National Team

Bruce Savage, one of the most popular players in the history of the Baltimore Blast, apparently has played his last game for the team.Baltimore coach Kenny Cooper said yesterday that Savage told him last week to go ahead and put together the team without him. He told Cooper that at this point in his career, he thought it best to concentrate on playing for the U.S. national team.Savage, voted Blast Player of the Decade by the fans last year, is thought to be close to signing a full-time contract with the U.S. national team as it prepares for the 1994 World Cup, which will be played in the United States.

Lake Clifton boys basketball coach Herman "Tree" Harried has been selected to USA Basketball's 2013-16 Developmental National Team Committee. The seven-member committee is charged with selecting and developing teams for the 2013 and 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championships, 2014 and 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championships, Developmental Minicamps each October and Nike Hoop Summit each April over the next four years. Harried, who has coached Lake Clifton for 16 years, has previously served as a USA Basketball assistant coach.

Thori Staples is moving up the national women's soccer charts with a bullet.After finishing off an impressive college debut at North Carolina State, she was honored as Soccer America magazine's National Freshman of the Year earlier this month.And the Joppatowne graduate is still on the rise.Two weeks ago, she earned a spot on the U.S. Women's National Team. The only college freshman selected to the 18-woman squad, Staples will begin competition this week at the Cypress Cup in Cypress, Greece.

Baltimore might have missed out on hosting World Cup matches when the U.S. lost its bid for the quadrennial event in 2022, but M&T Stadium will be part of another prestigious international soccer tournament when the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup comes to the city in July. M&T Bank Stadium is one of 13 venues that were announced Wednesday as hosts for the regional championship event. CONCACAF is the governing body for association soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Kim Myers has made a name for herself in local soccer circles as a three-year starting goalie at Glen Burnie High.Having been blessedwith the physical attributes that are perfect for her position -- she stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 155 pounds -- skill never has been a problem. Bad luck and injuries, on the other hand, have plagued the two-time All-County and All-Metro selection in her quest for national recognition.In each of the last two summers, Myers has come within a hair of making the U.S. Olympic Developmental Program's Under-19 national team, only to be held back by injuries.

COLLEGE PARK -- For the optimistic types, two good things emerged from Maryland's 90-73 loss to the United States national women's basketball team last night at Comcast Center. The first is that the score, the statistics and the loss itself don't count, as the game was an exhibition, the basketball equivalent of a soccer friendly. The second positive is the Terps, nearly three weeks into practice and a week and a half away from their season opener, should have gained valuable early season experience against a team with 13 WNBA players that is demonstrably better than any they'll face during the coming college season.

IN SCARCELY two breathtaking years, Natalie Klisas has gone from winning two Maryland soccer titles at River Hill High School, to starting in Division I college ball as a freshman, to national team starter. Thirteen months ago, Klisas said, she hadn't given world-level soccer more than a passing thought. About 11 months ago, she player her first international match. Today, at 19, the college sophomore can hardly believe she has competed in Russia, Bulgaria, England, Germany, Ireland, Portugal and Greece.

Throughout her illustrious four-year soccer career at Archbishop Spalding, Christine Nairn showed a knack for scoring dazzling goals from anywhere on the field. She hit the powerful, knuckling strikes that found the net from 30 yards and, other times, dribbled past countless defenders on her to way to the goal before efficiently placing a shot to an open corner. By the time her high school career concluded with the 2007 season, Nairn, the All-Metro Player of the Year as a senior, totaled a school-record 70 goals.

Megan McCarthy says she won't let past disappointments quell her enthusiasm for the possible creation of a women's professional soccer league."It's one of those things that has been talked about for years but has never come through," said McCarthy, a 27-year-old Fairfax, Va., resident and defender on the U.S. women's national team, "but if it does, I'll be the first in line to try out."For McCarthy, as well as a number of the area's top-level players, the wait may soon be over.Baltimore Bays general manager Ben Neil said last week that his organization "will enthusiastically pursue" a women's pro franchise in the United States Interregional Soccer League that could begin exhibition play this coming spring.

A group of soccer players has congregated on the indoor field at Columbia's Volleyball House just about every Thursday night for the past two years, displaying their passion for the sport - and the heart of their community. The players make up the Maryland United Deaf Football Club (MUDFC), which was formed in 1999 by Ellicott City resident Jamie Clark, who also founded the Internet service provider Clark.net, and Alex Simmons, a Webmaster for the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick and Columbia.

The Baltimore Bombers, who are less than two weeks from their first season in the North American Lacrosse League, announced the appointment of Dan Marohl , Shawn Nadelen and Damien Davis as captains and assistant captains. Each player was chosen by teammates through an open election. The NALL is a professional box lacrosse league founded in 2011. Marohl is a native of Annapolis who attended St. Mary's and UMBC. He began his professional box lacrosse career with the Ottawa Rebel and the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League.

The Israel Lacrosse Association has announced that former Johns Hopkins All-American Mark Greenberg will serve as defensive assistant coach of the Israel national team that will compete in the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse Men's World Championship. The championship will be held at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., from July 10-19, 2014. “Adding a second Hall of Fame resume to our coaching staff really strengthens what we're trying to achieve,” said Israel Lacrosse general manager Howard Borkan.

The Loyola men's lacrosse team will face the U.S. national team in the exhibition Champion Challenge, a US Lacrosse event, on Sunday, Jan. 27 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The game will pit the defending NCAA and Federation of International Lacrosse champions in a game that will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. Further details about the event, including a game time, will be released at a later date. "We are very excited about the opportunity to go down to Florida to play against the best of what the United States has to offer," Loyola  ooach Charley Toomey said.

Et cetera Hogg wins third BMGC Amateur Stroke Play championship Serge Hogg , tied for the lead after a second-round 68, recorded a 1-over-par 72 and a 54-hole total of 210 in winning the 45th annual Amateur Stroke Play championship of the Baltimore Municipal Golf Corporation at Mount Pleasant Golf Course. It was his third win in the event, and the first since 1997. Three-time champion Billy Wingerd (71) followed at 212, trailed by Brett Williams , whose opening-day 66 was the low round of the tournament (75-213)

When Angel McCoughtry steps on the floor of Basketball Arena in London later this month, she won't play in front of the largest crowd of her life. In her country's opening game against Croatia on July 28, the Baltimore native won't face the best competition she's ever seen. But to McCoughtry, the two weeks of basketball at this summer's Olympics will be the most important of her career thus far. "It's the best honor in the world and the best honor I've received in playing basketball," McCoughtry said.

The C. Milton Wright boys soccer team played an inspired game against powerhouse Salesianum, of Delaware, taking a 1-1 tie to overtime before their nationally ranked guests scored for a 2-1, sudden-death victory. The game was scoreless at halftime.. Dan Kissner scored the Mustangs' lone goal off an assist from Brandon McFadden. Collin Miller had 11 saves in goal for CMW.

The U.S. Team, which will play in the International Lacrosse Federation World Championships in July 1998 at Homewood Field, was announced yesterday, and more than half the squad will be making their debut on the national team.The squad will feature five 1997 All-Americans, including Syracuse's Casey Powell and Princeton's Jesse Hubbard. The U.S. Team, which has won three consecutive World titles, returns five defensemen from the 1994 squad and will carry three-time national team goalkeeper Sal Locascio as well as two-time Goalkeeper of the Year Brian Dougherty.

North Carolina, the nation's No. 2 women's soccer team last fall, and China's national team headline the third annual Kicks Against Breast Cancer tournament opening tonight at the University of Maryland.A doubleheader at Ludwig Field starts the action at 7: 30 p.m., with the 14-time national champion Tar Heels playing the U.S. Under-21 women's national team.In the second game, Maryland will play the Chinese team.China is no slouch, having lost, 1-0, to the United States for the 1996 Olympic gold medal and having beaten the Americans, 2-1, on March 20 for the Algarve Cup in Portugal, a tournament the Yanks have never won.China, one of four seeded teams in this summer's Women's World Cup, will play the full U.S. national team next Thursday in Hershey, Pa., as well as three days later, on April 25, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.Proceeds from this weekend's tournament will benefit Howard County General Hospital's Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource and Image Center.

USA Swimming Phelps on national team for 4 events Michael Phelps of Fells Point was among 109 swimmers named to the 2011-12 USA Swimming national team Tuesday, along with fellow 2011 world championship gold medalists Ryan Lochte , Missy Franklin and Elizabeth Beisel . Phelps qualified in four events (200-meter freestyle, 100 fly, 200 fly and 200 individual medley) as did Franklin (100 free, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 IM) and Beisel (200 IM, 400 IM, 400 free, 200 backstroke)

The National team, coached by former major league manager Larry Bowa, topped the American squad, 6-4, in the 2011 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game Saturday at Wrigley Field. The American team was coached by former Oriole Bill Ripken. Ripken's nephew, Ryan, of Gilman, was the lone player from Maryland and played for the American team. The game was delayed in the middle of the third inning because of heavy rain that hit the area. Play resumed after about a 90-minute delay, and the teams were tied until infielder Yairo Munoz hit a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to give the National team a 6-4 lead.