As readers of this blog were first to report — your check is in the mail (just kidding) — Athletica is moving its games for the rest of the season to the Soccer Park in Fenton. The team finally announced the move about 5 p.m. on Friday, after a weird day, at least from my point of view, and two days after they had announced it to season-ticket holders.

From the press release:

“We are very excited about the prospect of playing in a facility that was so graciously conveyed to us earlier this year by Anheuser-Busch,” said Cooper. “The people at SIU in Edwardsville were extremely accommodating as we launched our season there in April, but there is simply no substitute for playing on your home field inside your home stadium. The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park provides Athletica with one of the premier facilities to call home anywhere in the U.S., and one that is well-known and beloved by everyone in St. Louis.”

 The move to the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park means the originally scheduled Saturday, June 6, home match will now be played on Sunday, June 7, at 3 p.m. due to the Missouri State High School Girls Soccer Championships, which take place the day before. The June 7 match against Sky Blue FC will still be Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness Day, as well as PUMA Day.

 ”It is a great thrill for Saint Louis Athletica fans and the players in the league to play at a venue with such a rich soccer tradition,” said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. “We look forward to Athletica’s opening game at such a fan friendly and centrally located stadium.”

 Interesting in Antonucci’s quote is the phrase “centrally located stadium.” I’m just reading between the lines here, but I would interpret that to mean: “Thank God.”

While this is a tough break for Metro Easters who for once had a pro sports team in their own backyards, and only serves to reinforce the stereotype that Illinois is extremely far away, it’s the right call for the long-term health of the franchise. You’re just a lot closer to a lot more people. Getting West Countians to go all the way to Edwardsville was going to be a challenge. (I should note that Collinsville, the potential MLS site, is a lot closer than E-ville. Or at least it feels that way as I drive past the stadium sight on my way to SIUE for practices.)

I’m told they’re at work on figuring out parking, since the property obviously doesn’t have a lot of it and I’m pretty sure they’re not going to let people be parking on the fields. There will have to be off-site parking and shuttles coming in.

The team was practicing there on Wednesday after having to vacate SIUE because of the NAIA track meet this weekend. (Dodging hammer throws would add a new level to practice.) I asked coach Jorge Barcellos how he liked Fenton and he said he liked it. “It’s very good,” he said. “It’s soccer focused.” They like the fields at the Soccer Park, they get to practice on grass rather than artificial turf. The only drawback is it’s farther from where Barcellos and his staff live, though closer to where the players live.

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Amanda Cinalli is listed as injured and not available for the Chicago game. With five opening day starters out, what the lineup will look like Saturday is uncertain. Jill Loyden will be in goal. Barcellos told me that new acquisitions Kendall Fletcher and Christie Welsh would likely start, though he wasn’t definite. If Welsh starts, what does that mean for Kerri Hanks, since a Hanks-Welsh pairing doesn’t make a lot of sense. But they would have room in the midfield for someone. Stoia, Woznuk, Francielle and ?

On an incidental level, someone will have to sport the captain’s armband since Chalupny is gone. I would think Ellertson would be a candidate.

And, with the opening whistle, Angie Woznuk will be the only player on the team to have played every minute of the season. Solo, Chalupny and Kia McNeill have so far also played every minute, but none will be in the lineup on Saturday.

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Barcellos on the game:

On two weeks of practice coming off of a win: “It’s always better when you win. The environment is better. It’s very important to us we keep winning.”

On the absences: “We’re going to need players like Woznuk and the players coming in to step up and play the role that Lori was doing. They’re going to have to step up and play.”

On a second chance at Chicago: “We’ve got to try to get the three points there. It’s not revenge, but we really need the three points to be good in the standings. We really need the W in this game. And we can get it.”

“We’ve been working a lot on our marking, especially marking the opponent’s wingbacks. We’ve been having problems with that so we want to fix that problem. We’re working on tactics also because we have a lot changes this week without six players, so we have to make a lot of changes.”

“We practiced a lot on things we need to do. We changed a few players. We’re going to play more compact to the middle. We’re going to play very compact soccer with the new players coming in so as not to have goals scored against us.”

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Stephanie Logterman came out for practice this week, but has returned to Texas for graduation ceremonies on Saturday. She should be with the team for good next week.

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According to Chicago, there will be a webcast of the game on www.chicagoredstars.com, and I assume that means there is video. The commentary in any case will be in Spanish, so if you’re not sufficient enough in that, you can listen to the radio broadcast on 1380 AM, which probably won’t be in synch.

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Sandra Serafini will be the ref.

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This will be Chicago’s fifth straight home game, the longest run for any team in the league this season. After Saturday, Chicago will have only five home games the rest of the season.

Chicago has lost two straight, to FC Gold Pride and Sky Blue.

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After this weekend, the U.S. games with Canada in July will be the only other times the U.S. national team players will be gone. The national team will likely have two camps after the season and a trip to Europe in October.

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The WPS disciplinary committee earlier this week suspended Boston forward Christine Latham for two games and fined her $250 for throwing an elbow against Washington on May 17. Washington’s Joanna Lohman got one game for the elbow she threw. Boston coach Tony DiCicco got fined $750 for his postgame comments that league ref’s were in over their heads. He is also required to do four hours of soccer-related community service.