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Ritchie is chosen for U.S. team By Don Hunt As part of the United States Soccer Festival, Bryn Ritchie is rubbing elbows with some of the top young soccer players in the country this week. The fifth annual tournament for players 23 and younger is being contested at the University of Rhode Island in South Kingstown, R.I. Ritchie, who led South Medford High to the 1997 Class 4A state championship and will be a junior at the University of Washington this fall, is playing for the U-23 West Regional team. That�s quite an honor, and Ritchie garnered a more prestigious award on Friday when he was named to the U-23 national B team that essentially represents the top amateur players in the country. The only collection of U.S. players at a higher level are the Olympic and World Cup teams, which feature mostly professional players. The U-23 national squad meets Canada on Sunday. "Being here this week has been a great opportunity," Ritchie said. "Just getting your name out there is a good thing. There have been six or seven MLS (Major League Soccer) coaches walking around and a bunch of national team coaches. "We�re getting a lot of good exposure." Ritchie scored a goal on a header to help the West squad to a 2-0 victory over the Rhode Island All-Stars on Tuesday, but he was given a red card the following day when his team battled to a 0-0 tie with the national U-18 team. The expulsion made Ritchie ineligible for Friday�s 2-1 victory over the U-23 Midwest Regional team. He�ll be back at his stopper position today when the West meets the South in the U-23 regional championship game before joining the national squad Sunday. Ritchie�s red card was the result of two yellows, both for hard tackling. "I�m a physical player, and we were going against the 18-year-olds," Ritchie said. "I think the official was leaning on their side a little bit, protecting them. I made a couple of hard slide tackles and they threw me out." The red card was the third in the past year for the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Ritchie. "It�s not something to be proud of, but my role at Washington is to man the defense and be physical," said Ritchie, who plays sweeper for the Huskies and has been named captain for the coming two years. "Each time I�ve been red-carded has been after tackles. "But my job is to win tackles, win balls in the air and distribute the ball. I�m not going to back off." The Huskies, who won the Mountain Pacific Conference last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoffs, return most of their good players. "We feel like we�re going to be a national contender � our goal is to win the national championship," Ritchie says. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA