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WUSA Teams Finalize Rosters

April 1, 2002 - Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) News Release


ATLANTA (Monday, April 1, 2002) - Each of the eight teams in the Women's United Soccer Association submitted its 18-player roster today in preparation for the 2002 season which kicks off on April 13. Under the 2002 WUSA Regulations, each team's active roster will consist of a maximum of 18 players plus two reserve players. Of the 18, a maximum of four international players are allowed on any given club. A waiver draft will be conducted on Tuesday, April 2 at 3:00 ET to help establish each team's opening day rosters. Following the waiver draft, teams will be able to offer contracts to reserve players. Each team will have two reserve players, one of which must be a goalkeeper. The waiver draft order will remain the same as the WUSA Draft: Carolina, Washington, Boston, San Diego, Philadelphia, New York, Atlanta, San Jose.

OPENING DAY ROSTERS: A complete listing of every team's opening-day 18-player roster is available at www.WUSA.com under the "Players and Coaches" section of the site. A preview of each of the eight WUSA teams can also be obtained on the league's official site at http://www.wusa.com/players_coaches/288020.html.

CHASTAIN RETURNS TO ACTION: San Jose CyberRays defender Brandi Chastain returned to game action for the first time in seven weeks when she played 40 minutes in a 0-0 exhibition draw against the Washington Freedom Saturday evening at Invesco Field in Denver. Chastain, who started the second half and left the game with five minutes remaining, called her return to action "40 minutes of heaven." Chastain injured her knee during a WUSA preseason All-Star Game February 10 in Fort Lauderdale. Washington's Mia Hamm, who had knee surgery on February 26, was in Denver signing autographs as part of the WUSA/MLS doubleheader. Hamm is expected to return to game action in May.

WUSA STARS HAIL FROM NEARLY EVERY CONTINENT ACROSS THE GLOBE: During the WUSA's inaugural season in 2001, the world's finest players showcased their skills to the delight of millions of fans in stadiums and watching on television. All of the U.S. women's national team stars that have become fan favorites are members of WUSA teams. In addition, superstars from countries across the globe dot the rosters throughout the league, making the WUSA the women's version of Italian Serie "A", the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and the Spanish First Division all rolled into one.

With the league's second season on the horizon, 30 international players from 11 different countries will compete in the WUSA. Headlining the list is China with nine players followed by Norway with six athletes. Each team is allowed four international players per team. Currently, Carolina and San Diego each have available openings for one more international player. The remaining six teams - Atlanta, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, San Jose and Washington - have the maximum of four international players. A breakdown of the 30 international stars follows.

Australia
Dianne Alagich - San Jose

Brazil
Sissi - San Jose
Katia - San Jose
Pretinha - San Jose
Roseli - Washington

Canada
Charmaine Hooper - Atlanta

China
Gao Hong - New York
Sun Wen - Atlanta
Liping Wang - Atlanta
Liu Ailing - Philadelphia
Zhao Lihong - Philadelphia
Fan Yunjie - San Diego
Zhang Ouying - San Diego
Bai Jie - Washington
Pu Wei - Washington

England
Kelly Smith - Philadelphia

Finland
Anne Makinen - Washington
Mina Mustonen - New York

France
Marinette Pichon - Philadelphia

Germany
Bettina Wiegmann - Boston
Maren Meinert - Boston
Birgit Prinz - Carolina

Japan
Homare Sawa - Atlanta

Nigeria
Mercy Akide - San Diego

Norway
Dagny Mellgen - Boston
Ragnhild Gulbrandsen - Boston
Hege Riise - Carolina
Unni Lehn - Carolina
Linda Ormen - New York
Anita Rapp - New York

Additional players have dual citizenship and compete for national teams outside of the United States. Washington's Steffi Jones (Germany), Atlanta's Sharolta Nonen (Canada), Boston's Karina LeBlanc (Canada) are examples.

NOTE: Select international players such as Carolina's Birgit Prinz and Washington's Jones will not count as one of the team's 18 roster players until they arrive in the United States following the completion of their European club season. THREE OTHER WUSA TEAMS IN EXHIBITION GAMES SATURDAY EVENING: The New York Power defeated the Oklahoma Outrage of the W-League in an exhibition match 7-0 Saturday evening in Tulsa. Jennifer Lalor and Emily Stauffer each scored two goals to lead New York. http://www.nypower.com/287681.html

Also on Saturday, Shannon MacMillan scored for the San Diego Spirit in a 1-1 draw against pesky Pepperdine University. Although a draw, San Diego outshot the Waves 19-1. http://www.sandiegospirit.com/287640.html

Rounding out the WUSA action on Saturday, Marinette Pichon and Kerry Connors each scored twice to help the Philadelphia Charge down the University of Virginia 5-4. http://www.philadelphiacharge.com/press_room/287674.html

BREAKERS WIN THE WUSA'S FIRST-EVER OVERSEAS TRAINING MATCH: The Boston Breakers began tournament play in La Manga, Spain with a 1-0 win over the Norwegian Premier Team, Kolbotn. Rookie Alexa Borisjuk scored a late second-half goal to give Boston its first win in Spain. The victory also marks the league's first overseas training match victory. http://www.bostonbreakers.com/news/index.cfm?nid=107 BOSTON TO PLAY TWO MORE GAMES IN SPAIN THIS WEEK: The Boston Breakers continue their overseas training this week with two more matches against top European clubs. Boston, which traveled to La Manga, Spain March 25, to play three top European clubs this week. The following is brief look at the Breakers schedule:

April 3 Breakers vs. Alvsjo (Swedish) (in La Manga) April 5 Breakers vs. Trondheim Orn (Norwegian) (in La Manga)

Boston returns to the states April 6 and will train at Nickerson Field until the club travels to the West Coast for its opener against San Jose on April 13. The Breakers trip to Spain is the first time a WUSA club has conducted preseason training outside the United States.

ON THE HORIZON: Each WUSA team continues to prepare for the start of the 2002 season. There are two exhibition matches on tap this week.

April 6 New York Power vs. Philadelphia Charge (Indian Hills High School in Oakland, N.J. 6 p.m. ET) April 6 Atlanta Beat vs. Carolina Courage (Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. 7 p.m. ET)

All four team will continue to train in preparation for its season openers on April 13. Philadelphia travels to Atlanta, Carolina heads to San Diego, New York travels to Washington and Boston meets San Jose on opening day.

FROM BOBSLEDS TO BICYCLE KICKS: Shauna Rohbock was an alternate on the U.S. Olympic women's bobsled team in Salt Lake City only a month ago and had not played organized soccer in three years. Now she is a member of the San Diego Spirit and has gone from a bobsledder trying out for a soccer team to a professional soccer player who bobsleds during the offseason. "I had doubts myself that I could come in here and make this team, " Rohbock told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "I took so much time off and there are so many great players out there. I knew I had a number of things going against me. But I had to give it a shot, or probably for the rest of my life I would have been mad at myself for not doing it."

Rohbock began bobsledding after an illustrious soccer and track career at BYU. As a bobsledder, Rohbock joined the World Class Athlete Program offered by the U.S. Army. Because the program is for "amateur" athletes only, the 5-foot-8 Rohbock out-processed from the program, meaning she still owes the Army four years in the National Guard.

The 24-year-old will most likely come off the bench for coach Carlos Juarez. Shannon MacMillan, Zhang Ouying and Merci Akide are expected to start for coach Juarez's three-forward alignment.

INTERNATIONAL STARS ADAPTING TO A NEW LANGUAGE: Philadelphia Charge newcomers Marinette Pichon and Zhao Lihong are drawing rave reviews for the performance on the field, but the off-field adjustment is presenting a few challenges. Both players speak little English as they attempt to bond with teammates, including returning internationals Liu Ailing (China) and English forward Kelly Smith.

Philadelphia Head Coach Mark Krikorian and the rest of the team try and help as much as possible, but he says the international players are already bonding with the team.

"They have developed a nice friendship. The Chinese players will learn a little French, and Marinette will learn some Chinese, and there will be some English in the middle," said Krikorian.

"There is no problem with the soccer component, but sometimes they don't understand what time we are meeting for lunch," Krikorian added.

MIA HAMM NAMED FINALIST FOR 2002 KIDS CHOICE AWARDS: Washington Freedom star Mia Hamm is one of four finalist for Nickelodeon's 2002 Kids Choice Awards "Favorite Female Athlete". The winner will be announced on April 20th at 8 p.m. during the 2002 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Other nominees include, Serena Williams, Venus Williams & Michelle Kwan. The award is voted on by kids. Voting can be done by going to http://www.nick.com/all_nick/specials/kca_2002/vote.jhtml.

WUSA PRESIDENT/CEO LYNN MORGAN ON WUSA.COM CHAT: WUSA President/CEO Lynn Morgan will participate in a WUSA.com live chat on Tuesday, April 2. The chat will start at 8:00 p.m. ET. and last 30 minutes. Morgan will be fielding questions and comments from fans on the upcoming season. A link to the chat can be found on the home page of the league's official website, WUSA.com. For more details log on to www.WUSA.com.

MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 3: The WUSA is scheduled to conduct a media teleconference call on Wednesday, April 3 at 3:00 p.m. WUSA President and CEO Lynn Morgan, WUSA Commissioner Tony DiCicco and New York Power forward Tiffeny Milbrett, the league's 2001 Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year, are the featured speakers on the call.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 3, 2002 3:00 p.m. ET

TO PARTICIPATE: Please call (888) 532-2462 to dial into Wednesday's teleconference call. The chairperson will be Dan Courtemanche

FEATURED WUSA President/CEO Lynn Morgan SPEAKERS: WUSA Commissioner Tony DiCicco New York Power forward Tiffeny Milbrett

WUSA MEDIA GUIDES ARE HERE: The 2002 Official WUSA League Media Guides have arrived. Media members should contact WUSA Manager of Sports Communications Paul Dodson to receive a copy of the WUSA League Media Guide. In addition, media members can request a set of team media guides.

Featuring the best women's soccer players in the world, WUSA athletes include Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Tiffeny Milbrett, Briana Scurry, Julie Foudy and dozens of international stars. The eight WUSA teams are the Atlanta Beat, Boston Breakers, Carolina Courage, New York Power, Philadelphia Charge, San Diego Spirit, San Jose CyberRays and the Washington Freedom. The 2002 season kicks off April 13 with four games in action, including Boston at San Jose in a nationally televised match on PAX at 4:00 p.m. ET.



Women's United Soccer Association Stories from April 1, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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