Article on Chas getting another game U.S. returns to Blackbaud BY KEITH NAMM Of The Post and Courier Staff The U.S. women’s year-opening 7-0 victory over Mexico here last Jan. 12 was hardly the most suspenseful moment of 2002, but the national team did not soon forget its first Lowcountry visit. Proof positive came Tuesday, when U.S. Soccer announced that the reigning World Cup-champion Americans will play Iceland Feb. 16 at Blackbaud Stadium in their second domestic game of the year. Last year, an overflow crowd of 5,634 turned out on a rainy evening on Daniel Island to watch U.S. coach April Heinrichs start the ball rolling toward assembling her side for the 2003 Women’s World Cup. This time, just a few months separate the friendly match here, set to air live at 6 p.m. on ESPN2, from the Cup finals Sept. 24-Oct. 11 in China. “It was wonderful there last year; I’m thrilled to hear we’re going back. It’s definitely one of my favorite places to take our team,” Heinrichs said Tuesday from San Diego, where the team is preparing to play Sunday against Japan (4 p.m., ESPN). “Despite the weather, we still enjoyed the town, the stadium, the community support, the whole experience,” she said, adding with a chuckle, “as long as the weather is a little better than last time.” The women will play their first few matches this year minus world all-time scoring leader Mia Hamm, the 2002 World Women’s Player of the Year, Kristine Lilly and Julie Foudy. But come February, Heinrichs expects all her most seasoned performers, all also key stars in the WUSA, to be playing. “It’s important that our team is made up of veterans. Tremendous leadership capabilities and world-class performances at world events, that’s what those three bring,” Heinrichs said, also citing Tiffeny Milbrett, Joy Fawcett, Brandi Chastain and Cindy Parlow in that core group. “We may bring them all to Blackbaud Stadium in February.” The match furthers the strong working relationship between U.S. Soccer and the A-League’s Charleston Battery, based at Blackbaud. The stadium also was the site for November’s CONCACAF regional qualifying for the FIFA Men’s Youth Worlds. “U.S. Soccer has seen the type of game that we can put on, and hopefully the community will again respond with its support,” Battery president Nigel Cooper said. “They’ve still got the great players from before and a new crop of up-and-coming stars as well.” U.S. Soccer publicist Bryan Chenault said the success of last year’s visit, which included extensive training sessions, made it a no-brainer to come back. “We kind of go back to the stadiums and markets where we’ve done well. It’s an important stretch of games leading up to the World Cup not on the field for the players, but to build the buzz in the states among fans for a Cup played in China,” he said from Chicago. “We don’t have the luxury of having the Cup in the states like in 1999.” The match here will be Heinrichs’ last chance to evaluate in game conditions before choosing a roster for the team’s next big event, the highly competitive Algarve Cup in Portugal in mid-March. It will cap a stay of several days. The U.S. secured its Cup berth in the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup in November, which it capped by beating Canada 1-0 in the regional championship match on an overtime goal by Hamm. The U.S. women have played Iceland four times, all on U.S. soil. The four came in two-game sets in which the USA dominated the first game, but not the second. The U.S. beat Iceland 6-0 on May 8, 1998, in Indianapolis, but two days later only eked out a 1-0 win in Bethlehem, Pa. In 2000, the U.S. won 8-0 on April 5 in Davidson, N.C., but three days later, on a cold Charlotte night, Iceland held it to a 0-0 tie. Keeper Thora Helgadottir held Iceland in it with a spectacular 11-save outing. “We can’t wait to play them again; last time, they tied us in the game on national TV,” Heinrichs said. “(Helgardottir) is a great goalkeeper.” Tickets go on sale starting Thursday.