U.S. women’s soccer team to play in San Jose
The top-ranked American women’s soccer team is returning to Avaya Stadium in September to play Chile for the first time in history, U.S. Soccer announced Monday.
The vaunted Americans will make their fourth appearance at the Earthquakes’ stadium, the last being against Canada in November, 2017. The Sept. 4 game will be the women’s final tuneup before entering the CONCACAF championship that serves as a qualifying tournament for the 2019 World Cup in France.
The North and Central American and Caribbean regional event is scheduled to run Oct. 4-17 in Cary, North Carolina. The teams will first play Aug. 31 at StubHub Center in Carson.
“We are excited to once again host one of the most respected and competitive national teams in the world,” Earthquakes president Tom Fox said in a prepared statement. “The athletes on U.S. women’s national team are excellent role models for the thousands of young soccer players in the Bay Area.”
The game will be a homecoming of sorts for a number of players who could make the roster. Jane Campbell, Kelley O’Hara, Christen Press and Andi Sullivan attended Stanford. Alex Morgan went to Cal, and Julie Ertz (formerly Julie Johnston) and Sofia Huerta are from Santa Clara University.
Former UCLA defender Abby Dahlkemper is from Menlo Park and Tierna Davidson and Tegan McGrady are current Stanford stars.
Tickets for the Chile match in San Jose will be available at 10 a.m. Friday at ussoccer.com or by calling 800-745-3000. Tickets will not be sold at Avaya Stadium until game day, the Earthquakes announced.
Tennis
AZARENKA TO PLAY IN BANK OF THE WEST >> Victoria Azarenka, the 2010 Bank of the West champion, has committed to playing in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State in late July.
Azarenka becomes the third Grand Slam singles champions and former World No. 1 to enter the tournament. Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion, and Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, are the others.
Defending champion Madison Keys, a 2017 U.S. Open finalist, and CoCo Vandeweghe, last year’s runner-up, also are entered.
The Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, which will be played July 30 to Aug. 5 at San Jose State’s new tennis venue, replaces the Bank of the West Classic, which had been held at Stanford from 1971 through 2017.