The United States won its second game at the Under-21 Nordic Cup in Raufoss, Norway, beating Denmark, 4-0. A win or a tie in the final Group A match against Germany on Sunday will put the Americans in the Nordic Cup championship game for the fifth consecutive year. Two of the American goals (the first after 55 seconds) came on own goals. Florida striker Abby Wambach and rising high school senior Lori Chalupny also scored. July 27 in Raufoss, Norway USA 4 Denmark 0. Goals: Own goals 1, 63, Wambach 12, Chalupny 70. USA -- 18-Hope Solo (1-Emily Oleksiuk, 76th), …

New York and Philadelphia scored big wins in the battle for playoff berths. Third-place New York dropped Boston to the cellar with a 4-2 win at Mitchel Complex. The Charge beat Washington, 2-0, at RFK Stadium to open up a four-point lead (with a game in hand) on the Freedom for the fourth playoff berth. First-place Atlanta blew a chance to clinch a playoff berth when it lost to Carolina, 3-2. The game featured Chinese star Sun Wen's first goal of the season. July 26 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Carolina 3 Atlanta 2. Goals: Burtini (Fotopoulos, Bengtsson) 27, Fotopoulos (Riise) …

Standings TEAM GP W L T P GF GA Atlanta Beat 16 8 2 7 31 24 16 Bay Area CyberRays 17 8 5 4 28 21 16 New York Power 17 7 5 5 26 26 22 Philadelphia Charge 16 7 6 3 24 24 20 Washington Freedom 17 6 9 2 20 22 27 Carolina Courage 17 6 9 2 20 24 30 San Diego Spirit 16 5 7 4 19 20 22 Boston Breakers 17 5 9 3 18 24 32 Leading Scorers PLAYER TEAM GP G A P Tiffeny Milbrett NY …

Here are Soccer America Assistant Editor Bryan Alvarez's predictions for the July 29 games: San Diego 1 Atlanta 2 Carolina 2 Bay Area 1 Boston 3 Washington 2 Previews (all times ET) Sunday, July 29 (6:00 pm) Atlanta at San Diego (TV: CNNSI-NATIONAL). Did you know? The Beat is 1-0-1 versus the Spirit and won the last meeting 3-2 on June 17, at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Spirit's record stands at (5-7-4) with 19 points placing them seventh in the WUSA standings. The Spirit defeated the second place CyberRays 2-0 on Wednesday, with goals coming from Mercy Akide and Joy …

The following are the results on the second day of the Snickers U.S. Youth National Championships: Under-19 Boys Charlotte (N.C.) SC Blue 1, KC Athletics (Kansas City, Kan.) 0 Goal: Brentley Kellum, 71st. River City Rush (Sacramento, Calif.) 2, FC Delco Black (West Chester, Pa.) 2. Goals: (R) Alexis Maurtua, 33rd; Patrick Nelle, 35th. (FCD) Vicente Bastidas, 11th; Byron Carmichael, 57th. Under-18 Boys Colorado Rush Nike (Lakewood) 2, Texans '82/'83 (Houston) 1. Goals: (C) Ryan Parsons, 67th, 77th. (T) Joey Gaworecki, 89th. Vardar III (Southfield, Mich.) 3, Beadling Blue (Pittsburgh) 2. Goals: (V) Dave Perlin, 25th; Justin Detter, 71st; Jeff …

RESULTS Semifinals July 25 in Pereira Mexico 2 (Borgetti 13, Garcia Aspe pen. 66) Uruguay 1 (Morales 32). Quarterfinals July 23 in Armenia Colombia 3 (Aristizabal 50, 69, Hernandez 66) Peru 0. July 23 in Manizales Honduras 2 (Own goal 57, Martinez 90) Brazil 0. July 22 in Pereira Mexico 2 (Arellano 18, Osorno 80) Chile 0. July 22 in Pereira Uruguay 2 (Lemos pen. 61, Lima 87) Costa Rica 1 (Wanchope 51). Group A July 11 in Barranquilla Chile 4 (Navia 29, Montecinos 74, 90, Corrales 86) Ecuador 1 (Chala 47). Colombia 2 (Grisales 16, Aristizabal pen. 60) Venezuela …

The San Diego Spirit pulled on of the biggest upsets of the WUSA season when it beat San Jose, 2-0, at Spartan Stadium. The win moved the Spirit out of the cellar and ended the CyberRays' record 10-game unbeaten streak. Joy Fawcett had San Diego's second goal -- her first goal since coming back from having her third child. July 25 in San Jose Bay Area 0 San Diego 2. Goals: Akide (MacMillan) 21, Fawcett (Boxx, Foudy) 45. Bay Area -- LaKeysia Beene, Thori Staples Bryan, Brandi Chastain, Carey Dorn (Kim Clark 82), Kelly Lindsey, Sissi (Megan Jeidy 86), Lisa …

The following is a summary of NCAA Division I women's head coaching changes during the 2000-2001 offseason: Key: recent moves in bold. School Old Coach New Coach Arizona State Terri Patraw Ray Leone Arkansas-Little Rock Chris Pratt Greg Hess Cal Riverside new program Veronica O'Brien Cal State Fullerton Al Mistri Ali Khosroshahin Canisius Carlos Obiano Meagan Dougherty Clemson Ray Leone Todd Bramble College of Charleston Ronnie Hill TBD Colorado Austin Daniels Bill Hempen Duke Bill Hempen Robbie Church Drury Ann Cook Chris Baker Dusquesne Shelly Saba Dawn Crow Fresno State Peter Reynaud *Stacy Welp Hartford Mark Krikorian …

Noel Kenny, who has five years of MLS service under his belt, was honored by being chosen referee of the 2001 MLS All-Star Game. A 42-year-old native of Ireland, Kenny officiated for 10 years in the Irish Second Division. Kenny has been in the U.S. for the last 12 years and currently is a buyer for an electronics firm in Armonk, N.Y. He is the focus of the edition of Socceramerica.comÆs referee series, ôView from the Middle.ö INTERVIEW BY BRYAN ALVAREZ SOCCER AMERICA: What is the toughest call in soccer? NOEL KENNY: Calling a penalty kick. It could decide the …

The following are the results on the first day of U.S. Youth Soccer's Snickers National Championships: Under-19 Boys FC Delco Black (West Chester, Pa.) 2, Charlotte (N.C.) SC Blue 0. Goals: Scott Rodemer, 54th; Vicente Bastidas, 73rd. KC Athletics (Kansas City, Kan.) 2, River City Rush (Sacramento, Calif.) 0. Goals: (KC) Derek Gutierrez, 1st; David Martinez, 68th. Under-18 Boys Texans '82/'83 (Houston) 4, Vardar III (Southfield, Mich.) 1. Goals: (T) Jason Cunliffe, 31st, 68th; Mira Mupier, 66th; Marcus Story, 71st. (V) Dave Perlin, 73rd. Colorado Rush Nike (Lakewood) 5, Beadling Blue (Pittsburgh) 2. Goals: (C)Zach Knight, 21st; Ryan Parsons, 47th; …

Americans Jovan Kirovski and John O'Brien are making bids for starting jobs at European clubs. Kirovski, on trial at Crystal Palace (English First Division), started in a pair of wins -- Torquay (4-0) and Exeter City (5-0) -- on the London club's recent West County tour. O'Brien, bidding to to secure a starting job at Ajax, played the first half in the 1-0 loss to AC Milan in the Amsterdam before going off for Daniel Cruz at right back. July 26 in Amsterdam Ajax 0 AC Milan 1. Goal: Rui Costa 15 Ajax -- Grim; O'Brien (Cruz, 46), Chivu, Pasanen, …

Here is Executive Editor Mike WoitallaÆs prediction for the July 27 game: Kansas City 1 New England 1 Preview Sunday, July 29, (6:00 p.m. ET) New England Revolution at Kansas City Wizards (FSNE) Did you know? Wizards goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi, a starter in place of injured Tony Meola, was a 2000 fourth-round SuperDraft pick of the Revs. Oshoniyi never played a regular season game for New England. ... All-Stars Matt McKeon (Kansas City) and CatT (New England) will fly from San Jose to Kansas City on Saturday evening after the All-Star game ... This match was rescheduled from August to …

Here are Soccer America's predictions for the July 26 games: Carolina 1 Atlanta 2 Washington 1 Philadelphia 1 New York 3 Boston 2 Previews (all times ET) Thursday, July 26 (7:30 pm) Atlanta at Carolina (TV: Fox Sports South, CNNSI-REGIONAL). Did you know? The Courage are the only team to have a winning record over Atlanta, the No. 1 team in the league. Carolina (5-9-2) has won three out of its last four, moved out of the WUSA cellar with 17 points, and is only four points away from a playoff spot. Thursday, July 26 (7:00 pm) Philadelphia at Washington …

After 21 years at Davidson, coach joins mammoth soccer association. In searching for a chief operating officer earlier this year, the Capital Area Soccer League (CASL) asked the top college coaches in North Carolina for advice. As Charlie Slagle read the job description for the new leader of the 12,000-player organization, he said to himself, ôWell, IÆd be the person IÆd recommend!ö So he did. That is why the popular coach of Davidson College will leave campus Aug. 1, head three hours north to Raleigh and take the reins of one of the most ambitious soccer associations in …

The U.S. Under-21 team beat its Iceland counterparts, 3-0, in the opening game of the Nordic Cup, the top U-21 women's tournament in the world. The Americans got two goals from Florida forward Abby Wambach (Rochester, and one from Cal forward Laura Schott in a totally one-sided affair. Iceland was outshot, 31-1. In the other Group A match, Germany defeated Denmark 3-0. In the Group B matches, Finland upset Sweden, 2-1 and Norway tied and up-and-coming Canadian team, 1-1, after University of Portland-bound Christine Sinclair tied the game in the 87th minute. July 25 in Gjovik, Norway USA 3 Iceland …