But that much we knew. Here are some updates on those matches:

As of Monday, 13,400 tickets had been sold for the May 27 match against China and 9,600 tickets had been sold for the June 30 match in Utah. Those are pretty solid presale numbers, especially considering the game against Canada is still six weeks away.

If anybody were doubting the still-present Women’s World Cup bump, consider this: Last year’s Women’s World Cup send-off match at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. drew only 5,852 fans. And surely nobody forgets that abysmal Oct. 6, 2010 evening when the U.S. barely tied China 1-1 on an 83rd minute Alex Morgan goal (the beginning of ‘Alex Morgan Time’) in front of just 2,505 fans at PPL Park. The most exciting thing to happen that night came during pregame when Abby Wambach’s errant shot cost a man his dinner.

The match at Rio Tinto on June 30 is close to doubling last year’s send-off match attendance in presale numbers alone. The last time the U.S. women were in Sandy, Utah, on March 31, 2010, the crowd was 3,732. Granted, that was the one and only Snow Bowl match.

Fans outside of those who will be in attendance on May 27 can get ready to start the usual gripe: There will be not TV or webcast for the match against China. Yes, that will be annoying for a lot of people, but this site will have a few people on hand to keep you all in the loop on what is happening.

Plus, on a very positive note, the U.S.-Canada game will be the first time the U.S. women have played on a broadcast network (those first few channels on your TV) in a very long while. We (and the very helpful folks at U.S. Soccer) are still looking into the last time the U.S. women were on a broadcast network, but we can tell you that they were not on NBC during the 2008 Olympics and they were not on ABC during the 2007 Women’s World Cup. That means that it may have been 2003 or 2004 since the women last played on such a mainstream TV outlet, which means June 30 will mark some real progress.

No word yet on whether the June 16 USA-Sweden match or the June 18 USA-Japan match will be webcast. Both matches take place in Halmstad, Sweden.

Hope Solo will appear on the June issue of Vogue alongside Ryan Lochte and Serena Williams. Expect to see her more in non-soccer related press like fashion magazines.

U.S. national team goalkeeper Hope Solo will be featured on the cover of the June issue of the posh magazine, Vogue, along with swimmer Ryan Lochte and tennis star Serena Williams.

The cover is a simple, classy ensemble of three Olympians ahead of the 2012 London Games and features Solo and Williams in gold bathing suits (hinting at their medal ambitions no doubt) and Lochte in basic swim trunks. Have a better look at the cover here.

Now, what is up next for Solo after the Olympics end in August? This is that dark three year period for women’s soccer where, with no proper domestic league, the sport could fade into oblivion again.

Solo’s agent, Richard Motzkin , recently told the Los Angeles Times that Solo would be putting her name out to the public in more non-traditional ways, such as fashion magazines. Vogue certainly fits that description.

What is interesting is the recent news that this fall, ABC will run an ‘all-star’ edition of “Dancing With the Stars.” I certainly don’t have insiders in the entertainment industry, nor have I watched the show beyond Solo’s participation in it, but it would be fair to say that she was popular on the show and did well (she made the semifinals last season). So hey, it could be a possibility.

I don’t think it is a longshot to propose that, but first Solo and teammates have this thing called the Olympics to deal with. And if they have it their way, the Americans will be traveling around the country on their third-straight Olympic gold medal celebration tour this fall.

Kristine Lilly recently became a brand ambassador for Korrio and now the company has signed on with Global Premier Soccer, which has a presence in eight states on the East Coast.

“After careful planning and consideration, Global Premier Soccer has selected Korrio as our sports automation platform to elevate our administrative capabilities,” Peter Bradley, Director of Coaching, Global Premier Soccer said in a statement. “The capabilities of Korrio allow GPS to streamline communications and registration systems within the club and greatly enhance our interaction with all players and families.”

Definitely keep an eye on the brand as it pushes forward. There is a clear ambition for success from CEO and Founder Steve Goldman. Korrio has been around since 2009 but really started hitting mainstream soccer folks this year, by my estimation. That became evident at the NSCAA Convention in January, when it seemed like just about every kid there to participate in coaching sessions was wearing an adidas Korrio jersey.

Christina Murillo (right) is one of only five returners for the LA Strikers. (Photo: Debby von Winckelmann)

The LA Strikers played their inaugural season in the W-League last year and finished with a 4-9-1 record. This year the team looks very different, starting with the front office. Now under the ownership of businessman Steve Miller, the team also has a new, full-time general manager in Rebecca Neuron.

Demian Brown, who coaches the women’s team at Cal State Fullerton, came in mid-season last year and returns as head coach. Brown did a good job with the personnel that was already in place, but this year he has been able to recruit players of his choosing and the result is a lot of new faces.

“We’re excited about the group that we have,” Brown said. “Different, but the thing that I’m excited about is that we’ve been able to build a team that has been a core of players that have been busy and that has been with each other over the last two months. I think that really lends itself to building a strong group.”

The returning players are Christina Murillo, Sam Johnson, Vanessa Valentine, Eva Dixon, and Rachel Flemming.

Murillo, a member of the Mexican Women’s National Team, competed for Mexico at CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Jan. 2012, starting the team’s second match against the Dominican Republic. She also played at the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship in March 2012. Murillo just completed her freshman year at Michigan, where she was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team after starting at midfield in all 19 of the team’s matches.

Johnson is a striker currently playing for USC, with a wealth of youth national team experience. She was a member of the U.S. Under-18 national team, as well as a U-20 pool player. Johnson was on the U.S. U-17 Women’s World Cup team in 2008, winning a silver medal. She also won the 2008 U-17 CONCACAF championship. She also competed with the U-16 National Team in 2007 and U-15 Team in 2006.

Valentine played for Brown at Cal State Fullerton and was the Titans first four-year All Big West honoree. Brown brought her to the Strikers immediately after he was named head coach last season and she returns as the Strikers’ captain and center back.

Dixon, a forward/midfielder, played for Cornell University and was named MVP in 2008. Dixon received All-Ivy League honors in three of her four seasons playing for Cornell. Dixon is a product of South Pasadena High School, where she was the school’s athlete of the year four times.

Flemming, a defender, played for UC Irvine, where she was the team captain before graduating in 2008.

Brown said that the Strikers are very athletic this year, with new, quality forwards Hannah Beard, Kristy Krohn, and Jamie Bell expected to help the team’s attack.

Beard is an international from the UK, where she currently plays for the Durham Wildcats. She joins the Strikers after playing for the Santa Clarita Blue Heat last season, where she helped the team to the W-League Regular Season Western Conference Championship.

Krohn, a former CSUN standout, has been playing professionally in Brazil for Santos Futebol Clube and the Los Angeles Premier FC of the WPSL. She was an All-Big West Conference honoree while at CSUN and held the all-time scoring record until a year ago.

Bell also played for the Los Angeles Premier FC last season and was an All-West Coast Conference honoree during her time playing at Loyola Marymount University.

The Strikers have also added midfielder Cami Privett, a rising star at UC Irvine, where she just finished her freshman year.

“I think we have some really good pieces going forward and going into the season,” Brown said.

While they may not have a lot of big names that other teams boast, one advantage that the Strikers have moving forward is a team with a core that has been playing together for months. In a league where a big challenge is building team chemistry in a short season with so players coming from many different places, the Strikers have a jump on other teams in this area.

“Playing games against Northridge, Pepperdine, LMU, and just recently, our 5-2 win at Bakersfield, gives me a lot of good feelings about what we might be able to do in this league,” Brown said.

The Strikers opened the season on Sunday with a 2-0 loss to the Pali Blues at home. LA returns to action on May 27 when the Strikers host Santa Clarita.

The Whitecaps started off strong with lots of flare and attack which resulted in plenty of scoring opportunities early. Whitecaps forward Mele French appeared to open the scoring early but the ball hit the crossbar. Highlanders goalie Stephanie Parker kept the game scoreless until Chelsea Buckland scored in the 36th minute. Buckland, who was the lone Canadian Women’s National Team player of the seven on the roster to suit for the Whitecaps on Sunday, was left unmarked in the box after a Whitecaps corner.

The turning point during this game occurred in the 38th minute when Whitecaps defender Brittany Galindo was shown a red card for a tackle inside the box. Highlanders forward Liz Hansen made no mistake from the spot, knotting the game at 1-1 headed into halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Victoria Highlanders FC scored two goals in a span of five minutes thanks to the duo of Lindsey Hoetzel and Janelle Smith. Hoetzel was set up by Smith off a corner in the 58th minute. Hoetzel also scored again five minutes later when she fired a brilliant shot into the top left corner past the out stretched arm of Whitecaps goalie Justine Bernier.

Despite being down by two, the Vancouver Whitecaps pressed forward and made the game interesting after scoring in the 69th minute. Chelsea Buckland sent in substitute Janine Frazao on a breakaway and Frazao was able to put the ball past Stephanie Parker and into the net.

The Whitecaps took this game over in the final 20 minutes but could not find an equalizing goal. Stephanie Parker played exceptional and was clearly the player of the game after closing the door on the Whitecaps. The red card that was shown to Britany Galindo had a huge impact on this game. The Whitecaps had to play catch up and the Highlanders were able to capitalize on the visitors being shorthanded.

Whitecaps Coach Jesse Symons praised both teams following the match.

“The players showed great character after we went down to 10,” he told whitecapsfc.com. “We failed to capitalize on some of our chances and give Victoria credit, they came out and played really hard.”

Whitecaps FC Starting XI: Justine Bernier; Alison Fenter (Brie Shaw ’45), Brittany Galindo, Mary Kate McLaughlin, Danielle Johnson; Nicole Setterlund, Jenny Jeffers, Jaclyn Sawicki (Brandi Vega ’70); Mele French, Chelsea Buckland, Taylor Patterson (Janine Frazao ’45)

Notes: This game was played in front of a record crowd of 750 spectators at Royal Athletic Park. The Whitecaps will play their first home game of the season on Friday, May 18th, against the Colorado Rush at McLeod Athletic Park in Langley at 7:30 PM.

Sarah Huffman of the Pali Blues (left) tries to make her way by LA Strikers defender Christina Murillo. (Photo: Debby von Winckelmann)

The Pali Blues opened their season with a 2-0 win against the LA Strikers on Sunday at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Calif.

Liz Bogus scored to give Pali a 1-0 lead in the 69th minute of play and later got the assist on Sarah Huffman’s insurance goal in the 84th minute.

Blues’ head coach Charlie Naimo was happy with the win, but not his team’s performance.

“I thought we were not good enough at all,” Naimo said. “We have a lot of work to do. We were missing things tonight. We were lethargic, we weren’t active.”

Blues’ forward Ann Marie Tangorra agreed that it took the team some time to get going.

“It was rough in the beginning, but over time it just clicked,” Tangorra said. “We got two goals, so it was good.”

Both teams created scoring opportunities from the early minutes of the game, but neither team could find the back of the net. The goal came after the Strikers’ defense hesitated, thinking there had been a hand ball.

“We were just unlucky because a lot of the girls on the team thought that the girl hit the ball with her hand,” said Strikers’ defender Christina Murillo.”So we kind of got caught off guard.”

LA Strikers head coach Demian Brown said his team played 70 minutes of good soccer.

“We gave up a goal that wasn’t necessarily a well-worked goal – it was an opportunistic goal,” Brown said. “It took a little wind out of our sails.”

With the Pali Blues leading 1-0, the Strikers tried to step up their attack and, instead, gave up another goal.

“We changed shape a little bit to be able to put on a little more pressure, and in changing shape in your first game out, things get missed , Brown said.”

Brown and Naimo were both challenged by personnel issues. The Strikers were missing attackers Kristy Krohn, who has not yet been released from her team in Brazil, and Jaime Bell, who was unable to make the game due to Mother’s Day obligations.

“Those two players are very important to this team and would have changed the score line for us today,” Brown said.

For the Pali Blues, several of their collegiate players have not yet arrived. Naimo said that his team played without a true center midfielder.

“We’re only going to get a lot better,” Naimo said. “Next week we will be three players better.”

Next week the Pali Blues take on the Western Conference defending regular season champions, the Santa Clarita Blue Heat, on May 20. The game will be played at Valencia High School with kickoff at 5 p.m. PT. The Strikers have a week off before playing Santa Clarita on May 27 at Occidental College.

Simon had an impressive debut for Boston, keeping D.C. United’s defense busy all night. Simon managed a total of seven shots, five of which were on target.

Boston controlled the ball throughout much of the match. D.C. United did produce some goal scoring opportunities after new arrivals Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson entered the match in the 25th minute.

D.C. United’s best chance of the game came in the 31st minute. Boston’s Amanda DaCosta headed a dangerous ball away from goal on the line. The second chance shot by Lohman was then handled by goalkeeper Alice Binns. Moments before the corner, what appeared to be some miscommunication between Elli Reed and Binns nearly resulted in an own goal by the Breakers.

A solid performance by D.C. United’s keeper Didi Haracic kept D.C. United in the game. Haracic recorded a total of seven saves. Perhaps the most impressive came on a long ball by Simon. Haracic jumped and managed to get enough on the ball to send it over the crossbar. Haracic also managed to snuff out a breakaway by Simon in the 61st minute. She dove on the ball and denied Simon the opportunity to get a shot off.

Saturday night’s match marked both Boston’s Cat Whitehill and D.C.’s Joanna Lohman return to the SoccerPlex as they were members of the Washington Freedom in 2009. Both expressed excitement to be playing at the SoccerPlex again.

“It was fun to be back here…a lot of good memories here, a lot of awesome fans,” Whitehill said.

After the game, acting head coach Cindi Harkes expressed excitement about D.C. United’s progress this year despite the result Saturday night. She feels that the team is much further along in its progression that it was this time last year.

“We were meeting each other on the bus last year right before the first game… we’ve had a nice three weeks to train and work on fitness,” Harkes said.

Boston head coach Lisa Cole noted the backline’s improvement from Thursday night’s game against the ASA Chesapeake Charge. She commented that it was a “great game for us overall…our play was solid and we kept the ball in front of us.”

D.C. United will hope for another quality performance from Didi Haracic next Saturday at 7 p.m. as the team enters league play in the W-League Atlantic Division against the Virginia Beach Pirhanas at the SoccerPlex. Meanwhile, the Breakers will look to build upon their successful road trip next Friday, when they play their home opener against F.C. Indiana in WPSL Elite League play.

Below, Jen Buczkowski models the home jersey (white top, blue shorts) and Lori Chalupny models the away jersey (blue top, white shorts). What are your thoughts? The design is certainly original and deserves credit for originality.

The New York Fury forward out of Texas A&M scored three first half goals and helped on another to help power the Fury to the 5-1 victory and spoil the hometown team’s WPSL Elite League opener.

The Mutiny looked to take an early step forward as Kate Howarth zipped down the right flank in the game’s first minute. Howarth fed in a pass looking for Becca Mays, but the shot went wide.

Merritt Mathias netted the Fury’s first in the fifth minute. Merritt slipped past a pair of defenders who closed in on the play.

Matthias’s second goal was aided by an assist from Fury Midfielder Christina DiMartino. Matthias charged down the left side, received the pass and shook a fake to Mutiny goalkeeper Jennifer Bannon to put the Fury up 3-0 in the 24th minute.

Mathias’s third goal was helped by a strong effort by Brittany Taylor. Taylor charged down the right sideline and fired a pass to Mathias in the middle of the field, who drilled a shot out of the reach of Bannon.

Matthias pitched in an assist as Jazmyne Spencer tapped in a point blank shot off of the left post in the 13th minute. Spencer’s tap-in crossed the goal mouth and into the back left corner of the net.

The Mutiny would not be denied on the evening however, as Tiya Gallegos blasted a second half goal in the 75th minute. Kate Howarth fired a shot of her own on the Fury’s goalkeeper and was denied.

Gallegos gobbled up the rebound and fired her shot in for the goal.

“Tiya was in the right place at the right time as she’s known for,” Mutiny coach Tony Horta said. “As we get better I think the whole team concept will get there,” he added.

Howarth, a standout player from the University of Miami, was an offensive sparkplug for the Mutiny all night as she created a handful of scoring chances. In the first half, Howarth charged down the sidelines, and fed in passes, whose ensuing shots went for naught.

“We expect a lot from her, however I think she’s playing a little out of position,” Horta said. “She’s more of a target player, and we’re asking her to play wide. We have enough speed on the outside to push the defense back.”

The Mutiny nearly found themselves in the dire straits of a three goal deficit as Spencer seemed to have an empty opportunity four minutes after Mathias’s goal. The Mutiny defense corps anchored by Ciara McCormack and Allison Fitzsimmons sniffed out Spencer’s shot and cleared the ball out of harm’s way.

Long-time Mutiny stalwart Jenny Maurer gave the Mutiny their best chance since the first few minutes of Saturday’s game rifling a shot high on Fury goalkeeper Michelle Betos in the 53rd. The shot from the left flank rose and curved, but fell into Betos’ hands.

Meghan Lenczyk added the Fury’s fifth goal in the 73rd minute.

The Mutiny will look to build off of a second half that saw vast improvement when they take to their home pitch once again next Saturday against ASA Chesapeake Charge.

Whitney Engen returns to a stacked Pali Blues team in 2012. (Photo Credit: Patricia Giobetti | http://www.printroom.com/pro/psgiobetti)

The Pali Blues are aiming for a third W-League championship this year and they have Charlie Naimo back at the helm to increase their chances of success.

Naimo, who coached the Pali Blues to back-to-back W-League championships in 2008 and 2009, took last season off to concentrate on the inaugural season of the LA Blues in the USL Pro League. Pali missed the playoffs last year, finishing the season with a 7-1-6 record.

“Last year’s squad was decent, but didn’t have enough depth and didn’t play with enough urgency,” Naimo said. “Some of the girls were disappointed in the team last year – with the standards that were put in place… I had no other choice but to jump back in and erase that thought and try once again to put together not just a great team, but one that’s going to come with professional expectations in day-in and day-out standards. ”

With a well-earned reputation for recognizing and developing talent on the pitch, and having contributed to the careers of close to 30 women who have come through Pali and gone on to play professionally, Naimo said he believes he has assembled the talent necessary to bring the W-League championship back to the Blues.

This year’s roster looks to have so much depth and quality, in fact, that it may actually present Naimo with the problem of not being able to give players enough minutes to keep them happy.

“I don’t know what we’ll see as far as who will play where,” Naimo said. “But, I know on a given day that we will have not just  11 good starters, but I’ll be able to go to a bench that could completely turn a game on its head. “

Naimo said that while recruiting was initially nearly finished in March, the announcement that WPS had suspended play gave him a whole new set of opportunities to gain players.

“I’m really excited about this team because there are players that I wasn’t expecting to have again at this level,” Naimo said.

Whitney Engen, Nikki Washington, Sarah Huffman, Liz Bogus, and Cami Levin are some of those unexpected surprises.

Whitney Engen, the 2011 WPS Defender of the Year from the Western New York Flash and winner of three NCAA championships at UNC, will join the Blues this season on her breaks from U.S. national team duty. Engen played for Pali’s 2009 championship team.

“Right now she is on the cusp of making the (national) team,” Naimo said. “I believe she is one of the best center backs in the world.”

Washington, a midfielder, also played on Pali’s 2009 championship team and was most recently a member of the WPS’ magicJack. She has won a U-20 World Championship and two NCAA titles at UNC. Huffman is also a midfielder and has represented the United States at the youth national levels, where she won the U-19 World Championship in 2002, and as a member of the U-21 team, won the Nordic Cup in 2004, 2005, and 2007. She was also a member of the Washington Freedom, winning the 2007 W-League championship.

Bogus, a forward, played for the Boston Breakers for the last two years after four seasons at Arizona State. She was a member of Pali’s 2008 championship team. Levin, a defender, just capped off her collegiate career at Stanford with an NCAA Championship and was drafted to Sky Blue FC in January. She also has U.S. Youth National Team experience, representing the USA at the U-18, U-20, and now the U-23 level. She has played for Pali for the past three years

Some of the newer college players include striker Ann Marie Tangorra from Cal State Fullerton, Taylor Lytle from Texas Tech, and Lynn Williams and Michelle Pao from Pepperdine.

“Tangora has WPS-quality written all over her,” Naimo said. “I’m super excited to have her for a season – she’s special.  She thinks the game in a different level.”

Lytle, a midfielder finished her collegiate career at Texas Tech last season as the career-leader in assists, with 27. She played in 72 matches and scored 14 goals. Lytle was selected to the U.S. U-23 camp in March and helped the team to win the Four Nations Tournament title in La Manga, Spain. She most recently joined Sky Blue FC on its trip to Japan.

Williams, a forward, was named West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year in 2011, after scoring six goals, along with 11 assists. Naimo cites her size, strength, and speed among her assets.

“She can play with her back to goal as good as any player I’ve seen in a long time,” Naimo said.

Pao is a versatile player who started every game for Pepperdine last season at outside right back. She can also score, netting two goals last season and assisting on five others.

Pali will return some key players, as well, including attacker Anisa Guajardo, who will join her Pepperdine teammates. Guajardo, a member of the Mexican National Team, led the Blues with four goals and three assists last season.

Key defensive players returning are goalkeeper Anna Picarelli, and central defenders Christie Shaner and Sasha Andrews.

Picarelli is a member of the Italian National Team and a former Pepperdine standout, where she holds the record for the best goals against average, most goalkeeper wins, and most shutouts.

Andrews brings more international experience to Pali, as a former member of the Canadian national team where she played in the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup and later, won a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan-American Games.

Shaner played collegiately for Notre Dame, as well as US Youth National Teams. After breaking her leg in her first professional game for the Los Ageles Sol, Shaner joined the Pali Blues and now returns for her third season.

Despite having practiced just a few times, Shaner likes the talent she has seen on the field. And, having played one season with Naimo and one without, she is happy he is back.

“Not only does Charlie have so much passion and love for the game, but he also has a desire and a drive to want to make us better players – to push us to a level we may not be at,” Shaner said. “And, he will prepare some of the younger players for the professional level, for those that want to do that in their careers. He will also bring back a structure – I think that’s something that we kind of missed last year.”

Naimo will be challenged in the first two weeks of the season with four players (Levin, Lytle, Mariah Nogueira, Beth West) in U.S. U-23 camp, Engen in camp with the senior national team and several collegiate players from Stanford and Maryland that he said would not be available until June.

While he has recruited a wealth of talent, Naimo must now manage that talent – a task he believes is just as important as the recruitment.

“When you have a lot of great players, you’re going to have to deal with international call-ups, not just for your domestic players, but your internationals,” Naimo said.” If you don’t have a handle on it, it doesn’t matter who you have. “

The Pali Blues will begin their quest for that third championship on Sunday against the LA Strikers at Patterson Field on the campus of Occidental College. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. PT.