A few soccer notes to pass along on this Monday morning.  Those of you who follow Illinois soccer closely may already know some of these items, as they've been accumulating in my inbox for the past couple of weeks.

First, congratulations to former Illini Ella Masar for being called up to the United States Women's National Team.  Ella has played on the U-23 Women's National Team, and this is her first invitation to a senior national team camp.  They're training now through Wednesday in Carson, California.  Also, Ella has been featured on the front page of the USA Soccer website in a nice feature article.  Masar is expected to get some time in her hometown of Urbana once the camp breaks later this week.

Also, two former Illini have been selected in the recent Women's Professional Soccer draft.  The Sky Blue FC out of New Jersey selected Mary Therese McDonnell in the eighth round of the draft.  McDonnell most recently played with the Irish National Team this fall, after competing with the Boston Renegades in the W-League last summer.

Former All-American Christen Karniski was selected in the tenth round of the WPS draft by the Washington Freedom.  Karniski played for the Freedom in the W-League last summer, along with Ella Masar, who was selected by the Chicago Red Stars in last fall's draft.

I hope to catch up with Ella and M.T. when they're back in town over the next couple of weeks.  If I'm able to get interviews with either or both of them, I'll share them with you online.

Also, signing day for soccer is this week, on Wednesday February 4th, the same day as football.  I'll talk with Janet Rayfield about her recruiting class.  It looks like Rayfield has another solid class coming in, with several players who will immediately compete for playing time.  Here's an unofficial look (courtesy of Big Soccer) at who should sign this week.  Just click the "by college" link at the top and scroll down to Illinois.

bmoline@wdws.com