CHICAGO — The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team will face Ukraine in a nationally televised international friendly to be played on July 10 at Harry A. Merlo Field at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex on the campus of the University of Portland. The match kicks off at 3:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Tickets range from $18 to $50 and will go on sale Friday, June 17 at 10 a.m. and may be purchased through www.ussoccer.com, Ticketmaster.com or at all Oregon and Washington area Ticketmaster retail outlets.

This will be the third appearance for the U.S. women at Merlo Field and first since a 6-0 victory over England on May 11, 1997. The U.S. also defeated Brazil by a 4-1 margin on May 14, 1995. The team is no stranger to the area as it has also played four matches at downtown PGE Park since 1999.

The University of Portland women’s soccer program has featured numerous U.S. Women’s National Team players, most notably forwards Tiffeny Milbrett and Shannon MacMillan, two of the top scorers in U.S. history. More recently, the Pilots have been the training ground for some of the top young players in the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team programs, including forward Megan Rapinoe, midfielder Angie Woznuk and defender Stephanie Lopez, all members of the U.S. team that participated in the 2004 U-19 World Championship in Thailand.

Portland also features rising senior midfielder Lindsey Huie, who will join Milbrett at the U.S. camp in Virginia later this month before the USA takes on Canada on June 26 in the first domestic match of 2005. Huie and Lopez each earned their first full national team cap at the 2005 Algarve Cup in Denmark.

Head coach Greg Ryan will bring in a roster of 24 players to train about a week before the match and will then choose 18 players to suit up for the game. The roster will likely feature a mix of Olympic gold medallists and exciting young players as Ryan continues to develop his talent pool in preparation for qualifying for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Ukraine is ranked 19th in the world and 12th in Europe in the most recent FIFA women’s rankings, but had the misfortune of being drawn into Germany’s group in the qualifying for the 2005 European Women’s Championship and failed to get through to the finals. The USA and Ukraine have met three times previously, with the USA winning all three.