Fire eager to get off long slide

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- It was late May, and the Chicago Fire had just beaten the New York Red Bulls 5-1.

They were riding high, and were considered the most dangerous offensive team and the best defensive team in Major League Soccer. Fire coach Denis Hamlett was enjoying an embarrassment of riches on his roster, trying to find playing time for his deserving reserves when the starters were playing so well he couldn't find a reason to move them.

Then came June.

The Fire play their first MLS game of July on Saturday, when they face the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium riding a 333-minute scoreless streak and a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) that has pushed them down into fifth place in the Eastern Conference, in a tie with the New York Red Bulls at 20 points. At 6-5-2, they are desperately close to falling out of the top eight spots in MLS and the playoff picture.

Their last two positive results have come in Open Cup play, and included a 3-2 overtime win against Columbus July 10 in Peoria, on the campus of Bradley University. They also won their round-of-16 match last Tuesday, 4-1 against the Cleveland City Stars of USL2.

Where one month ago Hamlett was talking about his deep roster and wondering how he was going to use all of his available talent, now he is talking about his deep roster as he tries to find someone who can put the ball in the back of the net in a league game.

The Fire's problem has not so much been on the defensive side, where they still stand as the league's best defense by a large margin, with 11 goals given up in 13 games (Kansas City has given up 16 in 13 games, the second best total.)

The problem has been on the offensive end, where they have not scored in a league game since losing 2-1 to D.C. United back on June 7.

"Things aren't going well," Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco said. "We've got to look ahead."

In an attempt to shake things up against San Jose in their last MLS game, Hamlett put Andy Herron and Tomasz Frankowski on top in place of Chad Barrett, returning to a pair of strikers. Herron suffered a concussion after a failed bicycle kick and left the game after 16 minutes (Barrett substituted for him) and Chris Rolfe, who had been playing mainly wide on the right, came in at 65 minutes for Frankowski.

In Tuesday's Open Cup game, Rolfe and Barrett both started, but were eventually came off for Frankowski and rookie Patrick Nyarko. Herron is out for Saturday, as is midfielder Logan Pause (hip injury), and defenders Dasan Robinson (ankle injury) and C.J. Brown (hamstring injury). Hamlett's search for answers could bring him to start Calen Carr at forward, while Rolfe is likely to start while Pause is out.

Adding a complication for Hamlett is the schedule, which includes an Open Cup quarterfinal match against D.C. United on Tuesday. That is followed by a home game against Toronto FC next Saturday, and a home game against Real Salt Lake the following Saturday.

But, as Hamlett was quick to point out after Tuesday's Open Cup win, this is why a team wants depth at every position.

"We have a very good roster," Hamlett said. "This will be a test of our depth."

High stakes give SuperClasico spice

CARSON, Calif. -- The first two years of the SuperClasico between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA was anything but a classic rivalry. The passion in the stands has always lived up to the billing, but on the field, the Galaxy were clearly the dominant team. Power shifted a bit last year, as Chivas USA won the season series. This year, and especially this week, the rivalry has reached an entirely new level.

For the first time in the rivalry's history, LA and Chivas are tied for first place in the Western Conference. The added emotion of having first place on the line should make this already intense rivalry that much more heated.

"This is going to be a fun game. We're both in first place. I don't know if that's ever been the case," said Landon Donovan. "They're playing well. They're gaining some confidence. All signs point to this being a great game."

In addition to the fact that first place is on the line, Chivas will be looking to get a little revenge. The two sides have already met once this year, a 5-2 win for the Galaxy. A lot has changed for both teams since that game however, and LA knows they can't just sit back and expect to get a similar result.

"They're two different teams since then. The funny thing, it's almost the same players. They're pretty much the same team," said Donovan. "Back then it was just confidence, getting a few results and having things go their way. It's not like they're destroying teams, but they're getting some breaks, so that means they're going to be dangerous."

For LA, bouncing back from a recent three-game winless skid and regaining a bit of confidence is a top priority. The club is about to embark on a rather extensive road trip that only sees them playing one more home game until September following Thursday's match.

"We keep forgetting that we've played a lot of games at home and we've given up a lot of points at home. We're not going to be here much in the near future," said Donovan. "We need to get our points when we have our home games. That being said, we've been doing pretty well on the road, so that's not that much of a concern."

The Galaxy are technically the home team in Thursday's game. The two sides share The Home Depot Center, and it's to be expected that a good number of Chivas supporters will be in the stands as well. The two rival fan groups always make for a fantastic atmosphere, one that Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit can fully appreciate from his playing and coaching career in Europe.

"It's a good rivalry. You have to forget about what happened in the first game. It's all about the derby," said Gullit. "It's going to be passionate. The crowd has been excellent."

Quakes encouraged by road ahead

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- When the San Jose Earthquakes meet Chivas USA on Saturday, the match will mark a milestone of sorts.

Not only will the Quakes have reached the halfway point of their return season in MLS, but it will conclude a difficult part of their schedule that has seen them play seven of nine games on the road. And while San Jose has coped decently by grabbing eight points in that span, a win on Saturday would go a long way towards landing them in the thick of the playoff race.

Put another way, at the conclusion of Saturday's hostilities with the Red-and-White, the Quakes will have played twice as many road games (10) as they have home matches (five). And the fact that San Jose is just eight points out of third place with two games in hand has manager Frank Yallop convinced that his team still has plenty to play for.

"It's in our hands really," said Yallop. "The league is wide open still. No one is running away with it. It's not like third place is 15 points away and we're going 'Oh geez, we have no chance.' It's right there."

Among the more encouraging signs for Yallop has been the fact that San Jose has recorded two ties in its last three away matches, but the Quakes' manager knows better than anyone that for his team to really make some noise, they'll need to start bagging some wins.

"When you don't lose, it gives you some momentum if you like," said Yallop. "But winning is everything, and we need to get some wins to get going."

The key to cracking the win column on Saturday will be finding a way to contain Chivas' potent midfield, one that contains budding star Sacha Kljestan. With Ned Grabavoy hampered by a groin injury, Yallop will deploy Kelly Gray and Ramiro Corrales in the center of midfield in the hope that their collective size and tough tackling will be enough to shackle the U.S. international.

"[Kljestan] is not only a good footballer, but he's a good finisher," said Yallop. "And he makes some great late runs."

While containing Kljestan will be difficult, the Quakes' presumed central duo has hit a solid run of form. Corrales is coming off perhaps his most impressive performance of the season in San Jose's 0-0 tie with Chicago. Gray meanwhile has put his versatility to good use, deputizing in the center of defense while the team coped with a rash of injuries and suspensions.

While Ryan Cochrane seems likely to sit out Saturday's match with a sprained ankle, the return of James Riley from suspension will allow Jason Hernandez to move into the center of defense alongside Nick Garcia, thus freeing Gray to patrol the center of midfield. It's a task that the San Jose native is ready to embrace, even though he'll be going up against former teammate Jesse Marsch.

"Marsch has always been a pretty solid player; never too flashy and he always does the right things," said Gray. "He usually doesn't make the killer pass, but he keeps everything short and simple."

That recipe is one San Jose's league-worst attack would do well to adopt, although lately the team's approach work has been solid enough. It's been the lack of a finishing touch in front of goal that is still their biggest obstacle. After last week's game against Chicago, Yallop bemoaned the fact that his side "had five clear chances and failed to hit the target."

That hasn't stopped Yallop from remaining upbeat about his team's prospects and mentality.

"None of our guys have dropped their heads," said Yallop. "The group is solid, and we're looking forward to the next 16 games and getting something out of them."

SuperClasico stakes higher than ever

CARSON, Calif. -- By all accounts, Chivas USA players get up for the Los Angeles Galaxy no matter the circumstance.

Toss the records by the wayside and the match is good enough to stand on its own, seems to be the consensus regarding the SuperClasico series.

But what happens when you do the opposite and factor in the standings? In the second edition of the 2008 SuperClasico series and the 14th all-time league meeting, that added plus might add an unprecedented element to what is already one of the league's best rivalries.

For the first time in the SuperClasico series, both Chivas USA and the LA Galaxy will enter a game against each other with first place on the line. Both teams are in first place atop the Western Conference table and the winner would distance themselves from the loser as well as the rest of Western teams.

"If you can't get up for these games, something is wrong," Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan said. "Whenever we step on the field against Galaxy, it's going to be a hard-fought game. It's going to be a battle. There's no surprise."

Entering Thursday's match, Chivas USA seems to be in a better position than the Galaxy. Chivas USA is unbeaten in three games and is 5-2-1 in the last eight games overall as the Red-and-White has climbed up the standings and surpassed several teams to get to the top of the table.

The Galaxy, meanwhile, have lost their grip atop the table having lost two consecutive matches and enters the match with a three-game winless streak.

Still, it would unwise for Chivas USA to let that lead to overconfidence, players said.

"We've gotten some good points in our last eight games and obviously in the past few games they haven't. But that doesn't really matter," Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. "When you come into this game, it's a Clasico. It's a derby. You see it all over the world -- when you share a stadium, you share a city, there's a lot of passion no matter what. Even if it's the last game of the season and it doesn't even matter in the standings, it's still a fight for Los Angeles."

As every Clasico match, this latest one has a "big game" feel to it, players said. Practices have been sharper and more intense while the anticipation for the game has built up with every passing moment.

About the only thing players can expect is that something unexpected will likely happen.

"You can't afford in big games to be lazy, to make bad mistakes. You've still got to be cautious but confident," Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch said. "And so that's why I think in a lot of these games it's tight and its emotional and there have been many instances throughout the series where something happens that normally wouldn't happen in many other games. It takes on a whole different aspect than any other game throughout the year."

This Clasico will likely feature a player who is new to the rivalry. Carey Talley has been a fixture in Chivas USA's lineup since shortly after arriving from Real Salt Lake in early May. Talley has played seven consecutive games for his newest club.

Even before he joined Chivas USA, Talley said the possibility of competing in a Clasico was enticing.

"Watching on TV, I was always saying to myself 'Man, I'd love to play in one of those games," Talley said. "Now, with the opportunity to play in it, especially with what's at stake being who can take over sole possession of first place, I'm looking forward to it."

With all that's already at stake, another part of the significance this match carries is the possible fallout. Chivas USA will take a break from league play after the Galaxy match and will focus on SuperLiga. On Sunday, Chivas USA will host Mexican side Pachuca in their SuperLiga opener and won't play another league match until Aug. 2 at Chicago.

Going out with a bang is the only way players said would work.

"We want to put ourselves in a good position before SuperLiga starts," Kljestan said. "Hopefully I'm going to the Olympics so it might be my last game for a little while as well. It's pretty important in many ways for our team to hopefully try and get three points and hopefully set ourselves on top of the standings while we go into a league break. It's always important to be on top when you come back into the league again."

Hyndman angry after Open Cup loss

FRISCO, Texas -- After losing 3-1 to the Charleston Battery in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman clearly was not a happy man. After some 20 minutes, he emerged from his office to talk with the media, after meeting with assistant coach John Ellinger and FCD president and general manager Michael Hitchcock.

"It's a huge disappointment for us to be eliminated because it was a goal for us to compete for the Lamar Hunt Open Cup trophy," Hyndman said. "I think we started out OK. In the first 15-20 minutes, I think we had a gameplan and didn't get the goal we wanted. At the same time, we're at home, wanted a little bit more energy and people to get forward and make some crosses."

However, after Charleston's Lazo Alavanja scored following a miscue by FCD left back Blake Wagner in the 28th minute, it set an ominous tone for the rest of the evening.

"Then, it's just a simple mistake in the back that has been talked about in the past and here it goes again," Hyndman said. "So, you make a simple mistake and don't distribute the ball quick enough, they knock it off, score a goal and you're down 1-0. So, the gameplan now changes to how do we get this back?"

In the 39th minute, referee Doug Wolff called the teams off the field because of lightning and after a break of nearly an hour while waiting for the weather to clear, the teams returned. Hyndman felt the break did the Hoops some good.

"It was fortunate for us that we had a break with the lightning because we came in and discussed a lot of things," he said. "What I was trying to do was to get the players to: one, go with a gameplan and be disciplined in that and two, just make a commitment to each other and work for each other. I thought everything was great and then Arturo (Alvarez) hits the post."

However, any euphoria felt by Hyndman and his players was short-lived when Charleston's Ian Fuller made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute.

"We were getting forward," Hyndman said. "We got our first corner kick and I thought this was going to work out. Then, the ball comes across, Arturo hits the post and they come back on a counterattack goal and now we're down 2-0. The 3-0 goal was because we threw so many people forward. They had five shots and three goals. That's really frustrating and disappointing for the team."

Hyndman's players clearly were equally disappointed.

"It's part of the game," midfielder Arturo Alvarez said. "I think that in the first 20-25 minutes, we were outplaying them. They get a lucky goal and that's what happens in soccer. You get a lucky goal against you and you shouldn't put your head down, but we did. Them scoring the second goal, we had the same reaction after coming out. I think we're a much better team but things didn't go our way."

Right back Drew Moor agreed. "Obviously, (this is) a very disappointing result," he said. "We just didn't take care of our opportunities. Arturo had a great shot there just before they scored their second goal. If that goes in, it's something different and the whole dynamic of the game changes. You can't keep on relying on scoring late goals and coming back. We need to capitalize earlier."

One of the few bright spots for FCD came deep in second-half stoppage time when already trailing 3-0. Kenny Cooper headed in the lone FCD goal, from a cross by rookie Eric Avila, who entered in the 65th minute as a substitute.

"It's hard to go in when we're down 2-0," Avila said. "I just wanted to keep sending balls in. The ball came back to me and I saw three guys on the back post. I just tried to send it there and luckily, Kenny (Cooper) put it in."

Once again, Hyndman was not pleased with a lack of quality width in the FCD attack.

"Width is one of the principles of attack and you need to have it," he said. "We had width but it's not where we want it to be. We have flank players who want to play around the center line. I can't tell you how many conversations we've had about them getting into the attacking third. It's just really uncomfortable for these guys. It just comes to the point of doing what we ask you to do or we have to find people."

The FCD coach compared his team's current state to something he read in a book on motivation.

"You have to set a goal that you're on a bus and going in the right direction," Hyndman said. "I brought this up to the players that it's not just important that you're on the bus. You have to be in the right seat, a leader, a captain and a finisher. The people who aren't willing to be in this role need to get off the bus. That's kind of an analogy of how we get from being a good team to a great team. Right now, we have the potential to be a good team but we're not."

Rapids prove worth against Tigres

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- Make no mistake about it. Friendly or not, the Colorado Rapids were out to win when they took on the Mexican first division club Tigres Friday night. Ultimately, after 90 scoreless minutes, it came down a nine-round shootout, with the Rapids edging Tigres 7-6 on penalty kicks.

"We said all along that it is a friendly, and it's easy to say after you win the game and you win on penalties," head coach Fernando Clavijo said. "If it would have gone the other way around, of course it's nothing that we were looking for. We always want to win. We play to win."

Wednesday night, however, the Rapids were looking to win more than simply an exhibition match with a quality international club. Hosting just their second international match in the past four seasons, it was the chance for the Rapids to win some respect for Major League Soccer against a skeptical opponent.

"I told the boys before the game, 'these guys don't like us, they don't respect us, they don't respect the league. They don't respect you,'" said Herculez Gomez, who served as captain for the night. "I said, 'make them come out of here respecting us.' I think they did. I think we achieved that. It's a good test for these guys. See the caliber of players and how we measure up to them. I think we rose to the occasion."

Tigres, who are in their preseason, started a side made up primarily of first-teamers, making four substitutions at the half and one more in the 74th minute. Colorado, on the other hand, fielding a starting squad made up primarily of reserves, waiting until the last 20 minutes to bring in their regular first team.

The flurry of late substitutions was not Clavijo's attempt to avoid a shootout, but a pre-arranged effort to give his regulars a midweek high-level drill as they prepare to pursue a league win Saturday in San Jose.

The crowd seemed to multiply when the match did go to penalty kicks, thrilling at the nine-round shootout that saw the Rapids take a lead after the second round, fall back to a tie after missing in the fifth round, and finally take victory on a Colin Clark game-winner in the ninth round.

"Once we went to PKs, I knew we were going to win," said Gomez. "I don't think a Mexican team has won a PK shootout since the 1994 World Cup against Bulgaria, so I knew it was in our favor."

The best perspective on the shootout belonged to goalkeeper Preston Burpo, who kept up with Tigres 'keeper Oscar Perez, though Perez was credited with two saves on the penalty kicks, while Burpo benefited from missed shots, wide and high. Had the sudden death shootout lasted two more rounds, the goalies would have each had their own shot at the opposing nets.

"It was getting close to Burpo, let's put it that way," the Rapids 'keeper said. "I knew that. I'd be fine taking it. Colin Clark stepped up, banged it in, and that's all she wrote.

"Sometimes those go well for you. Sometimes they don't," Burpo added, explaining the goalie's unenviable task of stopping shots from the spot. "You try to wait it out to the last second and give it a go and hopefully you go the right way. I got a good jump on a couple of them. They pushed a couple wide, one high. Just to get a win and say we won the game tonight is good."

The Rapids took a two-fer, winning both the match and the respect of their opponents, but it was also an important opportunity to get more time in a competitive situation for some of their players who have seen less action this season.

Mike Petke has yet to play in a game this season, and he played the entire second half, exceeding Clavijo's expectations as he tries to ease the veteran defender back into regular playing time.

"It was great to see Petke back," said Clavijo. "We can see for 45 minutes he was good. Now he needs to get comfortable. His confidence needs to come back to him. It was good to see him back for sure."

Greg Dalby, a Rapids draft pick from 2007 who is not eligible to play for the Rapids until July 15 of this year, got 80 minutes on the field, reinforcing Clavijo's confidence in his abilities.

"Greg Dalby played a very good [80] minutes," Clavijo said. "He is the player that we all thought he was. I'm very pleased, I thought it was good."

Though the Rapids were understandably not at their sharpest in the early part of the match, the fact that their reserves could hold their own against Tigres' first team was a clear confidence boost for a team continuing to forge its identity.

"We may not have looked as dangerous as we wanted, but we didn't allow Tigres to be dangerous," Clavijo said. "We played well. It was even the game for 90 minutes. It was a very clean game. We got exactly what we wanted from these kinds of games. I hope it was good for Tigres."

Struggles grind on frustrated Quakes

As the season nears the All-Star Game midpoint, the middle of the Major League Soccer standings is a muddle of many teams. Yet there's a clear top and bottom, with the San Jose Earthquakes bringing up the final spot.

After conceding a late goal Saturday in a disheartening loss to Chivas USA, team members assessed their performance. There were some encouraging moments, such as a much-improved second 45 minutes.

"We adjusted and did better in the second half," said coach Frank Yallop. "I felt we should have got something out of the game tonight. They're very disappointed tonight."

It was, in some ways, a microcosm of a frustrating season for the Quakes.

"Some of the games that we've had, we should have got more points," said Yallop. "But we're bottom of the league. The table doesn't lie, so obviously we're doing something wrong in not winning more games."

To goalkeeper Joe Cannon, the team's biggest problem was agonizingly obvious, in the latest match versus Chivas USA as well as many other games for the Quakes this year.

"We didn't score (Saturday)," Cannon pointed out. "That's the thing. We're not giving up many goals, but we're not scoring any a lot of the time."

San Jose's strength has been their solid defensive effort -- which has kept them in many games this season, even if they ultimately fall short.

Cannon pointed to a startling statistic. "We have individual players in this league who are outscoring us as a team," Cannon said. The Quakes have 10 goals on the season, which would rank them tied for second in the MLS Golden Boot, behind LA's Landon Donovan (11 goals), level with Luciano Emilio (D.C. United) and Edson Buddle (LA).

Help is on the way, though, as Yallop and the coaching staff look to bring in other players. Though he wouldn't comment specifically on the possibility of Carlos Ruiz, Yallop did confirm the team's interest in Brazilian midfielder Francisco Lima.

"When you have a chance of adding someone like that to your team, you do it," said Yallop. "He's come in for a couple of days of training and he's looked good and fit."

It was hard for the team to look ahead too far, having just suffered a bitter loss.

"The 87th (minute) is a brutal time," said Cannon of giving up a goal at that point.

Another thing that upset the San Jose players was the manner in which the goal was set up. Chivas USA's Atiba Harris ignored the injury of Ramiro Corrales, and then earned the foul that let to the free kick goal by Ante Razov.

"If a team's attacking, they don't have to put it out, but I think that in the spirit of the game, he could have done it," said Yallop.

John Cunliffe, a former Chivas USA player now with the Quakes, said that's what he would have done in the same situation.

"Generally speaking, yes," said the English forward. "At the same time, we had a couple of chances that we didn't take, so that's on us as much as much as the ref or them not putting the ball out."

The inability of the forwards to produce puts pressure on the team's defensive effort. San Jose has scored just one goal total in its last five games.

"Guys in the back are thinking they can't make a mistake," said Cannon. "The thought in our heads is that if we give up a goal, that's the game. I can't go up front and score goals. We're not creating enough. We're not scoring enough."

Cunliffe put the both the credit for the defensive effort and the blame for the attack on everyone.

"It's a team game," Cunliffe said. "You defend as a team and attack as a team. Obviously, the emphasis is on the forwards when you're not scoring. It's tough. We'll just keep working on it in practice. We need a couple of things to fall our way, really."

The bright spot for San Jose this season might still lie ahead, as the Earthquakes kick off a run of seven home games in a nine-match stretch over two months, beginning with Saturday's game against the Colorado Rapids at Buck Shaw Stadium.

"We're looking forward to getting home now and getting a stretch of games," said Yallop.

Wizards frustrated by missed victory

FRISCO. Texas -- For much of Friday evening at Pizza Hut Park, the Kansas City Wizards were the better side. After Scott Sealy put the visitors ahead in the 39th minute with his second goal of the year, the visitors looked poised to triumph over FC Dallas in Frisco for a second successive year.

But FCD forward Abe Thompson changed all that with his stoppage-time equalizer, forcing Kansas City to settle for a 1-1 draw and just the single point.

"Defensively, we were outstanding for 91 minutes," Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo said. "We've given up very few goals in MLS and were three minutes away from another shutout. But you can't put your defense under that kind of pressure for that many minutes. When you have a chance, you have to put them away. It's that simple."

Sealy's goal was the first goal by a Kansas City player in 448 minutes. The Wizards won last week against Real Salt Lake at CommunityAmerica Ballpark but that lone tally in a 1-0 victory was an own goal by RSL in the 89th minute.

In fact, their last goal before Sealy's was scored by Claudio Lopez on May 24 in a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center.

But the Wizards certainly had opportunities to kill off the match before Thompson's late heroics. A shot by Davy Arnaud in the 63rd minute just missed and went wide left. But the best of all came in the 69th minute when Sasha Victorine got on the end of a Lopez free kick and looked to head it home before FCD defender Duilio Davino cleared the ball off the line.

"It was a game where we had plenty of chances to put the game away," Onalfo said. "Our inability to do that cost us at the end. We've created a lot of chances over the last few games. Getting them isn't good enough. Now, we have to put them away."

It was hard not to feel the sense of frustration inside the Wizards locker room after the tough result.

"Obviously, we're disappointed to give up a goal in injury time," Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad said. "We defended well and limited their chances for the most part and made their game predictable. At the end, we were just bunkering down and they made the most out of a good ball and a good finish."

Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman completely agreed.

"It's one of those games where you're frustrated because it's not the first time that we've blown a lead," he said. "We have to do a better job defending leads, killing off games and being more mature about our soccer. We all have to take responsibility for it. It's disappointing. It's frustrating to have three points in our hand and just give it away.

"It's frustrating because I know the guys worked so hard to get in a position to get three points," Hartman continued. "But at the end of the day, you have to play for 94 or 95 minutes and not just 93. It would be nice to be able to celebrate a victory with the guys and reward them for the work they did. I thought what they did was a tremendous effort."

Still, Hartman saw the Wizards do a number of things well against the Hoops.

"We possessed the ball very well, were able to get a goal away from home and for a majority of the game, we did very well," he said. "I thought that for the last 5-10 minutes, we weren't experienced or mature enough with the game."

Kansas City returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to Seattle for a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against the USL1 Sounders. The Wizards return to league action next Thursday when they play host to the New York Red Bulls.

Onalfo knows all is not lost, it's merely time to circle the wagons.

"We have to regroup," he said. "We have a big Open Cup quarterfinal game in Seattle on Tuesday that we want to win. We've got a huge interconference game against New York where we have to get points."

Crew aim to buck trend of swoons

COLUMBUS -- As the Columbus Crew head into the second half of the season with a burst of momentum and a jolt of confidence, the club has to be wary of not letting history repeat itself.

Saturday's 2-2 comeback tie against visiting Chicago marked the third consecutive season that the Crew have drawn in its 15th match. While the deadlock moved to the team to two wins and a pair of ties in its past four outings and an overall mark of 8-4-3 (27 points), the previous two years had not been kind to the club after that.

Last season, the Crew had 19 points at the midway juncture (4-4-7) but earned only 18 the rest of the way to finish at 37, three points out of the MLS Cup Playoffs. In 2006, when the league played 32 games, the Crew stood at 17 points (4-6-5) through 15 games, only to collect 16 more (4-9-4) in the final 17.P Just like this season, the previous two years saw the Crew on an unbeaten run through game No. 15. Two years ago Columbus had its third successive tie by playing to zeroes at New York. The streak continued with a 1-1 draw at Houston before three consecutive losses.

In 2007 a scoreless match at Colorado gave the Crew a 3-0-2 stretch. Columbus won its next outing against Real Salt Lake before losing to Chivas USA.

The Crew hope to add to their current point streak this Saturday at Real Salt Lake, but no matter the outcome, they appear better suited to avoid a second-half swoon than their two predecessors.

Foremost is its ability to overcome adversity. The Crew have the best winning percentage (.286) in MLS when allowing the first goal thanks to a 1-4-2 record and are tied with D.C. for the best percentage (1-3-2, .333) when trailing at the half.

"You wish you have a team like this as a coach that's going to fight to the end," Crew assistant coach Robert Warzycha said.

Of course, that also shows a weakness by falling behind often.

The match against the Fire highlighted the good and the bad. Chicago scored in the eighth minute; the league-high fifth goal allowed in the opening 15 minutes. After allowing a second goal in the 25th, Emmanuel Ekpo scored in the 36th to make the score 2-1 and reserve rookie Steven Lenhart got the equalizer in the 87th.

"It was kind of disheartening, disappointing but we have a lot of good players," midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi said of salvaging a point at home. "Good teams can come back from a 2-0 deficit. When you're down 2-0 and you battle back to get a point it's always a good thing and we can't look at being disappointed we put ourselves in that position in the first place."

Every point matters but the Crew might rue a missed opportunity at home, where they are 5-2-1 after winning their first four in Crew Stadium.

"After going 2-0 obviously it shows the fight in this team," forward Alejandro Moreno said. "We certainly would have liked to have gotten a better result at home. They way we were playing at times we looked quite sharp. We were getting forward, we were dangerous. We ended up scoring two goals. It's good we got the point but it's a little bit disappointing. I was frustrated the way we started. We got in a hole. We found a way to fight back."

The rally was reminiscent of the June 21 match at Los Angeles when the Crew trailed 2-0 and 3-2 before Lenhart came off the bench to score in the 88th minute to earn a road point. The Crew also trailed 1-0 at San Jose in the second half until exploding for three goals in nine minutes in a 3-2 victory.

Captain Frankie Hejduk is not surprised by his team's comeback capabilities after Saturday's match.

"We battled back. We never gave up. It's been this team's theme all year. We made it difficult on ourselves but we never stopped believing. Even halftime when it was 2-1 no one felt we weren't coming back," he said. "We knew we were going to get the second. Even after that I thought we were going to get another one."

There is concern, though. While Ekpo (two goals in two consecutive matches) and Lenhart are providing unexpected offense, leading scorers Moreno and midfielder Robbie Rogers are in a funk. Rogers had his fifth goal May 10 at San Jose but is goalless in eight. Moreno has two goals in 10 matches -- his fifth and sixth on June 14 at Kansas City.

Also, Ekpo has been erratic on the right flank and the defense is vulnerable to the counterattack as the Fire exposed on its two goals.

Still, the Crew would need an epic collapse to miss the playoffs a fourth successive season. They have the second-most points in the league and trail Eastern Conference leader New England by six points with two games in hand.

Next is a home friendly against Argentinean side Independiente on Wednesday. After Saturday's MLS match in Salt Lake City, the Crew return home to face Kansas City on July 17.

Fire encouraged despite missed win

COLUMBUS -- The Chicago Fire didn't get the three points they so tantalizingly came close to earning on the road, but considering the lack of goals in the previous three outings, a 2-2 tie maybe wasn't so bad after all.

The Fire held a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes on goals by Chris Rolfe and Calen Carr but were unable to put the match away before Crew rookie reserve Steven Lenhart poked in the equalizer in the 87th minute. Columbus had several more opportunities in stoppage time but could not get the winner.

"It's disappointing. We had such a good start to the game, got two goals and then to give it away that first goal it does feel like a loss," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "But then again, given our stretch we had where we couldn't score goals and we got two tonight we have to draw some positives whenever you go on the road. Our guys are (ticked off) because we thought we had two points in the bag and let it slip away."

Forward Chris Rolfe, who grew up in Kettering, Ohio, and played collegiately about 60 miles west of Columbus at the University of Dayton, returned to the Buckeye State to put a damper on the festive crowd by scoring the first goal and assisting on the second before Emmanuel Ekpo cut the deficit in half in the 36th minute after a Fire turnover.

"It always feels good to get a goal, especially in front of friends and family here at home. It was a big goal for us because it got us on the board early," said Rolfe, who has six goals and two assists in 11 matches against Columbus.

The Fire are 0-3-2 in the past five matches but did improve to 4-0-3 in Crew Stadium since July 3, 2004. They hadn't scored in 333 minutes of league play but that stat went by the wayside very early thanks to the brilliance of Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the eighth minute.

The midfielder sent a quick, over-the-top service to midfielder Justin Mapp to beat an offside trap, and he fired a shot off the left post. Rolfe followed up and was in perfect position to drive in the rebound from 12 yards for his third goal of the season.

On the second score, Rolfe played a give-and-go with Gonzalo Segares before Segares spotted forward Calen Carr on a run down the center of the Crew defense. Carr was at full speed when he whistled a shot past Hesmer to notch his second score.

"It's always some combination of something but it was pretty good one-touch passing by Chicago," Crew assistant coach Robert Warzycha said. "After the first goal it was 'Oh, my god. They scored so early and we're going to have to push.' Before you know it the second goal came. After that we pretty much controlled the game."

On the tying goal, Lenhart took a service from Guillermo Barros Schelotto on his right shin and the ball bounced toward the goal. It appeared to hit both Fire defender Brandon Prideaux and Crew midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi on the way in.

"At the end they were pushing everybody forward. We're just trying to plug holes in the back," Busch said. "They've got some big boys. I thought Brandon did well on the first guy running. He (Lenhart) mis-hit it or something. I lost track of it after that. It was kind of a miss that hit the back of the net.

"That's what happens when you're dumping balls in the box and guys are fighting. They've got big guys. Balls are going to be knocked down; balls are going to be pummeled around."

The Fire were more disappointed that the Crew was in position to go for the tie at that point.

"It's a credit to them. They were pushing," Hamlett said. "At times we didn't make the right decisions. As they were pushing that leaves them open to counters. We didn't well with that, particularly the one with Justin going in on Danny (O'Rourke). That was a good opportunity to at least get a shot off and we ended up fouling it up. If we could have done better with those counters maybe we would have gotten that third goal and closed the game out."

Busch agreed. "We didn't do a good job killing the game. At times we did ... 60, 70, maybe 80 minutes we got a hold of the game and started knocking it. If we had continued doing that defensively we would have ended up with three points instead of one. At the end of the day it was a point on the road. It was a great game. Both teams had chances to get the third."

The 'keeper made sterling saves on Schelotto in the first half and Frankie Hejduk in the second to preserve the one-goal advantage in his first appearance against his former team. Busch had six saves, four in the second half but it wasn't enough.

He played from the Crew from 2002 until being released last year. He was with the Fire last season but did not play against his former club.

"It's just another game. I had my time last year. That was more emotional," Busch said.

"It's disappointing giving up a late goal but getting a point on the road is always a good thing," Rolfe said. "Hopefully, we can build on this performance and go from here."

Earthquakes flex defensive muscles

CARSON, Calif. -- The San Jose Earthquakes stayed close to Chivas USA throughout Saturday night's match at The Home Depot Center. But on a late free kick goal from Ante Razov, two minutes from the end, they eventually succumbed 1-0 as their winless streak reached five games.

The San Jose players have learned one irrefutable truth in their difficult return to Major League Soccer -- they can't lose if the other team doesn't score.

Perhaps that was coach Frank Yallop's thinking when building the team from the back with strong defensive players. The effort certainly paid off against Chivas USA in the first half, as the stout defense of the Earthquakes kept the game scoreless in spite of generating very few chances in the entire period.

"I think we should have had more points than what we've got, to be honest. Some of the games we've had, we should have gotten more points out of, but we're the bottom of the league, so the table doesn't lie," Yallop said. "We're doing something wrong by losing games, but I think you saw tonight that our spirit is very good. We don't lay over and die against anybody and that's a great building block for any team."

Defense starts with a strong goalkeeper, and Joe Cannon turned away all four of Chivas USA's efforts on goal in the first half.

The most dangerous threat came in the 17th minute, when Cannon had to stop two dangerous chances as both Jonathan Bornstein and Atiba Harris beat the Quakes defensive line for an attack into the box. Though Cannon gave up a rebound for the second chance, he smothered the shot by Harris.

"I didn't think we came out as aggressive as we usually do, I thought it took us a little while to get into it and find a way to establish ourselves," said San Jose defender Jason Hernandez. "I thought in the second half we were a lot stronger. It's a road game; you try to do your best to attack with purpose and keep a clean sheet, and for the most part we were keeping the zero on the board and we just got a little unlucky at the end."

Yet if Cannon and the Quakes defense in general were stalwart, their attack was downright stagnant. With the midfield finding it difficult to control and possess the ball, forwards Kei Kamara and Ryan Johnson saw little service.

O'Brien attempted to generate chances off shots from distance, but these were handled with relative ease by Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

One long-distance try by Ramiro Corrales caught Guzan off guard, however. Corrales hit the ball first-time from about 40 yards out in the 37th minute, beating Guzan, but not the post.

After the second half began, it was clear that the Earthquakes remembered another truth about soccer -- a team can't win without scoring. They came out aggressively, opening up the match as they created more chances.

"We allowed them to play too much, I think -- we gave them too much respect in the first half. You can't let any team dictate the game like that," said Yallop. "That second half we thought we stepped in a little bit, created some good chances, but didn't take them."

Of course, pressing forward on the attack exposed the Quakes to the Chivas USA counter.

Razov nearly made them pay in the 53rd minute. Cannon rushed out to shut down Harris' run into the box, but Harris passed the ball to Razov for the shot. This time, it was the Earthquakes' turn to get a favor from the post, as Razov's shot hit off the woodwork.

The Quakes actually generated more shots total than Chivas USA in the second half. Yet Guzan managed four saves of his own, while all the other efforts of the Quakes couldn't find their target.

Yallop tried throwing in more attacking players into the mix, hoping one could produce a goal. John Cunliffe was one who knew the Chivas USA team well, having played with them last season, but even this extra knowledge couldn't lead to a game-changing opportunity.

"We've had a few injuries at wrong times, especially up front, and I think that's the thing that's obviously been hurting us -- we can't score in the right times," Yallop said. "It's not just the guys that play up front, but it's important for them to be slipped in, in better positions, but just in general I think we need some help up there."

The defense of the Quakes managed to turn aside a number of corners that Chivas USA earned, but it was a set piece that eventually undid them. It was a controversial sequence that started when Corrales crumpled to the ground with an apparent injury in the 87th minute.

Harris continued the Chivas USA attack, until O'Brien came in hard and late on a tackle, yelling at Harris immediately afterwards, upset that the unwritten code to put the ball out of play when someone is hurt had not been followed. O'Brien got a yellow card for the tackle and Chivas USA set up for a free kick.

Razov placed it perfectly out of the reach of Cannon, into the side netting.

"You always second-guess the balls that go in," Cannon said. "But it was a good strike."

With that goal, the Quakes' hopes to come away with a good road result faded.

"I guess it's been the story of our year: we have a pretty good chance when John [Cunliffe] just misses the target, and then a terrific free kick, to be honest," Yallop said. "But Joe was big tonight, Joe Cannon was excellent, and it took a good goal to beat him, and it was. Just the timing of it, right at the end of the game, was tough for us to get back in the match."

Razov's perfect strike stuns Quakes

CARSON, Calif. -- Ante Razov scored a stunning late goal to give Chivas USA a 1-0 victory against the San Jose Earthquakes at The Home Depot Center on Saturday.

With the game scoreless in the 88th minute, Razov sent a 27-yard free kick over the wall and past the despairing dive of Joe Cannon, inside the right-hand post and into the back of the net for the game-winner.

The goal was Razov's third of the season and 112th of his career. More importantly, it thrust Chivas USA to the top of the Western Conference. Both Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy are even on 21 points and will play Thursday in the second SuperClasico of the season.

The hosts came out and dictated terms against San Jose. The team started the match organized and knocked the ball around effectively.

Kelly Gray flattened Ante Razov a few yards outside of the penalty area in the 10th minute and set up Chivas USA's first set piece of the match. Razov and Sacha Kljestan stood over the dead ball but Razov ultimately took the shot and sent it straight at Cannon.

Two minutes later, Gray again took out a Chivas USA player. This time, it was Paulo Nagamura who lay on the field after Gray slid into Nagamura from behind some 30 yards out. Referee Terry Vaughn, though, forgave Grey and did not show the San Jose midfielder his second yellow of the match.

Razov again took the free kick but sent it to the far post, where San Jose cleared the ball out of danger.

Jonathan Bornstein, who started at left back for the first time since late April, had Chivas USA's first scoring chance of the match from open play. Marsch fed Bornstein down the middle of the field after the former Rookie of the Year made a run through the heart of San Jose's defense. Bornstein skirted around Nick Garcia and ripped a shot on goal. Cannon, though, dived to his left and stopped the ball. A hard-charging Atiba Harris nearly converted the rebound but Cannon pounced on Harris' attempt.

San Jose nearly broke through completely against the run of play. In the 37th minute, a loose ball popped out to Ramiro Corrales, who settled and fired a shot on goal from some 35 yards out. The ball caromed off the right post and fell to Kei Kamara, but his rebound attempt went well wide of the net.

Chivas USA's Bobby Burling rattled a header off the crossbar from eight yards out in the 41st minute. Kljestan placed a corner kick in front of the goal and Burling nearly converted the set piece. One minute later, Razov caught Cannon off balance from 16 yards out but Cannon recovered in time and stopped Razov's slow-rolling shot on the goal line.

Harris picked up a yellow card five minutes into the second half after a rough challenge on San Jose's Jason Hernandez. Aside from Gray's early tackles, the match had not been too physical to that point.

Chivas USA then nearly scored but again the woodwork was unkind. Carey Talley threaded a ball to Harris, who charged into the penalty area on the right side. Harris slipped a pass to Razov, who beat Cannon but saw his shot bounce off the far post.

In the 66th minute, Chivas USA coach Preki went to the bench for the first time as he inserted Justin Braun for Francisco Mendoza. Braun immediately proved his worth by winning a corner kick. Razov nearly finished off the corner kick but his diving header went just over the crossbar.

Former Chivas USA first-round draft choice John Cunliffe nearly haunted his former side. Cunliffe, a second-half substitute, fired a shot just wide of the right post in the 82nd minute. The match was Cunliffe's first against his former team since he was dealt to the expansion side on the eve of the 2008 regular season.

Ronnie O'Brien fouled Harris in the 86th minute and picked up a yellow card. Two minutes later, Razov bent in the free kick from long distance, just past Cannon's outstretched arms.

Angel's return bright spot for Red Bulls

MONTCLAIR, N.J. - The shorthanded New York Red Bulls received a measure of good news Thursday when star striker Juan Pablo Angel joined the team on its flight to Colorado, where the Red Bulls will take on the Rapids in a Fourth of July match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Angel has been sidelined with a variety of injuries this year. He suffered from two herniated discs and an arthritic nerve-related injury to his lower back. And after scoring the winning goal against Chivas USA at Giants Stadium June 5, Angel hobbled off the field with a strained hamstring. That was his last appearance.

In total, the former Colombian international has two goals and two assists in seven games. Last year, Angel set a club single-season record with 19 goals in 24 matches, good for second in the second behind D.C. United's Luciano Emilio in all of MLS.

"I am feeling better," Angel said following Wednesday's training session. "I have made a little progress over the last week. I am building on it. Hopefully, I will be available for selection very soon."

For the first time in nearly a month, Angel returned to train with the first team Monday and had two more training sessions before Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio was convinced to add him to the travel list.

"He is looking very good, sharp," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said of Angel. "It's good to see Juan back."

Without Angel, Jozy Altidore, who was sold to La Liga side Villarreal, and captain Claudio Reyna, the Red Bulls offense has sputtered. Only San Jose and Kansas City have scored fewer goals than the Red Bulls this season and the last time New York scored more than one goal in a game was May 10 in a 2-1 win at Los Angeles.

Angel is still not 100 percent fit and Osorio has ruled out starting him for Friday night's tilt. More likely, though, is coming off the bench to play the final 30 minutes.

"I could see him playing some minutes," Osorio said. "I will not risk him in playing from the start. But it will good to have him with us."

While Angel is on his way back, there is still no timetable for Reyna, who is training on his own. And the club has yet to find a replacement for Altidore, who is second on the team with three goals scored.

With a lack of options up top, Dane Richards has become an important piece of the attacking puzzle. The speedy Jamaican, who was a striker at Clemson before moving to right midfield, has played forward for each of the club's three-game MLS unbeaten streak.

"I like it up there," Richards said. "Not only am I on the right, but I can move to the left or stay in the middle. I can use my speed to the best of my ability up there, to try and get behind players to create opportunities for myself and my teammates."

Using his speed to go at defenders, Richards has had an abundance of scoring chances in his time at forward. But he's been a bit reluctant to pull the trigger on some shots.

"When I get behind the defense, sometimes I get excited," said Richards, who last year was a finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year. "I just need to do better with my composure in the box and I think I'll get a couple of goals."

New depth a plus in Pachuca defeat

TORONTO -- Saturday night's friendly with Pachuca CF saw new players, a new formation and even a new finish with BMO Field's first-ever penalty shootout. Though Toronto FC came up short in a 4-3 loss on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in the Carlsberg Cup showdown, it was an overall positive experience for a club that has preached the importance of roster depth.

"It's something that we want at the club," said assistant coach Chris Cummins. "We want players pushing players. As [head coach John Carver] has said many times, nobody's safe. If somebody comes in and does well, then they get their chance."

The TFC side that took the field on Saturday had seven changes from the lineup that lost 1-0 to Vancouver last Tuesday in a Nutrilite Canadian Championship game. Carver promised changes after that disappointing loss, and the fresh lineup that faced Pachuca may have been something of an audition to see which of the younger players could earn more playing time later in the season -- or possibly as soon as the rematch with Vancouver on Wednesday.

"We've got a busy month coming up. Wednesday is an important game for us and we'lll be going in to get a result," Cummins said. "If there's lads that come in and we think, 'Well listen, he might give us something different,' then we won't be afraid to put him in."

Some of the new faces included 16-year-old Abdus Ibrahim, Tyler Rosenlund, Nana Attakora-Gyan and Tyler Hemming. Of these four, midfielder Hemming has the most playing time, with 72 minutes. The London, Ontario native loved the chance to play a top club like Pachuca and hopes that his performance will perhaps get him some more action in TFC's crowded midfield.

"I just want to play games at the highest level that I can," Hemming said. "Every time I get the opportunity to [play], I'm thankful for it. I want to take my opportunity and run with it, just like all the younger guys."

Hemming found himself pressed on defense on the left side when Pachuca's three strikers created problems for the Toronto backline. The Reds began the game in a 3-5-2 formation, a switch from their usual 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1, and the three-man rearguard needed some help in fending off Pachuca's intricate passing plays.

"They played a different formation against us that we haven't seen for a while," Cummins said. "I thought their movement up front caused a lot of problems for us and our back players probably haven't had to deal with that yet, young Julius [James], young Nana. I thought they coped with it very, very well."

Tuzos forward Christian Correa scored for Pachuca after combining with fellow striker Damian Alvarez one such deft passing play in the 60th minute. TFC responded, however, in the 69th minute when James headed in a Laurent Robert corner kick.

With the game tied after extra time and the Carlsberg Cup on the line, the fans at BMO Field were treated to a penalty shootout. Both teams scored three times after the first round of five penalty shooters, but Kevin Harmse's shot hit the left crossbar on Toronto's next attempt. Edwin Borboa connected on the follow-up chance to clinch the win for Pachuca.

For Harmse, the friendly was a case of deja vu. As a member of the LA Galaxy, Harmse saw his side lose 4-3 on penalties to Pachuca in the 2007 SuperLiga final after a 1-1 score in regulation.

Harmse didn't get a chance to shoot in the SuperLiga final, and could only shrug his shoulders about his misfortune on Saturday.

"There's no strategy," Harmse said. "You pick your spot and you don't change your mind. It's simple."

Carlsberg Cup aside, the more pressing matter for the Reds is their match on Wednesday in Vancouver against the Whitecaps. Another defeat could severely hurt TFC's chances of qualifying for the 2008 CONCACAF Champions League, where they would be facing off against top Mexican sides just like Pachuca.

"That's why this game is massive for us," Cummins said. "It's all about development, it's all about learning. We're glad this game has come around to give us an idea of what we're going to play against.

"You speak to any professional footballers and I think they'll tell you there's no such thing as a friendly, you know? We always go out there with the attitude of wanting to perform to our best and trying to win our games, and all credit to the lads, I thought they were terrific tonight. I thought they competed against a very good side and did well."

Expect fireworks as LA hosts Revs

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Remember those games earlier this season where the New England Revolution played at home and the opposition packed the midfield in search of a draw?

Don't expect a repeat as the Revs face Los Angeles in the seemingly annual Independence Day match between the two sides.

The Galaxy haven't shown much defensively this season (28 goals conceded in 14 games) or much willingness to play negative soccer to shore those defensive faults.

But the torrid goalscoring form of Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle sparks the league's best offense and has kept the Galaxy afloat in the competitive Western Conference.

"We'll have to be sound defensively," Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph said. "Once they open up and play, it'll open up a lot of gaps in midfield and we'll have to take advantage of them."

For perhaps the first time this season, Revs head coach Steve Nicol can call on all of his starters to exploit those openings.

Kenny Mansally and Taylor Twellman came through Tuesday's 3-0 victory against the Richmond Kickers in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup without a hitch. Twellman scored and looked likely in his first lengthy match action in two months.

"Everybody's back." Joseph said. "Everybody's fit. We can have a consistent first 11 for the first time in a while."

Twellman might not start against the Galaxy as he builds his match fitness, but Mansally is in contention for his first start since leaving the team to join up with The Gambia for World Cup qualifying.

"We've got four forwards and two slots," Joseph said. "It'll be hard for Kenny and Taylor to get back into the team. Adam [Cristman] and Kheli [Dube] have been doing really well."

Whoever starts up front will look to the continued good form of Steve Ralston, who scored twice last week and garnered Player of the Week honors, and the success of the Revs' possession in midfield to help them convert those chances.

"We're going to do what we like to do, but we don't want to leave the back three open," Joseph said. "We need to close them down in the midfield."

David Beckham tops the list of players who need their time and space restricted. The veteran English midfielder has four goals and six assists this season and most of the Galaxy attacks funnel through him on the right wing.

"He's not going to beat most players for pace," Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst said. "We need to get some help over there. He's really good at getting those crosses into the box. The more we can make it difficult for him to do that, because he can get them off so quickly, the better it will be for us."

Once the ball travels up to the forward line, the Revs will have to watch Buddle and Donovan. The pair has combined for 21 goals this season.

Parkhurst said Donovan in particular requires careful attention because of his willingness to run at defenders.

"We know the big field is good for Landon," Parkhurst said. "We can't let him have the ball and get the space to dribble at us."

Osorio fumes after rout in Colorado

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- It was a frustrating Fourth of July for the New York Red Bulls, as all of the fireworks were on the other side of the ball. After losing 4-0 to the Colorado Rapids, New York has won only one of their last five league games and three of their last 10. And with a frustrated coach hinting at making numerous changes to his roster, the fireworks might not yet be over for the Red Bulls.

"We were not at the races," said coach Juan Carlos Osorio. "We didn't compete today and at the end we got what we deserved."

It was the third game in six days for the Red Bulls, including a couple of cross-country flights and a disastrous loss on Tuesday to USL Second Division team Crystal Palace Baltimore. The players, however, do not believe that fixture congestion is enough to explain away Friday's loss.

"Obviously we've had a busy schedule over the past few weeks, but that's no excuse for what happened," said Hunter Freeman.

In the initial stages of the match, the two teams looked equally matched with neither team doing much of anything on offense. The Rapids were the first to score a goal, and things seemed to snowball from there.

"At the beginning of the game it was fine," said Freeman. "It was back and forth and then on their second chance of the game they scored a goal. Obviously you don't want to be down a goal, but it's not the end of the world. The second one they scored before halftime really put us behind the 8-ball and changed things. We went for broke in the second half and that didn't work out."

For his part, Osorio believed the effort from his team was lacking.

"We just wanted to match them up and play the same system that we have been doing," said Osorio. "That's down to the players and I do not think that anyone can look in my eyes and tell me that they really played today."

Although at times New York maintained good possession in the midfield, they seemed to have few ideas to connect with the forwards other than playing crosses or long balls forward. Some of that was simply taking what Colorado was giving them, and not doing much with it.

"In the first half we had numbers wide and they only had one true guy outside so there was a lot of space there," said Freeman. "We whipped some good balls in but we never really got on the end of them. We kept the ball but we didn't do anything with it; in the final third we didn't have any answers and we lacked some creativity. Give Colorado credit - they did something with their chances."

At halftime, Osorio was clearly already frustrated with his team's effort. When asked what he told the players he replied: "You don't want to know."

By the end of the game, Osorio was not any happier, and hinted at his desire to make wholesale changes to his roster.

"I can't wait for the 15th of July, when we can sign some players and make a very competitive team," said Osorio. "Because at the moment, I think all of our players have had the chance to shine and stake a claim and a lot of them refuse to do that."

RSL look to capture first place

SALT LAKE CITY - Call it the second place curse. Two times this season, Real Salt Lake have entered a game needing a win to finally move into first place in the Western Conference standings. Both times, RSL could not come up with the three points it needed.

Under normal circumstances, last weekend's 1-0 loss to the Kansas City Wizards might seem like a particularly disheartening blow. The match appeared headed for a scoreless draw until Tony Beltran's misdirected header nudged the ball into his own net and gave Kansas City an improbable victory.

But the good news for Real is that the loss did not drop them from second place. Now with two-time defending MLS champion Houston coming to town on Thursday night, RSL has high hopes that this will be the time where first place ceases to elude its grasp.

"First place -- even with the parity in the conference -- would be a tremendous feat for this club," defender Nat Borchers said. "We owe it to ourselves to give ourselves a chance to be there."

How well RSL deals with this second chance depends on how much the sour taste of their latest loss to the Wizards lingers. For Beltran, the mental blow would seem big in some ways. He is a much-heralded rookie who made the kind of mistake even veterans have nightmares about.

Beltran seemed to have shaken off whatever shock remained from the own goal by Wednesday's training session -- preferring to bury the past in the past.

"What I told myself after the game is I'm just going to leave it in Kansas City," Beltran said. "If you dwell on it, you're not going to be able to get over it. You're not going to be able to continue. The most important thing now is the next game."

One mistake certainly won't wipe out all the good things Beltran has done to earn a spot in the first XI. And the unexpected loss should not do much to diminish the home prowess of RSL either.

Real have performed well against a number of high-profile opponents in Rice-Eccles Stadium this year -- with a 2-1 win against New England as the most recent example.

Given their history against higher caliber opponents, Real feel confident they can hold their own against the Dynamo in front of the ESPN cameras on Thursday night. There is no bigger stage for the club at this point in its quest to take down Houston.

"We've done a great job this year of getting up for the really big games and playing well against the high-profile teams in MLS," Beltran said.

Depth in the midfield is an issue going into the match against the Dynamo. Starting midfielder Dema Kovalenko will serve an automatic one-game suspension after a yellow card put him over the league limit. Reserve Matias Cordoba will not be available either after leaving Real Salt Lake for good earlier in the week.

Cordoba and RSL parted ways on Monday after unhappiness with his reduced role on the club finally came to a head. He has been placed on waivers, leaving Real with a third vacant roster spot.

"Matias came to us and said he had enough," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "He wants playing time and he feels like he's not going to get it here and he wants out. So he expressed to us he didn't want to be here and we did what we could."

Kreis said Cordoba wasn't buying into the team concept he has set in motion since becoming the head coach 14 months ago. He could not understand his inability to crack the first XI through the halfway point of the season.

A major reason Cordoba remained a reserve, according to Kreis, was that his fitness never reached the level it needed to be at to effectively compete for a starting job in the midfield.

"For me, it (had) a little bit to do with the athleticism," Kreis said. "To do the job that was asked of him, he had to be able to cover ground. He had to be able to get into the attack. He had to be able to defend as well."

Cordoba could not do any of those things adequately and soon took a backseat to veteran Andy Williams and rising star Javier Morales.

Thompson again bails Hoops out

FRISCO, Texas -- On Tuesday night, FC Dallas forward Abe Thompson bailed out his side with a two-goal performance -- the game-winner in stoppage time -- that propelled the Hoops to a 2-1 win against Miami FC in a third-round match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Friday night, he did it once again against the Kansas City Wizards, scoring the game-tying goal in second-half stoppage time that netted FCD a 1-1 draw with the Wizards.

"I've scored three goals in two games now in stoppage time," Thompson said. "It's a matter of being patient. When my chances come, I need to put them away. In the first half, we played fairly lethargic and weren't moving the ball as well as we would have liked. In the second half, we got better and got some chances here and there. It was just a matter of not getting discouraged and keeping at it."

Thompson's goal was set up after a great cross from FCD rookie Eric Avila. It was Avila's first MLS assist and came after he entered the match at halftime for Andre Rocha.

"I wanted to get in there and start attacking by sending balls through," Avila said. "My assist came from the right side going through towards the left. I opened up wide and knew everyone was in the box, so as soon as I got it, I took a touch and saw Abe (Thompson) made that run and put it in the mixer. Luckily he put it in."

Head coach Schellas Hyndman realizes his side was fortunate at best to come away with a point.

"This is a great result," he said. "Don't get me wrong. The exciting thing is that I think there is room for improvement. That's my objective as a coach. I'm happy as I can be with one point because I don't think we played so well. But I'm disappointed that we're not playing to our capability."

The Hoops went down to a first-half goal to Scott Sealy, but had their share of opportunities over the match.

< "(I think we did steal a point), but I think it was a deserved point to be honest," defender Drew Moor said. "I think we had plenty of chances. We had to grind our way through it, but at the end of the day, it's a third successive goal in injury time. That's more of a sign for the team that scores than the team than gives it up because good teams can score in injury time and it's important to do that. Maybe we stole a point today but it was deserved."

However, the FCD head coach is a bit concerned by a team that he sees as often being confused on offense.

"What we have is a little bit of confusion on what we're trying to do and our style," Hyndman said. "What is our style? We like to keep the ball in the middle of the field and don't have anybody running forward to change the point of attack. So, when we do knock the ball forward, it's to the strikers, who are marked. It's something that we tried to address last week is that after you play the ball, run forward. I think we find that in some of our players and some don't. It's hard to read each other. I don't think we're playing very well as a team."

The game was FCD's fourth game in nine days and Hyndman is definitely seeing fatigue in many of his charges.

"I saw it today in a few of the players," he said. "I can see the players being tired because I'm tired. Whether you're tired or not tired, it's really a character check for your heart. We've all been in situations where we didn't want to do something because we were tired but made ourselves do it."

Moor agreed. "I'm definitely tired. You definitely get tired during games but don't feel it until that final whistle. Then, I realized how tired I was. Guys fatigue over the course of four games in nine days. We have to be deep and the guys on the field have to dig deep."

FCD looked to have tied the game earlier when in the 77th minute, Kenny Cooper put home a rebound off a Juan Toja shot. But the Dallas striker was whistled offside in a very close call.

"I don't know (if he was offside)," Hyndman said. "All I can say is that the referee and the linespeople were in a much better position than me. I have to trust their integrity."

Pachuca tops TFC for Carlsberg Cup

TORONTO -- BMO Field got its first taste of the Mexican Primera Division and a shootout on Saturday night as Pachuca CF captured the Carlsberg Cup with a 4-3 victory on penalty kicks against Toronto FC.

With the score tied 1-1 after regulation time, penalties were required to decide the prize in the international friendly. The score was tied 3-3 after the initial five shooters, but Toronto's Kevin Harmse hit the left crossbar on his attempt. Mexican striker Edwin Borboa then stepped to the line and fired a strike into the back of the net to clinch the victory.

Toronto coach John Carver promised changes to the starting XI in the wake of his side's disappointing loss to Vancouver last Saturday, and with a Voyageurs Cup match and a game in Chicago coming in the next week, Carver took the opportunity to take a look at some new faces in his lineup. Only four players (Jim Brennan, Rohan Ricketts, Laurent Robert and Greg Sutton) returned from the team that faced the Whitecaps. Nana Attakora-Gyan, Tyler Rosenlund and Abdus Ibrahim made their first-ever starts for the Reds.

After a moribund first half last Saturday against Vancouver, TFC opened up looking much stronger against the Tuzos. In the fifth minute, Ricketts found room on the left wing and fired a cross towards the Pachuca net. Striker Jarrod Smith had to slide to reach the ball before Pachuca goalkeeper Miguel Calero, and the awkward touch sailed over the net.

A few minutes later, Calero was nearly caught unaware on a poorly taken clearance attempt that found him on the edge of the penalty area with the ball in his own territory. Midfielder Paul Aguilar was in position to take the ball before a TFC player could capitalize.

For Pachuca, the exhibition was a good opportunity to test the squad's readiness for their upcoming SuperLiga group matches and the Apertura season opener on July 26. New signings Jose Maria Cardenas and Bruno Marioni were in the starting XI at midfield and striker, respectively.

Marioni nearly opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Pachuca's three-forward alignment was creating problems for Toronto's three-man back line, particularly on the left side against the inexperienced Attakora-Gyan and Tyler Hemming. In the 16th minute, Marioni took a cross from the left and found himself open in front of the Reds net. The Italian striker's shot, however, was a weak one, that bounced outside of the right post.

The Tuzos had another good chance 10 minutes later. Forward Damian Alvarez carried the ball into the Toronto area and passed to fellow striker Christian Gimenez on the right side, who took a quick shot. A sliding tackle by Reds defender Julius James broke up the shot, but the ball stayed in place as James slid by, giving Gimenez another chance. The point-blank shot was stopped by 'keeper Greg Sutton.

The latter half of the first 45 minutes was fairly uneventful, as the Reds seemed to take on a more defensive mindset to aid the beleaguered back line, thus keeping Pachuca at bay. As for the Toronto attack, the new lineup led to some disorganization. Sloppy passing led to turnovers and, in a few occasions, ended promising scoring chances before they could properly develop.

In the 42nd minute, however, TFC nearly scored one of the most unusual goals in their history. Robert sent a long ball from just past midfield towards the Tuzos goal, and the 50-plus-yard shot ended up sailing dangerously close to the top of the net. A surprised Calero had to jump to make sure the ball barely flew over the crossbar. A minute later, Robert was high again, this time on a direct free kick from outside the penalty area.

As the Tuzos exploited a defensive hole in the first half, TFC was able to do the same at the start of the second half. The Reds found room on the right side, with Smith and Ibrahim both taking the ball on long runs down the wing and deep into Pachuca territory. In Smith's case, the striker had to fight with Pachuca defender Julio Manzur for possession and nearly lost the ball, only to recover and manage a middling shot that Calero blocked at close range.

Both teams made liberal substitutions in the first 15 minutes of the second half, and it was substitute Christian Correa (who came into the game for Marioni in the 58th minute) who ended up making an impact for Pachuca. Some excellent ball movement between Alvarez and Correa led to the Pachuca goal in the 60th minute. Correa passed to Alvarez in the middle, and the striker attracted attention from the defenders while Scorer got into position in front of the ball. Alvarez had enough room for another quick pass up to Correa, who fired a hard shot past substitute goalkeeper Brian Edwards.

It was the first goal in a Pachuca uniform for the Brazilian striker, who signed with the team after a stint with Portuguesa of Brazil's Serie A.

The quality of Pachuca's passing was beginning to take its toll on the TFC defenders, but there was no hint that the Reds were losing heart. It took just nine minutes for TFC to respond with the equalizer. With a Robert corner kick in the air, rookie defender James leapt above the fray and headed the ball into the net. The goal was very similar to James' first MLS goal, which was the game-winner in a 2-0 victory against Los Angeles on May 31.

Toronto clogged the area in front of its net to cut off the Tuzos' passing attack, and as a result were able to generate more chances of their own in response. The best chance came in the 83rd minute when Hemming broke loose down the right side and launched a perfect cross to substitute forward Jeff Cunningham. The veteran striker was off target, however, as his shot went left.

Cunningham's shot was the last good chance for either team in the half, which led to Pachuca eventually capturing the shootout victory. It was just the latest addition to the trophy case for the side that has won the last two CONCACAF Champions' Cups, the 2007 SuperLiga, the 2006 South American Copa Sudamericana and five Mexican league titles.

TFC next play on Wednesday at Vancouver's Swangard Stadium against USL-1 side Vancouver Whitecaps in a Nutrilite Canadian Championship match. The Reds lost 1-0 to the Whitecaps last Saturday at BMO Field. Toronto's next MLS game is on Saturday in Chicago.

Pachuca CF plays the USL's Atlanta Silverbacks in a friendly on Wednesday before beginning their SuperLiga group play. Pachuca plays Chivas USA on July 13 in Los Angeles and then the New England Revolution on July 16 at Gillette Stadium.

Hendrickson credits coach for speedy return

COLUMBUS -- The relationship between an injured athlete and the fitness coach trying to get him back on the field can be one of love and hate.

In the case of Columbus Crew defender Ezra Hendrickson, he knows that Steve Tashjian has his best interests in mind, but still, it's often: "Man, do I have to do another sprint?"

"Ezra and I actually have a pretty good relationship," Tashjian said. "I was with him when I was back in LA so he knows which direction I'm going in right when he's ready to jump back in.

"It's a pretty easy process. He knew what was coming. He knows the work rate I want for particular drills and it's really helped him gain fitness a lot quicker than I thought he would."

Hendrickson suffered a left groin sprain early in the June 7 match against New England when he leaped to get at a corner kick. The original diagnosis was a six-week absence but Hendrickson will likely resume full training next Tuesday.

He credits his quicker than expected recovery to Tashjian, who worked with him while both were with the Galaxy in 2002-03, head athletic trainer Jason Mathews and assistant athletic trainer Skylar Richards.

"They've worked really hard with me to get me back this soon," Hendrickson said.

His nickname is EZ but there's been nothing easy about the regiment Tashjian has put him through.

"Being an older guy, an experienced guy, and having worked with him he listens when I tell him we need to back off today. His training can be very strenuous but it's good training. It's very functional," Hendrickson said. "It's good working with him. Knowing him from the past we listen to each other. I tell him when my body has had enough, like today. We were scheduled to do a lot more than we did but my hamstrings and my groin hurt too much so we backed off. I've been working with Steve a lot at the end of practices to simulate games where we do some sprint stuff. I'm coming back within the next week or so."

That will be good news for the Crew who have yet to find a suitable replacement for Hendrickson at left back. Rookie Ryan Junge started two matches and Danny O'Rourke made his debut there last week.

"Nothing we've thrown at (Hendrickson) him is bothering him so that's good," Tashjian said after Thursday's practice. "Besides the normal soreness for a guy who hasn't been in full training, we're more than happy with the way he feels today."

It has been a busy first half of the season for the training staff with eight to 10 players nursing injuries at a time, not including the season-ending injuries to midfielders Kevin Burns and Adam Moffat.

"My tendency is to go back and look what I've done -- Jason and Skylar are the same way," Tashjian said. "We kind of scratch our heads. We blame it on ourselves first and ask, 'How could we have prevented this?'

"Sometimes we have to take a step back a little bit. As long as we're not being naïve and say sometimes these things happen, circumstances will come and you're not going to avoid injuries. We took a little lick. We came through it and guys are getting back on the field."

Besides Hendrickson, the only players expected not to be medically cleared for Saturday's match against Chicago are defender Gino Padula (hamstring) and midfielder Eddie Gaven (left ankle sprain).

Padula has an exasperating situation because he was almost fully fit after rehabbing a right knee sprain that cost him seven games. His latest injury came in a reserve match June 25.

"A month (more recovery) is a fair estimate give or take a week," Tashjian said. "He's frustrated and I would be, too. The amount of work he did to get back from his MCL sprain and he really was feeling very, very good that first 10 minutes of the reserve game only to have the circumstances where he pulled, he's frustrated."

Gaven was the recipient of a bad tackle during a U.S. Open Cup match June. The goal now more than anything is to have him ready for the upcoming U.S. Olympic team training camp.

"He's doing fine. If he's going to be in the picture for the Olympic team we want to make sure he is strong and stable and can handle the change in direction, the change in speed and let the playing in camp do the fitness for him," said Tashjian. "If I had my best case scenario we're winning and we don't need him and let him recover. That would be my choice. If we need him I'm not saying it's impossible for him to make an appearance down the road."

The news is also encouraging for midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi, who went on the six-week disabled list May 13 because of a left quadriceps strain. He said he is fully healed.

"It's like preseason again when you're coming back and having to deal with maintaining your fitness and at the same time watching the guys playing. It kind of gets you down," he said. "Hopefully in the reserve game this weekend I'll get a little go at it."

Revs take bite out of Galaxy attack

CARSON, Calif. -- Adam Cristman scored two goals for New England on Friday night while the Revolution defense was nearly impenetrable as the league's highest-scoring offense managed just three shots on goal.

But Revolution coach Steve Nicol was not exactly thrilled with the way his team went about its 2-1 victory against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

"We should have been 4-0 up and the game should have been over," Nicol said. "You can't afford to miss. ... We had two chances that should have been goals that would have killed the game. We end up holding on at the end. We felt like we deserved to win but we certainly made it difficult for ourselves."

New England held a 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of goals from Adam Cristman but the Revolution forward had two passes to open teammates within the box that could have made the ending a lot more anticlimactic than it was.

At the end of the first half, Cristman found Mauricio Castro alone from 15 yards out but Castro rattled a shot off the right post. Then, Cristman walked past the Galaxy backline early in the second half and found Kheli Dube 12 yards out but the rookie fanned on his attempt.

"We really shot ourselves in the foot not scoring one of those to put the game away. It would have been a lot easier for us," Revolution captain Steve Ralston said. "For some reason, we like to make things interesting."

Carrying a 2-0 lead that should have been twice that took a bit of a mental toll on the players, and it brought back some memories from the Revolution's last trip to Carson.

"We easily could have been up 3-0 at halftime, and 3-0 is a lot better lead than 2-0. in the second half, we had a couple of chances to make it 3-0," Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst said. "We've had a couple of games like that. Last game here at Home Depot against Chivas, we let in a late goal and were barely able to hang on to win. It's something we need to get better at collectively, to put the dagger in teams and not make it close at the end."

Save for Castro's failed opportunity in stoppage time, the Revolution dominated the first half and players felt good about what the club was able to do to the Galaxy. With Landon Donovan not starting due to illness, the Revolution stopped David Beckham and the Galaxy's high-octane offense simply by denying them the ball.

"It was a team effort, really, top to bottom really we did a great job of closing them down," Parkhurst said. "In the first half especially we were able to keep the ball. They're not going to get chances if we keep the ball and we did a great job of that in the first half. We made them chase it and we put them under pressure."

Cristman punctuated the half by knocking in a pair of goals off corner kicks.

On the first, Cristman was in perfect position to score.

"Mauricio whipped in a great ball," Cristman said. "Shalrie (Joseph) got a good head on it and made it difficult for the 'keeper to save it and gave up a rebound. I was there back post to just tap it in."

Cristman took care of scoring the second one all on his own.

"Steve served a great ball and just came in from the back post and jumped in the air and over Abel Xavier and just tried to get a head on it," he said. "I was trying to just stay on the other side of Abel and try keep him turned around and so he wouldn't know where I was. He turned to look at the ball and I came in behind me. I guess he lost me."

Five-a-side: What's hot around MLS

MLS Five-a-side:The skinny on five things that matter this week in Major League Soccer:

1. One Y2K worry from it being 1999 all over again: Two of Major League Soccer quiet impact players this year also happen to be two of the remaining "96ers," a couple of guys still playing, improbably, like it was 1999. They are 34 years old, an age at which most professional soccer players are kicking the tires on the idea of retirement, if they haven't already bought into it.

Jesse Marsch and Steve Ralston, two of the remaining players who were trapping and passing during Major League Soccer's inaugural 1996 campaign, have played big roles for Chivas USA and New England this year. Neither is going quietly into winter.

Ralston's impact has been a bit more sporadic, but no less significant. The veteran attacker started his season with a flourish, captaining the side to a 3-0 win over Houston in a rematch of the 2007 MLS Cup Final. Ralston even scored New England's first goal of the campaign.

But he also suffered a knee injury and missed the next five matches. Returning seamlessly may have seemed problematic for a 34-year-old midfielder who plays his home matches on the lesser forgiving artificial turf. But not for Ralston, apparently, who picked up where he left off.

The pride of Florida International Univ. soccer now has a team-leading six goals. (And when you lead the East leaders in scoring, that's saying something.) He shares the team leadership in assists with three -- all while adjusting smoothly to the attacking midfield spot. (Ralston, a flank midfielder for most of his career, did play the central position for manager Steve Nicol at the end of 2007, as well.)

Remember, we are talking about somebody who has been around long enough to lay a solid claim to the league record for career assists (124), games played (348) and games started (345).

Across the country at The Home Depot Center, Marsch has been nothing short of a midfield dervish, looking even more active than last year, getting himself forward tirelessly to help mitigate Chivas USA's injury-related loss of striking power.

With four goals already this year, he is just one short of equaling his best season yet. (Marsch struck five times in both 2003 and 2005.) And that's with half the season still remaining.

Meanwhile, he's also been active in organizing matters defensively as Preki's team, as injury-ravaged as any team around, has been forced to juggle defensive personnel all season.

2. A change in Crew-ville on the horizon?: Eddie Gaven is returning from an ankle injury and could even be available for a few minutes Friday. He surely couldn't start just yet. But when the young U.S. attacker does get healthy enough to make the first 11, will he even have a starting job waiting for him?

Emmanuel Ekpo has already bettered Gaven's production in goals, despite starting just three games. (Gaven has started 10.) Ekpo also provided a big assist earlier this year, sliding a wonderful pass into Robbie Rogers for a game-winning goal against San Jose back on May 10. That was Ekpo's second MLS appearance -- and a wonderful way to announce his presence as a potential difference-maker.

The dynamic young attacker, a Nigerian under-23 international, has lots of room to grow. Gaven, meanwhile, has seemed to hit a plateau. Coming into the season, Crew followers had reason to wonder if Gaven would be picked for Peter Nowak's Olympic team. Now, they may be wondering if he'll be picked for Sigi Schmid's first 11.

It's not a bad conundrum for Schmid to have, however, as his team looks to build on a three-game unbeaten streak.

3. The longest season: For the record, Houston manager Dominic Kinnear says he does want to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, that he takes the long-running tourney seriously.

But circumstances are dictating something else. Kinnear just hasn't been able to deploy a fully representative lineup. This year, like last year, he had to field a "reserve" team for U.S. Open Cup play -- and promptly got bounced from U.S. Soccer's club team competition.

It's hard to argue with the Dynamo formula, seeing as Kinnear's side is going for a third consecutive championship this year. Essentially, on the hunt for hardware, something's got to give.

So for the second consecutive season, Houston lost to the Charleston Battery just as the team from south Texas merged into the tournament named for U.S. soccer's late pioneer.

In the 2007 loss, Kinnear used just three regular starters. He didn't even take Dwayne De Rosario or Brian Ching on the trip.

Three regular starters might have improved the lineup this year; Kinnear fielded a team entirely made up of reserves, which lost in penalty kicks to the USL-1 side. Kinnear reasoned that he just didn't have a choice, with an MLS regular season match coming up two days later at Real Salt Lake. And the day in between, of course, would be used to travel across three time zones, from Charleston to Utah.

With SuperLiga and matches and contests in the new CONCACAF Champions League still to come, plus the team's matches already played in 2008 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and the Pan-Pacific Championships, Houston is already looking at a season of perhaps 50 competitive matches -- more than any MLS team has been forced to deal with.

4. Back to the future in MLS: We may be witnessing an unprecedented wave or prodigal sons in MLS. Josh Wolff is already on board for his second go-round with Kansas City, while negotiations continue to bring Brian McBride to Chicago.

Nate Jaqua may be back on his way to Houston, according to GM Oliver Luck. And Columbus is attempting to negotiate a prickly situation with former New England Revolution forward Pat Noonan, who may be interested in re-joining MLS after a half-season run in Norway. Columbus manager Sigi Schmid has made his interest in Noonan known, although rights issues for his contract must be sorted out.

Wolff can't play for his new team until the next transfer window opens on July 15. (True, as well, with McBride or anybody else who was under contract as the last transfer window closed a few months ago.)

Wolff probably won't need long to acclimate, even if K.C. plays at a new ground these days. He recently spent time with Bob Bradley's national team, so regaining fitness shouldn't take too long. And since he spent four seasons with Kansas City (2003-06) before trying the life of pro soccer in Germany for two seasons, he certainly knows the climate and general neighborhood.

5. It is that Jason Kreis, right?: There is a real irony to watching a team coached by Jason Kreis struggle so in front of goal.

Real Salt Lake had a wonderful opportunity to collect an invaluable road win last week at Kansas City. But for some imprecise work near goal, Kreis' men could have assumed control against the Wizards at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Instead, Curt Onalfo's team kept the visitors from scoring, and then managed an opportunistic goal at the end to collect all three points.

Thursday night on ESPN2, Kreis' team once again controlled matters, but never could beat Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad, despite plenty of good surges into the offensive third.

The irony is this: Kreis made a huge imprint as a player by being tenacious and fiercely opportunistic around goal. For a guy not blessed with great size (like his current striker Kenny Deuchar) or terrific speed (like his current forward Robbie Findley), he still managed to strike at a rate that compares favorable to some of the league's all-time great goal scorers.

Kreis produced slightly more than a goal every third game, which is about where guys like Brian McBride, Jaime Moreno and Preki landed in strike-rate. And he will probably be the only player in MLS to record the very first goal for two clubs, as Kreis has (Dallas and RSL).

Still, somehow, his team leads the league in shots, but sometimes lacks polish on the final combination around goal or, simply, in putting the ball on frame.