The round robin opener sees Major League Soccer Champions Real Salt Lake against MLS’s most successful franchise DC United at 5 pm, followed by Toronto FC versus tournament host, the Charleston Battery at 7:15 pm.

Real Salt Lake
The defending MLS champs enter this year’s tournament looking to repeat their success of 2009 when they won the Carolina Challenge Cup at the first time of asking. Head coach Jason Kreis led Salt Lake to its first-post season playoff appearance in 2008 and in 2009 he coached the team to its first MLS Cup championship. He is the youngest coach in MLS history to win the MLS Cup.

Real Salt Lake’s roster includes two players who have a chance to earn a spot on the US men’s national team roster for next summer’s FIFA World Cup. Midfielder Kyle Beckerman has made 10 appearances for the US and forward Robbie Findley started for the US in last week’s 2-1 loss versus the Netherlands.

DC United
United returns to the Carolina Challenge Cup for a fifth appearance; DC participated from 2004 – 2006 and then again in 2009 but somewhat surprisingly has yet to lift the trophy.

DC United is the most successful professional soccer organization in the US. United is a four-time MLS Cup Champion (1996, 1997, 1999 and 2004) and winners of the 1996 and 2008 U.S. Open Cup, the 1998 CONCACAF Champions Cup, the 1998 Interamerican Cup and the 1997, 1999, 2006 and 2007 MLS Supporters Shield.

Toronto FC
This is the fourth consecutive year that TFC will have visited Charleston for its pre-season. After a third stellar season at the turnstiles that saw anther 15 consecutive sell-outs Toronto FC just missed the MLS post-season finishing in 5th position in the Eastern Standings, one point outside the playoffs.

Toronto signed its first designated player towards the end of the 2009 season signing Canadian national team midfielder Julian DeGuzman to a three-year contract. DeGuzman has played 42 times for Canada and arrived in Toronto from Spanish La Liga side, Deportivo La Coruña.

Toronto have also made a coaching change during the off-season bringing in 2007 MLS Coach of the Year, Preki. Preki spent the last three seasons as the head coach with Chivas USA.

Preki is the only player to be awarded the MLS MVP Award and the MLS Scoring Champion twice, winning both in 1997 and 2003. He still holds the record for all-time league leader in points scored (270 on 79 goals and 112 assists, plus an additional 25 points on 10 goals and 5 assists in the playoffs). Preki played his last competitive game at the age of 42.

The Reds’ first match in the tournament will be against the hosts Charleston Battery on Saturday at 7:15 pm (live video and blog on the TorontoFC website).

Carolina Challenge Cup Schedule
Saturday, March 13
Real Salt Lake vs DC United – 5:00 pm
Toronto FC vs Charleston Battery – 7:15 pm

Wednesday, March 17
Charleston Battery vs Real Salt Lake – 5:00 p.m.
Toronto FC vs DC United – 7:15 pm

Saturday, March 20
Toronto FC vs Real Salt Lake – 5:00 pm
Charleston Battery vs DC United – 7:15 pm

Carolina Challenge Cup and MLS success
There is a remarkable correlation between success in the Carolina Challenge Cup and success in Major League Soccer. Each year aside from 2008, the winner of the Carolina Challenge Cup has gone on to win either that season’s MLS Supporters Shield (regular season champions) or MLS Cup.

Despite not creating an MLS champion in 2008 two of that years participants came very close to winning a major trophy as the Charleston Battery lost to DC United in the final of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and the New York Red Bulls lost to the Columbus Crew in the MLS Cup final.

Carolina Challenge Cup past winners
2004 – Columbus Crew (MLS)
2005 – San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
2006 – Houston Dynamo (MLS)
2007 – Houston Dynamo (MLS)
2008 – San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
2009 – Real Salt Lake (MLS)

“Our team is anxious to compete in the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship,” said national coach Bryan Rosenfeld. “We just finished competing in three important international matches in preparation for this competition. With a few days of rest and recovery from that competition, we are ready for our first group game against Jamaica .”

In preparation for the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship, Rosenfeld and his squad recently took part in the Women’s Under-17 Four Nation Tournament in Trinidad and Tobago. Canada finished second behind Mexico after posting one win, one draw and one loss in three international games in San Fernando , Trinidad and Tobago. The San Fernando camp was Canada’s second women’s U-17 camp of the 2010 season.

“All three matches brought different challenges, so I was pleased as to how the team responded,” said Rosenfeld. “I was pleased as to how the team responded with each game.”

All 20 players selected to Canada’s teams have previously participated in either the National Training Centres or BMO National Championships or both. Of note, two players are taking part in their second CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship, goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo and Diamond Simpson.

Canada has spent the last few days in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The team departs for Alajuela, Costa Rica on Tuesday March 9. In Costa Rica, Canada will face Jamaica on March 11, Panama on March 13 and Mexico on March 15. The semi-final stage is 18 March while the final is 20 March. All 16 matches in the eight-team championship will be played at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto. Every match will be broadcast live via CONCACAF.com.

The CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship is played every team years. This year, only the top-two teams will qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Trinidad and Tobago 2010. As host of this year’s FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, Trinidad and Tobago has already qualified and will not compete in the confederation championship.

In what was their third friendly meeting since the Sounders entered MLS in 2009, neither side were able to make a decisive breakthrough in what was the first match of 2010 at Swangard Stadium.

With the USSF D-2 Pro League season still several weeks away from beginning, the ‘Caps again showed their ability to compete with clubs from MLS, as their commitment and skill matched the fine qualities of the Washington State outfit.

Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made three changes to the side that started the 2-1 friendly win over 2009 MLS Cup champions Real Salt Lake in Casa Grande, Arizona, on February 20. Former D.C. United defender Greg Janicki replaced Luca Bellisomo in the Vancouver backline, while the Caribbean duo of Jamaica’s Dever Orgill and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines native Cornelius Stewart came in for the injured Marlon James and the versatile Zourab Tsiskaridze.

Fresh off a three-match trip to Spain to play in La Manga Cup II, Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid named the same starting XI that defeated Norwegian club SK Brann 1-0 on February 25. The line-up included veteran keeper and team captain Kasey Keller in goal, while in attack, former Arsenal FC star Freddie Ljungberg played alongside 2009 MLS Newcomer of the Year Fredy Montero. There were also two former United Soccer Leagues First Division (USL-1) players in Seattle’s line-up, as Sanna Nyassi (USL-1 Sounders) and Osvaldo Alonso (Charleston Battery) started in the visitors’ midfield.

On a beautiful sunny day at Swangard, a crowd of 3,895 took in the highly-anticipated pre-season encounter between these two Interstate 5 rivals, with a large and vocal contingent of Sounders fans having made the trip to Burnaby, BC, to support their side.

What they saw was a tentative start to an even first half, with the first notable piece of action occurring on nine minutes when Stewart was booked for a late challenge on Sounders midfielder Nathan Sturgis.

It was at that point that proceedings livened up, with the Blue and White creating the first chance of the match a minute later. Stewart took Nizar Khalfan’s through ball on the right flank before playing a low cross into the path of Orgill. Unfortunately for the Jamaican youth international, the ball was just out of his reach, with Keller able to make a routine save. The Sounders response came three minutes later, as the dangerous Montero forced a good save from Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly with his volleyed strike.

Seattle then had the ball in the back of the Whitecaps net on the quarter-hour mark, but to the dismay of the travelling fans, Sounders midfielder Steve Zakuani was adjudged offside after heading home Sanna Nyassi’s cross from the right. Vancouver looked to reply two minutes later, but Takashi Hirano’s cross from the left just missed the head of Stewart in front of the Sounders goal.

One of Seattle’s qualities is their pace on the flanks with Nyassi and Zakuani. On 21 minutes, Zakuani showed his speed when he broke down the left and eluded the challenge of Whitecaps newcomer Chris Williams before forcing an excellent save from Nolly with his fierce goal-bound strike.

With the visitors starting to gain a foothold in the match, Thordarson made a substitution on 35 minutes, with youngster Alex Semenets replacing Stewart in attack. A minute later, Hirano had to be alert to clear a dangerous ball from Ljungberg in the ‘Caps box for a corner, while on 38 minutes, Orgill struck a close-range shot straight at Keller after taking a pass in the Sounders box from Khalfan.

The last chance of the half fell to former Swedish international Ljungberg, but after taking advantage of a Whitecaps turnover near the edge of the Vancouver box, the talented Scandinavian could only roll his shot across the face of Nolly’s goal and out for a goal kick.

The halftime whistle from match referee Steven Depiero meant both sides went to their respective dressing rooms level at 0-0.

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The waiting game
How do you prepare for play in a salary-cap soccer league when you don’t actually know what the salary cap will be?

If you’re Toronto FC, apparently you do it cautiously.

For all the Canadian MLS side’s aching roster needs – striker, winger, central defender – things have been very quiet on the off-season player-acquisition front. Defender Ty Harden from Beckhamburg. Knee injury specialist Jacob Peterson from Rocky Mountain FC. A couple of long-shot draft picks.

Yeah, the Reds took a bunch of bright-eyed trialists down to Florida for some exhibition games. None has returned to Toronto with the team.

This leaves TFC with an undermanned roster and a serious lack of money. The cash crunch could be eased by parting with well-paid veterans Carl Robinson and Nick Garcia, but that isn’t happening either.

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“It was a very well played match by Canada against a hard-working and direct opponent,” said Canadian national coach Bryan Rosenfeld. “We created many chances, but not enough to win.”

Tonight’s match was Canada’s third international match in six days. Rosenfeld’s starting XI featured Sabrina D’Angelo in goal, Ally Courtnall at right back, Shannen Jainudeen and Nicole Setterlund at centre back, Katherine Caverley at left back, Chantale Campbell, Kylie Davis and Sabrina Hémond from right to left in the midfield, and Haisha Cantave, Nour Ghoneim and Diamond Simpson from right to left up front.

Both teams came out to a flying start. Less than two minutes from the whistle, right back Ally Courtnall was driving into the offensive zone and winning Canada’s first corner of the match. Just three minutes later, Trinidad and Tobago had a wonderful chance after a cross got past Canadian goalkeeper D’Angelo. Fortunately, Setterlund got back just in time and dove to knock the shot wide of the net.

Then in the eighth minute, Campbell stepped up and fired a 30-yard blast that hit the crossbar.

The play continued both ways, but then Canada thought it had a worthy opportunity after Simpson broke in past the defence. Simpson was tackled on the play by goalkeeper Keri Myers, but there was no call on the play.

Four minutes later, Trinidad and Tobago opened the scoring with the first goal of the game in the 19th minute. Canadian goalkeeper D’Angelo was knocked in the air when several players went up to connect with a Trinidad and Tobago free kick. The ball came down and scrambled its way over the line for a 1-0 Trinidad and Tobago lead.

“Trinidad and Tobago’s players fought like crazy, but our Canadian players never quit,” said Rosenfeld.

Canada quickly returned to action looking for the equaliser. While Canada would have to wait until the second half, it did get close with several more chances before the half-time whistle. In the 32nd minute, Campbell produced a great shot along the ground that was nearly redirected on target by Cantave. Five minutes later, Cantave had a chance on a breakaway, but her shot was stopped by Myers.

Then in the 40th minute, Courtnall had another one of her great runs, but was pulled down right on the edge of the penalty area. Again, there was no call on the play.

Before the second half, coach Rosenfeld made his first of five changes, replacing Hémond with Abigail Raymer. Within five minutes of her entry, Raymer had a good chance off a Cantave cross, but Raymer was just wide with her shot.

A few minutes later, it was Cantave on the receiving end of a Setterlund pass. Cantave did not miss, firing the equalizing goal into the top corner of the net.

From there, Canada maintained most of the possession, but could not score the winning goal. There was a great strike from Cantave in the 63rd minute, a well-taken free kick by Campbell in the 81st minute, and a good run by substitute Zakiya McIntosh in the 85th minute.

During the second half, coach Rosenfeld made four more changes. He replaced Raymer with Caroline Beaulne in the 75th minute, Cantave and Ghoneim for McIntosh and Haillie Price in the 77th minute, and Davis for Kinley McNicoll in the 83rd minute.

The Canada 1:1 draw closed out a week-long camp in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. Following the match, Canada will have a few more days of training before heading to Costa Rica for the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship which runs 10-20 March.

“We played a very good game,” said Billy. “We circulated the ball well versus an excellent team and had a lot of fun playing in this beautiful stadium. I think we’re starting to find our rhythm. We’re getting to know each other more and more on the pitch, which is making it easier to find each other.”

At the 44th minute, Boavista forward Alex Machado scored the tying goal from six metres out, deflecting a cross from the right flank.

“I think we delivered our best performance of the three exhibition games we’ve played in Portugal,” noted Jordan. “It felt like our opponents took advantage of all the changes we were making in the two previous games, but not today. This was a nice way to wrap up our trip.”

The Impact dominated the first half, while Boavista had the first couple of scoring chances in the second half.

Impact forward Reda Agourram, who entered the game in the 55th minute, came very close to giving the Impact the lead. After taking a pass from Roberto Brown behind Boavista’s back line, Agourram took a powerful shot that the goalkeeper deflected just over the net.

“This was another special match and we played very well defensively,” noted Impact head coach Marc Dos Santos. “We had the best chances in the first and managed to score, while they found a way to score while no one was expecting it. It was tough physically because we had played yesterday but the players answered well.”

“I’m very satisfied with our trip. We played high level matches and we can go home feeling that our mission was accomplished,” concluded Dos Santos.

The Impact concluded its camp in Portugal with a record of one win (5-1 versus Freamunde), one loss (2-1 versus Celta de Vigo) and one draw (1-1 versus Boavista).

The club returns home on Friday at 6pm and will resume training at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard as of next Wednesday, March 10th.

IMPACT LINEUP
Matt Jordan, Simon Gatti (Rocco Placentino, 55’), Cédric Joqueviel, Stefano Pesoli, Adam Braz, Leonardo Di Lorenzo (Tony Donatelli, 55’), Tyler Hemming (Patrick Leduc, 65’), Filipe Soares (Valentin Radevich, 84’), Philippe Billy (Amine Meftouh, 81’), Roberto Brown (Pierre-Rudolph Mayard, 66’), Eduardo Sebrango (Reda Agourram, 55’)

“It was a good result for us as we attacked with determination throughout the match,” said coach Bryan Rosenfeld. “Our players are quickly learning to adapt to the different styles shown to us.”

For this match, coach Rosenfeld’s starting XI featured Rachelle Beanlands in goal, Ally Courtnall at right back, Alison Clarke and Nicole Setterlund at centre back, Katherine Caverley at left back, Diamond Simpson, Chantale Campbell and Sabrina Hémond from right to left in the midfield, and Abigail Raymer, Charléne Achille and Caroline Beaulne from right to left up front.

Canada opened the match with plenty of pressure. In just the fourth minute, Canada won its first of six corner kicks in the first half. It was Setterlund who connected with the ball, but her header went high.

Just five minutes later, Canada was again deep in the Jamaica end. There were two more corner kicks, a nice cross from Courtnall, and a nice combination between Raymer and Achille. Finally in the 15th minute, Jamaica turned around and fired a long shot on the Canadian net. Beanlands had no problem stopping the shot.

Canada continued to mount its attack. In the 23rd minute, one combination sent Hémond in on goal, but Hémond was stopped by the Jamaican defence before a shot could be fired. Next, Beaulne had the ball at the top of the box, but her shot was directed right at the Jamaican goalkeeper Shantel Graham.

In the 25th minute, Canada ’s fourth corner was headed by Setterlund, but cleared off the line. Canada managed a pair of shots in the scramble, but the shots were cleared by Jamaica . Two minutes later, Achille forced Jamaica ’s Graham to make a diving save. On the ensuing corner, Clarke managed a header, but Graham tipped it over the bar.

Finally in the 34th minute, Canada broke the Jamaica defence with its first of two goals in the first half. Courtnall played the ball to Simpson who passed it to Campbell . Campbell made no mistake and buried it from 22 yards out.

Then in the 44th minute, it was Beaulne’s turn after she received a diagonal pass and slotted it into the far right of the goal. It was Canada up with a 2-0 lead before the half.

Canada maintained terrific possession throughout the first half and was never in danger. The team made two substitutions before the restart, resting Courtnall and Caverley in favour of Sophie Therien and Yazmin Ongtengco-Hintzen. Canada then made three more changes throughout the second half, switching Achille for Kinley McNicoll in the 52nd minute, Clarke for Shannen Jainudeen in the 55th minute, and Raymer for Haillie Price in the 69th minute.

That third substitution came just moments after Canada made it 3-0 with a goal by Hémond. Hémond was the last touch after Raymer hit the post, Beaulne had a shot blocked, and McNicholl hit the bar. Hémond found the rebound and knocked it in.

After the third goal, Canada switched from a 4-3-3 formation to a 4-4-2 formation. The new midfield featured Simpson, Hémond, Campbell and McNicoll while up front were Price and Beaulne.

In the 78th minute, Canada made it 4-0 with a goal from substitute Price. It was Hémond who made the pass and Price who put it into the top left corner.

Off the restart, Jamaica finally got its break with a 45-yard blast from captain Trudi Carter. The goal caught Canada by surprise and cut the lead to 4-1.

After that, though, Canada shut Jamaica down. Jamaica won a pair of free kicks in succession, but would never get close. Canada continued with pressure the other way and closed out for the 4-1 victory.

Canada can now rest before closing out the Four Nation Tournament in two days against host Trinidad and Tobago. After two matches, Canada has one win and one loss with five goals scored and one goal conceded.

Canada’s all-time record at the Cyprus Women’s Cup is now nine wins, one loss and one draw. Canada previously finished second in 2009 and first in 2008.

“It feels great to win this tournament,” said Carolina Morace. “We may not have played as freely as we would have liked in the first half, but we played some very good football in the second half. New Zealand was very physical, but we were the better team in all phases of the match.”

For the final, coach Morace’s starting XI featured Karina LeBlanc in goal, Rhian Wilkinson at left back, Candace Chapman and Emily Zurrer at centre back, Marie-Eve Nault at right back, Diana Matheson at left midfield, Carmelina Moscato at centre midfield, Kelly Parker at right midfield, and the trio of Jodi-Ann Robinson, Christina Julien and Christine Sinclair up front.

As Canada had qualified for the final after just two matches, much of Canada’s lineup had rested two days earlier in the final group match against South Africa. Still, Canada’s lineup was slow to find its feet in the first 15 minutes. The battle in the midfield was especially frantic as both teams struggled to maintain possession.

New Zealand then fashioned the first opportunity after a soft foul was called against Wilkinson at the edge of the Canadian penalty area. The resulting free kick was blasted high over LeBlanc’s bar.

As the first half progressed, Canada started to find its feet. In particular, Parker was flying down the right and was creating chances for the Canadian attack. Then in the 28th minute, Sinclair nearly broke through, but was tackled before she could get in alone on the goalkeeper.

In the 31st minute, a trio of short Canadian corners nearly broke the deadlock. Parker, Wilkinson and Matheson combined to good effect as Sinclair, Moscato and Julien all narrowly missed as a result of the corner kicks.

On one final Canadian chance in the first half, Sinclair fired a 25-yard half volley, but the shot bounced kindly in the goalkeeper’s hand.

As one final note to the first half, goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc received a caution in the 21st minute for handling the ball just outside the penalty area. It was Canada’s first caution in three matches.

In the second half, Canada came out strong, pushing New Zealand deep in its own half right from the whistle. Within five minutes, Canada was almost up on the board. In the 49th minute, Parker crossed the ball to Robinson who unleashed a vicious first-time shot that hit a defender on its way to the goal. Julien was the first to react, but her shot also hit a defender.

In the 62nd minute, Canada broke forward with a four-on-three opportunity, but Matheson’s heavy shot from distance was stopped by the New Zealand goalkeeper. Two minutes later, Canada again built its attack as Sinclair fired a cross to Julien, but the Julien shot went back across the goal and into the goalkeeper’s hands.

In the 66th minute, coach Morace made her first change as she replaced Robinson with midfielder Desiree Scott. Less than five minutes later, Canada took the 1-0 lead with the Matheson goal from distance.

It was a moment of brilliance as Matheson fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the goal from outside the New Zealand penalty area. The New Zealand goalkeeper did not have a chance to move before the ball was in the net.
Canada was utterly dominant in those first 25 minutes of the second half. With the lead, Canada dropped back and changed its formation from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2. As for Canadian goalkeeper LeBlanc, she was only finally called upon to touch the ball for the first time in the second half in the 71st minute.

Canada defended well for the rest of the way as New Zealand seemed to tire. Canada kept strong and did not allow New Zealand to threaten. In the 90th minute, Morace made her second and final substitution of the final as she replaced Julien with midfielder Sari Raber.

Canada celebrated the final whistle as 2010 Cyprus Women’s Cup champions. After the game, the team was presented with the championship trophy.

Starting Lineup
Karina LeBlanc, Marie-Eve Nault, Candace Chapman, Emily Zurrer, Rhian Wilkinson, Kelly Parker, Carmelina Moscato, Diana Matheson, Christina Julien, Jodi-Ann Robinson, Christine Sinclair

Substitutes
Desiree Scott (Jodi-Ann Robinson) 66′