Overall, it was a tough season. Our non-conference schedule allowed us to play some of the best teams in the country – something we’ve never been able to do before. Also, not making the NCAA tournament was extremely tough. However, we're taking away a lot of lessons from this season and learning what we can do differently.

Six Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues players are involved in the NCAA postseason and fighting for national championships. Five of those players will look to capture the Division I College Cup, while 2009 W-League MVP Angelika Johansson is looking to bring Franklin Pierce University to Division II glory.

Those awarded a spot on the team have exhibited not only exceptional qualities on the field during collegiate games, but also off the field in the classroom. Student-athletes must have a GPA of 3.30 or over to qualify to be considered for the team. Hodgson was one of only three repeat-selections from the 2008 season. Hodgson played in six matches for the Fury during the 2006 and 2007 seasons totaling 171 minutes of action.

Campbell Hall, NY, native Brittany Taylor and the University of Connecticut got the news they were hoping for yesterday, earning an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament after losing 4-1 on penalty kicks to Villanova in the first round of the Big East tournament on Oct. 29. The game was tied 1-1 before going to penalties. Connecticut will face Boston University in the first round of the NCAA tournament which begins on Friday, November 13.
 

The National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum distributed the 2010 Player Ballot Monday to all voters. The ballot features 24 retired national team and professional players who all have contributed to the growth of soccer in the United States, including nine former players of USL leagues.

Leagues under the auspices of USL may lack a cohesive national footprint, but their footprints are all over the American landscape, with more than 120 teams competing in the men's First and Second Divisions, the W-League and the Premier Development League. As Melanie Fitzgerald, director of W-League operations, points out, the 25-year-old USL is the poster child for grassroots leagues, having started as a men's indoor league, gradually morphing into an outdoor league and pulling youth and women's teams under the USL umbrella.