One of the top events in women's soccer will be held in Utah near the end of July.

The Utah Spiders have won the right to host the Women's Premier Soccer League Final Four at Juan Diego Catholic High in Draper.

"Having an event in Utah like this is huge for women's soccer," said Spiders General Manager Mark Drown. "It's a great opportunity for our young girls in the state of Utah to see quality soccer come to this state."

The Spiders held a press conference Tuesday afternoon at the University of Utah to tout the upcoming event, which will be held on July 28-29. Drown and a number of other officials, including a pair of players from the Denver Diamonds, who are in contention to qualify for the Final Four, all addressed the media.

Two semifinal games will be held on Friday, July 28, beginning at 6 p.m. The final will be held the next day at 8 p.m. That contest will be proceeded by a consolation match at 6.

Tickets for the four games will cost $10 for adults and $5 for children. There will also be a family pack available.

In the absence of the Women's United Soccer Association, a full professional league that folded in 2003, the WPSL represents one of two nationwide leagues in the United States. (The USL's W-League is the other.)

The WPSL features a number of U.S. Women's National Team players, as well as International stars from other countries. For example, U.S. star Brandi Chastain played in last year's WPSL final.

Two players who competed in the W-USA — Katie Antongiovanni and Kristin Warren of the WPSL's Colorado Diamonds — were at the University of Utah on Tuesday. The Diamonds have a chance to quality for the finals.

"We are looking forward to hopefully coming back here for the Final Four," said Antongiovanni. "(The Final Four is) going to be fun. It's going to be exciting."

For many years, the Spiders didn't consider submitting a bid to host the finals — they were too concerned with keeping their own team afloat.

"This year, " said Drown, "we decided, you know what? We've hosted the Olympics. We've done a bunch of great things. Real's doing a bunch of great things with soccer. We thought this was a great time to showcase Utah and hold the Final Four. And the league voted overwhelmingly in favor of it."

To purchase tickets for the finals or to obtain more information, visit www.wpslfinalfour.com.

ENDLINES: First lady Mary Kaye Huntsman will attend the finals and speak at the Opening Ceremonies. Also, Gov. Jon Huntsman will declare July 28-29 "WPSL Final Four Tournament Days."The WPSL currently has 39 teams spread throughout the United States . . . Should the finals be successful, Spiders officials haven't ruled trying to host the event again in 2007.

---

E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com