Lion Links: 1/10/16

Ah, Sunday Funday. Let's celebrate and toast the fact that your New Year's resolutions to drink less, eat more healthily, and make use of that auto-debit gym membership have already been abandoned and instead, dive into that Bloody Mary and pancakes breakfast with the gusto it deserves. While you are feasting on that, chew on these Lion Links.

Women's Soccer Roundup

While the U.S. Women are back in camp preparing for their upcoming US Olympic qualifying, Orlando Pride’ s Alex Morgan is apparently trying her hand, literally, at a different position: goalkeeper. Alex, we love you, but don’t quit your day job.

While in camp, coach Jill Ellis has decided on the new captains for the USWNT to replace Abby Wambach, post-retirement. Houston Dash’s Carli Lloyd and FC Kansas City’s Becky Sauerbrunn have been named to take over the captain’s armband in upcoming competitions.

Finally, NWSL has released the currently-known list of tryout dates for the upcoming 2016 season. Orlando Pride will host open tryouts on Jan. 17 at the Seminole Soccer Complex.

Men's Soccer Roundup

At the adidas MLS Combine 2016, Paul Tenorio of the Orlando Sentinel caught up with Coach Adrian Heath to discuss the myriad of changes the team has faced during the offseason.

"I think the most important thing is we've actually come through it relatively unscathed and in a good time scale. We've still got plenty of time to do the stuff that we need to do."

The athletes have been surveyed on their favorite MLS stadiums (Sporting KC and Portland Timbers) and their favorite players (Sebastian Giovinco and Kaká ). The results of the performance testing are in, and Josh Yaro is leading the pack.

The U.S. U-20 team is also down in Miami right now playing some friendlies and is having decent success thus far. The first two games played in 2016 have both resulted in 3-0 wins, and another double-header is scheduled for this upcoming Tuesday.

In collegiate news, the NCAA announced the MAC Hermann Trophy winners, which is awarded to the best male and female player of the year. Jordan Morris of Stanford and Raquel Rodriguez of Penn State were the winners. Congratulations to the both of them!

COPA America teams finalized

Friday evening saw the final two games for CONCACAF qualifying teams trying to get into the tournament, with Panama defeating Cuba 2-0 and Haiti claiming a 1-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. As much as the loss for Trinidad and Tobago is disappointing, selfishly, this means that Orlando City fans will be able to see Kevin Molino in action later this spring without fear of him being whisked off for international duty.

And Finally…

A reminder that the Florida Cup begins today down at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, with Chicharito and Bayer Leverkusen taking on Colombia’s Independiente Santa Fe starting at 5 p.m. The Mane Land‘s write up is here as a refresher and be sure to check back with us for game recaps.

English Premier League football is no stranger to fans invading the pitch. However, Everton’s FA Cup 2-0 victory on Saturday at Goodison Park was made more interesting by this particular streaker coming in the form of a four-legged feline. Everton manager Roberto Martinez went so far as to partially credit the cat with the win.

So that's it from me. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and keep your dials tuned to The Mane Land for the upcoming week's exciting soccer news.