Soccer Notes

The father-in-law of veteran New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis, Bob Odom, was injured in the Boston Marathon explosion. Odom was near the finish line waiting for the arrival of his wife, Nicole, who was one of 34 members of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation team of runners who signed up to raise funds for the Myra Kraft Community MVP Awards, which honor the late wife of Patriots and Revolution owner Robert Kraft….While the National Women’s Soccer League was debuting in the U.S., some of America’s top players were playing in Europe. Megan Rapinoe started for two-time defending champion Lyon in a 3-0 win over French rival Juvisy. That game attracted a crowd of over 2,000. Former UNC standout Whitney Engen, who recently earned her first appearances with the U.S. WNT at center back, started for Liverpool FC Ladies, along with American Amanda da Costa. Sarah[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] Hagen scored her ninth goal in 15 games, and Amber Brooks added her third goal in the past three games in Bayern Munich’s 2-0 win over Guetersioh. North Carolina native Kendall Fletcher’s 90th minute goal for Vittsjo capped a 5-1 win in Sweden, while Swedish champion Tyreso with Christen Press and Meghan Klingenberg opened its season against Umea…… Nineteen of the 20 players on Richie Williams’ Under-17 MNT roster for the CONCACAF championship are members of the U.S. U-17 Residency Program. Seven have ties to the Development Academy, including five who are registered with Academy clubs. The only non-residential player is midfielder Joel Sonora, who plays for Boca Juniors in Argentina and is the son of three-time MLS All-Star Diego Sonora….The Pali Blues of the USL W-League have hired former U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Angela Hucles as the team’s assistant coach. Hucles, who hails from Virginia Beach, was a four-time All-ACC player at the University of Virginia, where she ended her collegiate career as the Cavaliers’ all-time leading scorer with 59 goals and 138 points. An Olympics gold-medal winner, she earned 109 international caps for the U.S. WNT…..U.S. MNT striker Jozy Altidore raised his goal total for AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie to 28 across all competitions with three goals in a 6-0 drubbing of FC Ultrecht. He scored his hat trick in one nine-minute span in the first half, two on penalty kicks. He continues to increase his mark for the highest one-season total for an American playing in Europe…..Stuart Holden, on loan from Bolton, continues to move toward full match fitness as he started and played 72 minutes for Sheffield Wednesday in a 2-1 loss to Leeds United in the second-tier League Championship in England…..Freddy Adu has yet to play with his new Brazilian club Bahia, but he was chosen for the game-day roster. Bahia is the 23-year-old’s eighth club since turning pro in 2004 with D.C. United of Major League Soccer. Adu was cut loose by the MLS Philadelphia Union before the start of the 2013 season, leading to his move to South America……U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey scored two goals, including a late equalizer in the 82nd minute, allowing visiting Tottenham Hotspur of the EPL to tie Basel of Switzerland 4-4 in two-game aggregate. But Spurs were eliminated 4-1 in a penalty kick shootout in the quarters of Europe’s second-tier Europe League. American goalkeeper Brad Friedel could not stop any of Basel’s kicks, as Tottenham lost its seventh straight shootout …..Another talented German-American is about to make a decision as to whether accept a chance to play for the United States, or wait for a call to play for Germany. John Anthony Brooks is considered one of the top prospects in German soccer. The 20-year old 6-4 defender plays for 2. Bundesliga leader Hertha Berlin and his “potential valuation” as a transfer fee is said to be in the $45 million range. His immediate decision is whether to play for Tab Ramos’ U20s or the German U-21s this summer…..Philadelphia Union forward Jack McInerney was voted MLS player of the Week for week #8 of the 2013 season. The Georgia native scored two goals in Philly’s 3-2 win over D.C. United. He leads MLS scoring with six goals.