Season in sight for Breakers

April 11 opener set at Harvard

TONY DICICCODraft on his mind

Women's professional soccer officially returns to New England April 11, when the Boston Breakers will play the St. Louis Athletica at Harvard Stadium.

The seven-team Women's Professional Soccer League announced its slate of opening games yesterday with the remainder of the schedule to be released later.

The Breakers are a reincarnation of the Women's United Soccer Association team that played in Boston from 2001-2003.

"It's all exciting," Breakers coach Tony DiCicco said. "We'll see most of the teams in the preseason, but we won't see them all, so it will be a little bit of blind preparation, but we'll make the most of it."

DiCicco spent last weekend evaluating prospective players at a West Coast combine and will attend the East Coast version this weekend in preparation for the WPSL draft Jan. 16.

The Breakers will have the No. 1 pick in the inaugural draft that will go 10 rounds.

DiCicco considers the building part of this process a coach's dream as he looks for players to complement those allocated from the US National team.

Midfielder Angela Hucles and defender Heather Mitts, who both played on the US gold-medal winning team in Beijing, and midfielder/forward Kristine Lilly, who is the world's all-time international appearance leader, were allocated to the Breakers.

Other players assigned to the Breakers include midfielder Maycon and forward Fabiana, who were both members of Brazil's 2008 Olympic silver medalist team. They are part of the 13 players on the Breakers' roster.

DiCicco said he is looking for good character players as well as speed at the outside positions, and smart, technical players in the center.

DiCicco also has seen a variety of college players. Earlier this month he coached the US women's under-20 team to the 2008 FIFA Women's World Cup title after a 2-1 win over North Korea in Chile.

"It's given me an opportunity to see some talent from around the world," he said.

His travels also have opened DiCicco's eyes to the importance of youth development.

DiCicco said the WPSL will give American youth a chance to see a high level of soccer.

"What I feel with USA women's soccer is that it's the best in the world, and with that comes high expectations," he said.

At the youth level, DiCicco said, "Winning is over emphasized."

He said more time should be placed on development, and that the WPSL will be a place for players to continue to develop.

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.