Alex Horwath (UW) was all set to go to training camp with Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City and compete for the No. 2 goalkeeper job.

But he couldn't get past one thought.

"In the back of my mind, I didn't really want to be a backup in the MLS right now," the 24-year-old said this week from his home in Maryland.

Date Opponent Time 4/7 at Charlotte Eagles 7:00 pm 4/15 vs. Wilmington Hammerheads 6:00 pm 4/21 at Richmond Kickers 7:00 pm 4/28 vs. Richmond Kickers 7:30 pm 5/5 vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds 7:30 pm 5/11 at Antigua Barracuda FC 7:00 pm 5/13 at Antigua Barracuda FC 4:30 pm 5/24 vs.

Richmond Kickers News Release:
RICHMOND, VA – (Wednesday, January 11, 2012) – The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce the 2012 professional schedule, opening their 20th Anniversary season against longtime rival Charleston Battery on Saturday, April 7 at 5:00 p.m. As one of the three longest tenured professional soccer clubs in the United States, the Kickers will celebrate 20 years alongside the Battery and the Charlotte Eagles in 2012.

PSC Soccer Academy - News
Pro Soccer Consulting (PSC) is proud to announce that they will be hosting a professional soccer combine for the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL Pro League in March 2012 at the Maryland Soccerplex in Boyds, MD.
PSC has already hosted three combines for top college and professional players during the last quarter for clubs within the USL Pro, Norwegian Premier League and Norwegian Second Division.

In early October I wrote a piece about the Minnesota Stars Luke Mulholland and his whirlwind year. He graduated from college, was signed by the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL PRO, was up for Most Valuable Player for the league and was voted Rookie of the Year by the league. He then singed with Minnesota for [.

After a long hiatus (for a number of reasons), here are the final (in most cases) attendance figures for the primary men's and women's outdoor soccer leagues in North America for 2011. As always, corrections and additions are welcome.

THE MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER G Total Avg. Seattle Sounders 17 654,431 38,496 Los Angeles Galaxy 17 396,693 23,335 Vancouver Whitecaps 17 346,909 20,406 Toronto FC 17 344,535 20,267 New York Red Bulls 17 335,740 19,749 Portland Timbers 17 320,051 18,827 Philadelphia Union 17 310,401 18,259 Sporting Kansas City 17 302,776 17,810 Houston Dynamo 17 300,796 17,694 Real Salt Lake 17 299,047 17,591 DC United 17 258,332 15,196 Colorado Rapids 17 252,248 14,838 Chivas USA 17 252,102 14,830 Chicago Fire 17 242,648 14,273 New England Revolution 17 224,770 13,222 FC Dallas 17 218,636 12,861 Columbus Crew 17 207,147 12,185 San Jose Earthquakes 17 201,587 11,858 MLS TOTAL 306 5,468,849 17,872 NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE G Total Avg.

The Norfolk SharX have announced two more player signings.

Defender Brady Bryant, 29, and midfielder Miguel Ferrer, who both played for the USL PRO's Charlotte Eagles this past spring, were signed following the SharX's first open tryouts on Sept. 9-10. They join Brandon Massie, who was announced as the team's first signing last week.

The Norfolk SharX have announced two more player signings.

Defender Brady Bryant, 29, and midfielder Miguel Ferrer, who both played for the USL PRO's Charlotte Eagles this past spring, were signed following the SharX's first open tryouts on Sept. 9-10. They join Brandon Massie, who was announced as the team's first signing last week.

The Syracuse Silver Knights are looking to make a serious splash in their inaugural season as they continue to build their roster. Most recently the Silver Knights announced the signing of Andriy Budnyy, a Ukrainian forward who recently played for USL Pro Club Wilmington Hammerheads.

The Syracuse Silver Knights are looking to make a serious splash in their inaugural season as they continue to build their roster. Most recently the Silver Knights announced the signing of Andriy Budnyy, a Ukrainian forward who recently played for USL Pro Club Wilmington Hammerheads.

The NSC Minnesota Stars of the NASL will soon announce they have signed Luke Mulholland, formerly of the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL PRO until the end of the season. This past week the USL announced Mulholland, a Preston, England native, had been selected to their 2011 USL PRO All-League First Team.

After a five tumultuous months in the USL Pro, only two teams remain.

The Wilmington Hammerheads capped off their regular-season American Division title with a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Richmond Kickers. They'll be joined in the final by the Harrisburg City Islanders, who knocked off top-seeded Rochester in a thrilling 2-1 win.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The quarterfinals of the USL Pro playoffs passed with only a marginal upset over the course of the weekend.

The Wilmington Hammerheads' late-season hot streak did them little good in the end as they succumbed on penalty kicks to early-season favorite Richmond.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

After 20 weeks of regular season play, the playoff picture in the USL Pro came into focus in dramatic fashion with a flurry of high-scoring games.

The Charlotte Eagles failed to lock up a playoff spot with a mid-week loss to the Harrisburg City Islanders and fell late in a 4-3 shootout with Charleston, which would claim the final post-season berth in the American Division.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With a week to go in the USL Pro regular season, the playoff picture is clearing up.

The National Division has its playoff participants settled following the Pittsburgh Riverhounds' 2-2 draw with the Charlotte Eagles. Pittsburgh will be joined in the playoffs by the Los Angeles Blues, Harrisburg City Islanders and the Rochester Rhinos.

Here are highlights of last Friday night's USL Pro Game of the Week, in which the Wilmington Hammerheads defeated the Los Angeles Blues 2-1 in front of a Legion Stadium record crowd of nearly 6,000.

Our final regular-season telecast, this Friday at Charleston, could determine the eighth and final playoff spot for 2011.

This weekend marks the return of some of the top leagues in the world, as the summer break continues to end across Europe.

Teams in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie all start their quests for successful seasons, with a number of those teams employing U.S. national team players.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

After holding a dominating lead going into its nearly three week break, Orlando City S.C. finds itself with a serious contender breathing down its neck.

The Wilmington Hammerheads won twice over the weekend in convincing fashion to put themselves within three points of the American Division Leaders.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With Orlando City off until the middle of August, it's now or never for the Richmond Kickers and the Wilmington Hammerheads to mount a challenge on the American Division regular-season title. The results were mixed over the weekend with neither team making significant progress or falling completely out of the picture.

Strikers defender and 2009 player of the year Zach Kirby has announced he will retire from soccer today after multiple injuries which have kept him out of many games in his career. Known to the fans as "Beowulf", Zach was one of the best players on the team and considered by many too good to be playing 2nd division soccer.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Just as it looked like Orlando City is poised to run away with the American Division, the mid-season leaders go winless over a weekend.

In a move that is becoming all too common among division leaders, Orlando gained just one point from two games over the weekend with a scoreless draw against the woeful Dayton Dutch Lions and a 1-0 loss to the Charleston Battery.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

There was no shortage of action during the holiday weekend as the USL Pro packed 10 games into four days.

Despite the glut of games, everything is pretty much as it was in the races for the division titles as Orlando City padded its massive lead in the American Division and Rochester clings to a three-point lead over on the National side.

A few days late (I was on vacation, sue me), but here are the highlights from last week's USL Pro Game of the Week between the Wilmington Hammerheads and Charleston Battery on FOX Soccer.

This week (tomorrow night, actually) we're in New York as FC New York hosts Antigua Barracuda FC.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

If the rest of the American Division isn't careful, Orlando City could wrap up the division title before the end of July.

A couple of weekend wins saw Orlando City move 10 points clear of the Richmond Kickers. Richmond does have three games in hand but a scoreless draw with FC New York highlights the early-season leaders inconsistent form.

The U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 kicks off tonight with eight MLS teams in action across the country.

There are some quality rivalries being sparked, such as the all-LA pre-quarterfinal and the Kitsap Pumas-Seattle Sounders tilt.

Here is a rundown of tonight's matches:

TONIGHT'S U.

Two rounds were played within one week as the US Open Cup continues to get more exciting. The teams in the lower levels of US soccer are fighting hard to make an impression against their MLS opponents. Round Three of the US Open Cup begins Tuesday night, June 28th.

Even though the match in Madison, Wisconsin started on time recently between the 56ers and the Chicago Fire's PDL side, the heavy rain and lightning storm found a way to postpone the match from the 21st to Wednesday the 22nd.

Photo by David Leah/ISIphotos.com

Between the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the European U-21 championships and the FIFA Women's World Cup there's plenty of international soccer to satisfy the soccer fan's craving, but one matchup this weekend that's not in any of those competitions will have everybody's attention, at least in North America.

By CALEB SONNELAND

In the latest installment of the 2011 U.S. Open Cup, seven teams marched into the third round of the competition while one postponed match remains to be played to arrange matchups with eight of Major League Soccer's heavy hitters.

Drama ran rampant in North Carolina, as the Wilmington Hammerheads, having initially trailed the Charlotte Eagles, 2-0, midway through the second half, stormed from behind to take the game, 3-2, after extra time.

Here are highlights from our second USL Pro Game of the Week broadcast on Fox Soccer over the weekend. We had a great atmosphere and pretty exciting game in Orlando between City and the Wilmington Hammerheads.

This week we travel to Wilmington, North Carolina as the Hammerheads take on the Charleston Battery.

The two first places in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals will be filled tonight as Costa Rica takes on Honduras and unbeaten Mexico battles Guatemala.

The first pair of Gold Cup quarterfinals headline a busy night of soccer action, a night that includes the Los Angeles Galaxy's visit to the Colorado Rapids and D.

Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com

While one U.S. national team is fighting for a Gold Cup title, another one starts its quest for a World Cup crown.

The U.S. Under-17 men's national team begins its FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico as it takes on the Czech Republic on Sunday.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

After a month without a win, the Richmond Kickers are back on track and breathing down Orlando's neck.

Richmond scored twice in the final minutes of the first half for a 2-0 victory over FC New York. It was Richmond's first victory since May 7, and the Kickers are within four points of Orlando City with two games in hand.

Here are highlights of the first USL Pro Game of the Week broadcast from this past weekend. Rochester beat Harrisburg 1-0 to take over first place in the National Division.

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For the first broadcast out of the box, it was fine. We still have some things to work on, as you might expect.

Due to high demand (1 person asked) we are going to run a 2011 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup contest. The unique nature of this tournament makes an NCAA style bracket is impossible; hosts aren't known throughout the tournament and we still don't know match-ups for the eight MLS teams that will enter the contest in the Third Round.

The U.S. Open Cup field of 40 is a game away from being set, but the pairings for the first two rounds of the tournament have been released.

The first round is slated for June 14, when 32 teams will being their battle for the right to face eight MLS sides in the Round of 16, which is scheduled for June 28.

Might be the last one for a while, but here's the latest list of attendance figures for the prominent leagues (if a team's not listed, either they haven't had a home game yet or I have no figures for them).

THE MLS G Total Avg. Seattle Sounders FC 7 253,864 36,266 Los Angeles Galaxy 6 136,938 22,823 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 7 140,923 20,132 Toronto FC 8 157,020 19,628 Portland Timbers 6 111,762 18,627 Philadelphia Union 6 108,596 18,099 Houston Dynamo 7 122,414 17,488 New York Red Bulls 6 104,036 17,339 Chivas USA 5 85,592 17,118 DC United 6 98,063 16,344 Real Salt Lake 5 81,360 16,272 Colorado Rapids 6 83,007 13,835 FC Dallas 7 96,099 13,728 Chicago Fire 5 66,439 13,288 New England Revolution 7 87,146 12,449 Columbus Crew 6 60,427 10,071 San Jose Earthquakes 6 59,132 9,855 TMLS TOTAL 106 1,852,818 17,479 NASL G Total Avg.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The Richmond Kickers' fall from grace continued with a 1-1 draw to FC New York on Saturday.

Richmond is winless in four games after starting the season with a six-game winning streak. The Kickers find themselves three points behind Orlando City with no games in hand.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With their closest rivals on hiatus, the Richmond Kickers are looking to take advantage.

A midweek loss to Orlando City put the Floridians into pole position in the American Division, a place Richmond has occupied since the first week of the season.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With the Richmond Kickers off for the weekend, Orlando City took a temporary lead at the top of the Atlantic Division while Antigua Barracuda FC gifted Charlotte its second win of the season.

It was the second 2-0 loss in as many weeks for Antigua, which is cooling rapidly after a hot streak during April.

All the leagues are up and running now, so here's a look at where the crowds are going in the prominent soccer leagues in the US and Canada as of yesterday's games:

THE MLS G Total Avg. Median Seattle Sounders FC 6 217,838 36,306 36,255 Los Angeles Galaxy 5 122,480 24,496 24,998 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 6 119,923 19,987 20,664 Toronto FC 7 136,898 19,557 20,086 Portland Timbers 5 93,135 18,627 18,627 Philadelphia Union 6 108,596 18,099 18,482 Houston Dynamo 6 105,705 17,618 17,281 New York Red Bulls 5 85,955 17,191 16,365 Chivas USA 5 85,592 17,118 14,058 Real Salt Lake 4 66,634 16,659 15,907 DC United 6 98,063 16,344 15,276 FC Dallas 7 96,099 13,728 12,109 Chicago Fire 4 54,513 13,628 12,315 Colorado Rapids 5 66,568 13,314 13,598 New England Revolution 6 65,353 10,892 11,585 Columbus Crew 5 50,996 10,199 10,306 San Jose Earthquakes 6 59,132 9,855 10,006 Sporting Kansas City 0 0 0 0 TMLS TOTAL 94 1,633,480 17,377 16,752 NASL G Total Avg.