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Jill Ellis has been named the U.S. national team coach in the run-up to the womens World Cup next summer in Canada and beyond. Ellis has been the interim coach since Tom Sermanni was surprisingly dismissed in early April after an exhibition victory against China. It was Ellis second stint as an interim coach with the team; she also took over when previous head coach Pia Sundhage resigned in 2012 to become head coach of Swedens national team. Ellis has a 6-0-3 record overall as the teams interim coach. Ellis was an assistant to both Sermanni and Sundhage. She was on the staff of the gold medal-winning U.S. teams at the Beijing and London Olympics. The 47-year-old coach, who is well respected among national team players, has had a lengthy coaching career, including 12 seasons at UCLA. "Not beating around the bush, I know the expectation, embrace the expectation," Ellis said Friday. "I know that we want to win, and I think this group is capable of winning. Thats what we want, it is always the expectation. People ask me if thats intimidating and I say no, because when you work for U.S. soccer its about winning gold medals and standing on the first-place podium." The U.S. womens team, which has been ranked No. 1 for the past six years, next plays a pair of exhibition matches against France in Tampa, Florida, and East Hartford, Connecticut, in mid-June. The United States will host the eight-team CONCACAF qualifying tournament in October for the 2015 World Cup, according to an announcement Friday. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in Mexico but there were "issues" concerning the venues, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said. The venues and schedule for the tournament have yet to be determined. Despite the teams success on the international stage in recent years, the U.S. women havent won a World Cup title since 1999. Japan won the 2011 World Cup in Germany, defeating the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw after extra time. "The job description is to win next summer," Gulati said during a conference call Friday announcing Ellis appointment. Beyond that, the U.S. team will also look to defend back-to-back-to-back Olympic titles in Brazil the following year. Sermanni helped the U.S. to a 13-0-3 record last year, but the Americans went 1-2-1 at the Algarve Cup in March, the last major tournament for the U.S. before qualifying this fall. The seventh-place Algarve Cup finish included a 1-0 loss to Sweden and Sundhage, ending a two-year, 43-game unbeaten streak. That was the first loss following a 16-0-4 start under Sermanni. Ellis led the team to a 3-0 exhibition win in the second match against China after Sermanni was dismissed. "Were comfortable with Jill, we love Jill, we have a lot of respect for Jill, and she didnt really miss a beat. She put the pen on the board and she just started coaching," U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo said following the match. "Im always honoured to be coached by Jill. Every time she has something to say, I always perk up and listen." Ellis will step down from her position as U.S. Soccer womens development director now that she is the head coach, the organization said. "We think Jills got all the right credentials, both in terms of experience, and how she relates to the players -- weve been able to see that firsthand in the two times shed been with the senior team and previously with our youth teams," Gulati said. "She gets top marks in all the work shes been doing on the technical side with all of our programs in the last several years. Its all of those things." Discount Shirts China .C. -- Gleason Fournier scored the shootout winner as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-3 Friday in American Hockey League action. Shirts China Outlet . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. http://www.cheapshirtschina.com/. -- Michael Frazier II scored 21 points, Dorian Finney-Smith added 11 and No. Wholesale Shirts China . Modin, 36, tallied seven goals and three assists in 36 games with the Thrashers this season. The Sundsvall, Sweden, native has posted 232 goals and 230 assists in 894 career NHL games with Toronto, Tampa Bay, Columbus, Los Angeles and Atlanta and has appeared in 57 post-season contests, helping the Lightning capture the 2004 Stanley Cup Championship. Cheap Shirts From China . TSN platforms will broadcast 75+ live games per season – tripling the networks current slate of MLB games. With the new deal TSN retains rights to ESPNs SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL and, for the first time, acquires rights to ESPNs MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL and WEDNESDAY NIGHT BASEBALL.Louisville, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - Upstart, owned by Ralph Evans and trained by Richard Violette, moved into third-place in the Road to the Kentucky Derby points system after winning Saturdays Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The victory was worth 10 points for Upstart to enter the Kentucky Derby on May 2. The 3-year-old now has a total of 16 points trailing just El Kabeir and International Star, each with 21 points. We were pretty confident that he was going to run well, Violette said. You just hope that the talent he showed as a 2-year-old transfers into a good 3- year-old, and a lot of horses dont. Theyre a little more precocious, a little more mature as a 2-year-old, and sometimes thats their best stuff. You hope to see the graduation, and I think we saw it. We could do the Fountain of Youth (at Gulfstream on Feb. 21). If we need a couple more weeks, we could wait ffor the Gotham (at Aqueduct on March 7).dddddddddddd We have a two-week cushion and at some point well get to use it. Whether we go the whole route here (at Gulfstream) and go Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby (March 28) to give us a little extra time to get to the Kentucky Derby or if we need it before then and he stubs his toe or doesnt eat, we can back off and do either the Gotham or the Wood Memorial (at Aqueduct on April 4). We have some flexibility, which is really nice. Tied with 14 points are Carpe Diem and Calculator followed by Texas Red (12), Mr. Z (12), Far Right (12), Ocho Ocho Ocho (10), American Pharoah (10), Daredevil (10), Dortmund (10), Leave the Light On (10) and Lucky Player (10). There are no points-worthy stakes this week, however, Santa Anita will host the San Vicente Stakes on Sunday, Feb. 1 when Breeders Cup Juvenile champ Texas Red will start. ' ' '