team star Hope Solo and U.S. national team striker Abby Wambach were among the 21 players assigned to the seven teams.

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WPS Player Allocations – U.S. Women's National Team
WPS Team
Players Listed in Alphabetical Order
Bay Area: Nicole Barnhart, Rachel Buehler, Leslie Osborne
Boston Breakers: Angela Hucles, Kristine Lilly, Heather Mitts
Chicago Red Stars: Carli Lloyd,Kate Markgraf,Lindsay Tarpley
Los Angeles: Shannon Boxx, Stephanie Cox, Aly Wagner
Sky Blue FC: Natasha Kai, Heather O'Reilly, Christie Rampone
St. Click to continue reading...

 So Rachel Maddow's new show premiered last night and while I didn't see the whole thing (had a meeting) and didn't see Boltgirl there (not yet, that is), what I saw I liked a lot (not surprisingly).  Way to go Rachel! Ariana Huffington has written about Sarah Palin as the Trojan Moose who distracts the electorate [. Click to continue reading...

Some have already mentioned "karma" in the situation of Abby Wambach's broken leg. Even in a context where it should have no bearing, it's impossible to ignore the previous controversy of team members who were angry with Hope Solo's statements at the past World Cup.
Now, do I believe that Hope Solo had a little voodoo doll of these players that she stuck pins into? Click to continue reading...

Yesterday the USWNT beat Sweden 1-0 at Norrvalla Stadium in Skelleftea, Sweden. Carli Lloyd scored what turned out to be the game-winner off a corner that she took, giving a short kick to Lindsay Tarplay. Lindsay returned the ball to Carli, who took it into the box past at least three defenders before [. Click to continue reading...

VILA REAL DE SAN ANTONIO, Portugal - The US Women's National Team captured their second consecutive Algarve Cup title when defeated Denmark 2-1 today at Municipal Stadium.
The clubs approached the 50th minute on level terms until Abby Wambach and Natasha Kai collaborated on a nice one-two pass that Wambach chipped in for the go-ahead goal. Click to continue reading...