Game Day in Richmond

Well, it's game day here in Richmond, and a GORGEOUS day it is too... The locals are telling us they can't believe how nice and warm it is - though they're warning us that temps will drop when the sun goes down. It's another cloudless day, and the twilight kickoff should make for perfect soccer weather.

We'll post the USA starting lineup shortly, and of course you can follow tonight's game live on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker!

Happy Halloween!

We hope you all had as much fun on Halloween as the WNT. The team went all out in celebration of the holiday and of Riley Rampone's third birthday. We can't properly put the party - which included bobbing for apples and an eyeball pinata - into words, so pictures will have to do...

Dalmy fulfills her childhood dream of being on the Wheaties Box..

Boxxy = Foxxy

Tash Kai's interpretation of a referee..

Can you guess who's behind the masks??

There were two doctors in the group - Tina Ellertson and Kacey White. Since Tina was holding her little cow (new baby Mya), Kacey needed to hold the bigger cow, HAO, to balance out the photo

Hucles the Hometown Hero

Virginia Beach, Va., native Angela Hucles has returned to her home state for Saturday's game, which is about two and a half hours from Virginia Beach and an hour from her alma mater, the University of Virginia. There are about 11 members of the Hucles family expected to be in attendance cheering their favorite Gold Medalist.

Her four goals at the Olympic Games mark one of the most clutch performances in U.S. WNT history, and they actually came in three consecutive matches - one against New Zealand in the Group G finale, one against Canada in the quarterfinal and two against Japan in the semifinal. Hucles had scored just five over her entire career heading into this year, but now has seven in 2008 as well as a place in U.S. Women’s National Team lore.

Together Again...

We're back! The Women's National Team arrived in Richmond throughout Thursday evening and held their first training session on an absolutely beautiful morning at the University of Richmond Stadium. As you can see, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Tina Ellertson

Today marked the return to the team for defenders Marian Dalmy (torn ACL) and Tina Ellertson (second child). Both hit the pitch today for a relatively light practice. Dalmy arrived yesterday evening with maybe the most unbelievable travel story we've ever heard - okay, not maybe, definitely the craziest.

Her connection through Atlanta was supposed to be smooth, she wasn't even have to deplane as the flight to Richmond was just a continuation. That changed however, when they landed in Atlanta and a baggage worker noticed that a cage that was supposed to contain two CHEETAHS was open and the cheetahs were nowhere to be found. Cheetahs. Like, the big cats. Anyway, zoo employees were called in to tranquilize the animals and incredibly, no damage was done to any of the other bags or any people. Don't believe us? Read for yourself...

Marian Dalmy