Rapinoe accepts Congress invite

U.S. women’s soccer co-captain says the team is happy to celebrate World Cup victory with visit.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer says Megan Rapinoe has accepted an invitation for the U.S. women’s soccer team to celebrate its World Cup victory with a visit to Congress.

The New York senator said he looks forward to scheduling a time when “these inspiring women can come to the nation’s capital.”

Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others in Congress invited the team to visit. Rapinoe told reporters this week in New York she’s “very happy” to accept.

The team co-captain has said she’s not interested in celebrating at the White House. It’s unclear if the winning team would be invited by President Trump to visit.

A ticker tape parade to shower the U.S. women’s national soccer team with praise and paper confetti will start at 9:30 a.m. EDT in New York City on Wednesday. It will be the city’s first ticker tape parade since the team’s Women’s World Cup win in 2015.

LAFC meets the Portland Timbers on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup at Banc of California Stadium. LAFC beat its MLS rival at home in the quarterfinals of last year’s Open Cup before losing to eventual champion Houston on penalty kicks in the semifinals. LAFC captain Carlos Vela, who leads MLS with 19 goals and 12 assists in 19 games, has scored in each of the team’s two Open Cup wins, over Real Salt Lake and San Jose, also their MLS rivals. — Kevin Baxter

Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper and team President Tom Glick will travel to New York next week and meet with Major League Soccer officials in an effort to persuade them to bring an expansion team to Charlotte, N.C. Tepper has been working to bring an MLS team to Charlotte since purchasing the Panthers last summer.