U.S. soccer team visits Nazareth
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The United States women's soccer national team, featuring local standout Abby Wambach, visited Nazareth Tuesday for a morning training session at Golden Flyer Stadium.
The team is in Rochester to play an exhibition game Thursday at Sahlen's Stadium against Mexico at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and will serve as a final tune-up for World Cup qualifying, which begins next month.
Players from Nazareth's women's soccer team were able to watch the training session from the stands at Golden Flyer Stadium and were able to meet the players afterward. Nazareth coach
Gail Mann also was able to visit with Wambach, whom she coached in Olympic Development programs several years ago.
"What a great opportunity to witness the intensity and speed with which the U.S. team trains," said Mann, in the midst of her 22nd season as Golden Flyers' coach. "Everything was done at game speed and every player plays hard the entire time. That's why they are the best in the world."
Nazareth, 5-1 overall in women's soccer, opens its Empire 8 Conference schedule Saturday with a home game against Houghton at 3 p.m.