The state of the National Premier Soccer League, specifically the Midwest Conference: Not so good.

In the end, though, "Experience kind of won out," Lady Blues coach Ben John said.

Player-assistant coach Nancy Rohrman, 37, converted on a 25-yard free kick in the 42nd minute and played a solid game as a holding midfielder as MYSC fended off the Chicago United Breeze 1-0 on Wednesday night in Algonquin, Ill., to win the conference championship.

Ring, a second-team All-American midfielder who will be a senior at Indiana in the fall, asked Aiyenero if he would be back with the amateur team next summer. Then he quickly answered his own question.

"Nah, there's got to be an age limit," Ring said, sparking laughter from those around — the loudest coming from the 34-year-old Aiyenero.

After all, Aiyenero had just showed he still has plenty of spring in his step, scoring three goals to lead the Princeton-56ers to a 7-0 thrashing of the short-handed Milwaukee Bavarians in a National Premier Soccer League match.

The 23-year-old Tarpley wore the captain's armband — a tradition for U.S. players in their 100th match — for her 56 minutes. The game was at Torero Stadium on the University of San Diego campus, also the site of Tarpley's first international appearance on Jan. 12, 2003.

Natasha Kai's 85th-minute header kept the Americans unbeaten (21-0-1) in 2008 under new coach Pia Sundhage, but the U.S. suffered a major loss as prolific scorer Abby Wambach suffered a broken left leg in the 33rd minute and will miss the Olympics.

"I was very emotional," Tarpley said of seeing Wambach taken off the field. "She is one of my best friends."

Gawin anchored the Lady Blues' backline in a pair of shutouts last weekend, 1-0 over FC St. Louis and 5-0 over FC Twente3 Illinois. MYSC can win the Midwest Division with a victory in its regular-season finale Wednesday night at the Chicago United Breeze.

Sorry, but you can't. At least not legally.

According to U.S. Soccer, the Department of Treasury — which has jurisdiction regarding travel to Cuba — has stated "that travel to Cuba for tourism or for the purposes of observing specific public performances, including sporting events, is prohibited under U.S. law."

Don't worry, though, you can see the U.S. in a World Cup qualifier much closer to home: The Americans play Trinidad and Tobago at 7 p.m. Sept. 10 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. Tickets aren't yet on sale.

They saw the Lady Blues score four times in a 23-minute span of the first half and go on to a 5-0 rout of FC Twente3 Illinois in a Women's Premier Soccer League match on the campus of Judson University in Elgin, Ill.

Second-half substitute Sami Vovos, a UW-Milwaukee recruit from Middleton, set up Mara Wyttenbach's 72nd-minute goal and the Lady Blues held off host FC St. Louis 1-0 in a Women's Premier Soccer League match Saturday afternoon at Christian Brothers College.

The local teams each posted 5-1 records after recording 1-0 victories against one another.

The Waunakee Challenge are in Bracket A along with FC Green Bay Orange, the Racine Spartans and the WSC Majors. MYSC is in Bracket B with Brookfield SC, FC Green Bay Blue and FV Power Reserve.

Following round-robin pool play, the bracket winners will meet for the championship at 5 p.m.