The NCAA announced the field of 64 teams that will compete for the 2009 Women’s College Cup through December.
Stanford (20-0-0) is the No. 1 seed overall as Pac-10 Champions, and North Carolina, Florida State and UCLA are the three other No. 1 seeds.
The ACC and Pac-10 lead all conferences with eight entries, while the Big East has seven teams in and the SEC has six. View the full bracket here.
Hall of Fame Announces Ballot Finalists
The National Soccer Hall of Fame distributed its player ballot for 2010inductees to voters today. It featured 24 retired national team andprofessional players, three of which are women.
Former United States Women’s National Team players Shannon MacMillan, Cindy Parlow and Tisha Venturini-Hoch are on the ballot, though they face some stiff competition from the likes of Marco Etcheverry, Earnie Stewart and a slew of others.
In the Veteran Ballot, former U.S. internationals and 1991 world champions Linda Hamilton and Lori Henry are among the 11 finalists.
Boston Breakers Head Coach Tony DiCicco is also on the Builder Ballot. He led the U.S. Women’s National Team from 1994-1999, capturing Olympic gold in 1996 and the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Dr. Bob Contiguglia joins him on the Builder Ballot. Contiguglia isthe former president of U.S. Soccer and U.S. Youth Soccer and is involved in trying to organize interest for a WPS team in the Denver area.
Cristiane Update
Brazilian forward Cristiane is the most high-profile free agent left inWomen’s Professional Soccer, and it is still unclear as to where she will land next year.
The Chicago Red Stars want her back, and why wouldn’t they?
Cristiane scored seven of the team’s 18 goals in 2009, and the WPS All-Star was one of few bright spots for the lowly Red Stars.
“I think we’ve been pretty public on our intent to re-sign Cristiane,” Red Stars General Manager Marcia McDermott said.
For now, there is nothing new to report, McDermott added. She also said the Red Stars are active in trying to make some roster moves, but could not comment on who those players are.
The Skinny on the Sky Blue FC Logo
It’s typical that after a team wins a championship, it adds a star above its crest to recognize and celebrate the occasion.
Sky Blue FC did so after winning the inaugural WPS Championship in August, but was indecisive as to where exactly the star should be. Official Sky Blue FC press releases have featured it inside of the logo (the orange half of it) and above the logo.
After what sources called “a bit of idecision at first,” the team has decided to officially adopt the logo featuring the star above the crest. Look for that going forward.
