April 2, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Former Washington women's soccer standouts Hope Solo and Tina Ellertson (Frimpong) have been named to the final 22-player roster for the Saint Louis Athletica of the Women's Pro Soccer league, the league announced this week. Play in the inaugural season of the league begins this weekend.

The former teammates and All-Americans were allocated to the St. Louis franchise back in September during a ceremony at the Sports Museum of America in downtown Manhattan. After training camp, both Solo and Ellertson were named to the final roster by head coach and general manager Jorge Barcellos.

"We plan on fielding a very compact team, very compact defensively," said Barcellos. "We will mark tightly and not give space to forwards. Offensively we will be very fast with a lot of movement and this roster now reflects players who posses those qualities that we desire."

Solo and Ellertson were teammates for two seasons at UW with Solo playing from 1999-2002 and Ellertson competing for the Huskies from 2001-04. The 2001 Pac-10 Player of the Year and a two-time All-American, Solo led Washington to the 2000 Pac-10 title. Ellertson, meanwhile, was a two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year and an All-American in 2004 when she led the Huskies to an NCAA Elite Eight finish.

Both have competed for the U.S. National Team since graduating, with Solo earning a place on the U.S. Olympic squad for Beijing and leading the team to the gold medal. She started every game in goal for the United States and was one of the heroes in the gold-medal game victory over Brazil, making six saves in a 1-0 victory.

The Athletica kicks off the season with its home opener on Saturday, April 4, against the Chicago Red Stars at Ralph Korte Stadium on the campus of SIUE. Individual tickets for all matches are now available at by calling 1-888-STL-GOAL or by visiting www.saintlouisathletica.com.