Official Press Release (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues)
NEWBURGH, NY – The Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues will take on the Western Conference Champion and defending W-League Champion Pali Blues in a W-League national semifinal on Friday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m. at Newburgh Free Academy.

The Fire headed into Sunday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at the New England Revolution knowing that they couldn't afford to give the Revs many set piece opportunities.

"We have to limit their set pieces," Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett said earlier this week. "[We have to be careful on] throw-ins and corner kicks because they do well with those.

CENTRAL CONFERENCE
Divisional I: Quebec City Amiral 0 - 5 Buffalo Flash
Semifinal I: Chicago Red Eleven 2 - 4 Ottawa Fury
Semifinal II: Buffalo Flash 0 -3 FC Indiana
Central Conference Final: Ottawa Fury v FC Indiana
Sunday, July 26 @ 7:30PM EST @ Jefferson High School
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Semifinal I: Tampa Bay Hellenic 1 - 2 Washington Freedom
Semifinal II: Charlotte Lady Eagles 2 - 1 Atlanta Silverbacks
Eastern Conference Final: Charlotte Lady Eagles 1 - 2 Washington Freedom
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Western Conference Championship: Colorado Force 2 - 5 Pali Blues
W-LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP :: SEMIFINALS
Regular Season Champion: Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues.

When the Fire played the New England Revolution on Oct. 17, many saw the match as a possible playoff preview.

Now that the MLS regular season has come to a close those predictions of a Fire-Revolution postseason battle have come true. The sides will begin their two-leg Eastern Conference semifinal series at 3 p.

CENTRAL CONFERENCE
Great Lakes Division
Chicago Fire 1 - 0 FC London
Division Final - Chicago Fire 2 - 1 Kalamazoo Outrage
Heartland Division
Real Colorado Foxes 1 - 0 Thunder Bay Chill
Division Final - Real Colorado Foxes 1 - 2 Des Moines Menace
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Mid Atlantic Division
Cary Clarets 3 - 1 Carolina Dynamo
Division Final - Cary Clarets 2 - 1Reading Rage
Northeast Division
Ocean City Barons 2 - 0 Long Island Rough Riders
Division Final - Ocean City Barons 2 - 1 Ottawa Fury
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Mid South Division
Austin Aztex U23 1 - 2 West Texas United Sockers
Division Final - West Texas United Sockers 0 - 1 Laredo Heat
Southeast Division
New Orleans Jesters 0 - 1 Bradenton Academics
Division Final - Bradenton Academics 3 - 2 Mississippi Brilla
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Northwest Division
Seattle Wolves 3 - 2 Portland Timbers U23
Division Final - Seattle Wolves 0 - 2 Kitsap Pumas
Southwest Division
Los Angeles Legends 1 - 2 Ventura County Fusion
Division Final – Ventura County Fusion 3 - 1 Hollywood United Hitmen
Check out the full USL News Release HERE.

Official Press Release (Long Island Rough Riders)
Season ends with disappointing loss
South Huntington, N.Y. (July 22, 2009) – The Long Island Rough Riders men's team 2009 season came to an end on Wednesday night with a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Ocean City Barons in the first round of the PDL playoffs.

Official Press Release (Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues)
NEWBURGH, NY - The Pali Blues defeated the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 4-0 on Friday in a W-League Semifinal match that featured a battle of unbeatens.
The win means that Pali advances to the W-League Championship to defend its 2008 title against the winner of the other semifinal between Washington and Ottawa Saturday night.

After three consecutive years suffering playoff heartbreak against the Revolution, the Fire will try to extend their playoff winning streak against the Revs to two series this Sunday, when the two sides meet at Gillette Stadium for Game 1 (1 p.m. on FSC) of their two game Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup.

We're finally here.
After 7 months of grueling regular season action, the Fire is just two hours away from kicking off Game 1 of their two game Eastern Conference Semifinal against New England. Today's game should be a hard-fought, physical battle (as it always is between the two long time rivals.

The first Eastern Conference finalist will be determined tonight, when the first seeded Columbus Crew play host Real Salt Lake in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series (7 p.m. CDT on ESPN2).

The Crew fell to Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the series opener last Saturday and they'll need a win to have hope of continuing their 2008 title defense.

What a night at Toyota Park.

After losing the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with New England 2-1, the Fire stormed back in dramatic fashion tonight, getting a 2-0 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on a 3-2 aggregate score.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco and John Thorrington scored the goals for the Fire, who will take on fourth seeded Real Salt Lake in the Conference Final next Saturday at Toyota Park.

The two remaining MLS Conference Semifinal series were decided today, with the Houston Dynamo and the L.A. Galaxy earning their places in the Western Conference Final. The teams booked their tickets to the final -- which will be played next Friday at the Home Depot Center -- courtesy of two 1-0 victories.

After aggressively challenging New England keeper Matt Reis for a ball in the 52nd minute of Saturday night's decisive Game 2 victory over the Revolution, Fire forward Brian McBride had to be taken off of the field due to injury.

McBride, who missed 8 weeks earlier this year with a torn right labrum, picked up a knock on his IT band in the collision, stiffening his leg to the point that he wasn't able to effectively run.

Official Press Release (Pali Blues)
Blues Defeat Washington Freedom in Title Game, 2-1
Boyds, Md. (Friday, August 7, 2009) – Drama surrounded nearly every minute of the 2009 championship game of the USL W-League tonight at the Maryland SoccerPlex, but the end result was the same as that of the 2008 finale.

Friday, August 7
W-League Final
Pali Blues 2:1 Washington Freedom
Pali repleats as W-League champs USLsoccer.com
Charleston Battery 2:1 Vancouver Whitecaps
Charleston chews up weary Caps Vancouver Sun
Battery beats Whitecaps, 2-1 Charleston Post and Courier
Crystal Palace Baltimore 0 - 0 Harrisburg City Islanders
City Islanders go goalless again PennLive.

While who plays who and schedules have yet to be determined, we now know the five clubs that will battle for the 2009 USL-2 Championship.

Three teams have booked their spots in the 2009 Major League Soccer playoffs. The defending champions Columbus Crew are in and currently leading the whole league with 46 points and even a game in hand over several of the teams chasing them. At 44 points the champions of 2006 and 2007 Houston Dynamo are in.

I've already taken a brief look at the Fire-Revolution first round series, but haven't spent any time on the three other Conference Semifinals going on around the country in the next couple of weeks. That's about to change though. Click after the jump for a quick rundown of the 'other' first round series.

VS

Columbus Crew (#1 East) vs Real Salt Lake (#5 West)
Game 1: Saturday October 31st 5:30 PM @ Salt Lake
Game 2: Thursday November 5th 7:00 PM @ Columbus (ESPN2)
Regular Season Series tied 1-1

vs

Chicago Fire (#2 East) vs New England Revolution (#3 East)
Game 1: Saturday October 31st 3:00 PM @ New England (Fox Soccer Channel)
Game 2: Saturday November 7th 7:30 PM @ Chicago (Fox Soccer Channel)
Regular Season Seried tied 0-0-2

vs

LA Galaxy (#1 West) vs Chivas USA (#4 West)
Game 1: Sunday November 1st 4:00 PM @ Chivas (ESPN2)
Game 2: Sunday November 8th 6:30 PM @ Galaxy (ESPN2)
Regular Season Series: Galaxy lead 2-0-1

vs

Houston Dynamo (#2 West) vs Seattle Sounders FC (#3 West)
Game 1: Thursday October 29th 9:00 PM (ESPN2) @ Seattle
Game 2: Sunday November 8th 2:00 PM
Regular Season Series: Seattle lead 1-0-1

This post is from the Major League Soccer Fan Blog
MLS Cup Playoff Schedue is set

Related posts:

1. MLS 2008 Playoff Schedule and Predictions
2. 2008 TV Schedule
3. Updated playoff race

Hey everybody, I just got off the phone with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett so it's time for the Mid-Week Update. Here we go...

Injury Updates --

Gonzalo Segares --

Segares, who has been out with a left MCL sprain since August 9th, is getting closer and closer to making his long-awaited return to the lineup.

The Fire has confirmed an AP report that midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be leaving the club at the end of the year to join Mexican second division club Veracruz.

Blanco, who played for Veracruz in 2004, is in the final year of a three year contract he signed with the Fire prior to the 2007 season.

Real Salt Lake got a late goal from striker Robbie Findley to defeat Columbus 1-0 in the opening game of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series Saturday night.

The match looked to be headed to a scoreless draw, but that all changed in the 88th minute when Findley slotted home a Yura Movsisyan cross to give RSL the win.

Hey everyone, I just got off the phone with Fire Head Coach Denis Hamlett and I got quite a bit of reaction to the 2-1 Game 1 loss to the New England Revolution.

A lot of the quotes are same old, same old from Denis (funny how that happens when the team struggles with the same problems over and over again.

Back in late July and early August - when several Fire players began falling victim to injury - it was assumed that most would be able to return in time for the start of the playoffs.

Now, with the Fire only a couple of days away from the decisive Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against New England, a few of those players have yet to return or make a significant impact while on the field.

It all comes down to this for the Fire. They need to defeat the Revs tonight at Toyota Park to have any hope of advancing to the Eastern Conference Final against Real Salt Lake. Will they do it? We'll find that out later, but I'll be here to walk you through the whole process with Fire Confidential's first all-day blog.

When their season on the line, the Fire needed a big-time performance from the back line in Saturday night's second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New England Revolution. And did the defense ever deliver, putting together a comprehensive performance to shut down (and shutout) the Revolution and pave the way for the Fire to get into the Eastern Conference Final.

I'll be talking with Denis Hamlett tomorrow so the time is now for you guys to pose questions to the Fire's Head Man. Try and post your questions by 10:30 a.m. tomorrow and I'll do my best to get them answered. No guarantees this time though, as I will be speaking to Hamlett via teleconference -- meaning the number of questions I ask will be somewhat limited.

Tickets for the Saturday night's Eastern Conference Final between the Fire and Real Salt Lake sold out today. The sellout is the second consecutive for the Fire - who will sell a very limited amount of standing room only tickets for the game.

If you're sitting on some cash, you can buy the so called "FieldSide West" tickets for $250 a pop.

The Fire couldn't have asked for much more from last Saturday's 2-0 win over New England.

Advance in the Eastern Conference playoffs? Check.

Do it against a bitter rival? Check.

And do it all in style? Oh my, yes. Check.

That's what can happen when the Fire plays some of its most inspired soccer at the best time of year before a packed house at Toyota Park.

A trip to the MLS Cup is on the line as the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake are almost set to face off in tonight's Eastern Conference Final at Toyota Park. Who will advance remains to be seen, but I'll be here to take you through the whole day with Fire Confidential's second All Day Blog.

Official Press Release (Pali Blues Soccer Club)
Blues Defeat Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues, 4-0
Newburgh, N.Y. (Friday, July 31, 2009) - The Pali Blues Soccer Club showed why they are the defending USL W-League champions tonight at Newburgh Free Academy, defeating the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues by a tally of 4-0.

Chivas USA and Seattle Sounders FC both have guaranteed themselves a spot in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs. They are joining defending champions Columbus Crew along with Houston Dynamo and LA Galaxy.

That leaves 3 positions up for grabs on the last weekend of the year. Those 3 spots that are up for grabs will have 7 teams possibly still alive to grab one of them.

We should have known all along that it would come down to this. The Fire and the Revolution, facing off in the playoff's for the eighth team in the Fire's 12 year history. It's one of the biggest rivalries in the league, sure to be full of nastiness and with no room spared for niceties.

MLS just announced that Game 1 of the Fire-Revolution Eastern Conference Semifinal series has been moved from Saturday, October 31st at 3 p.m. to Sunday, November 1st at 1 p.m.
As of now, the league hasn't announced the reasoning behind the change (I'll try and get that for you guys later on.

Hey everyone, just wanted to clear a few things up in regards to the Blanco situation.
A source close to the situation told me that Blanco and Veracruz agreed to a one year deal -- which will begin in January -- with an opt out clause for any point in the year. This means that Blanco can choose to leave Veracruz at any point during the one-year deal and either return to the Fire (who will continue negotiating with Blanco and his agent), join another team or retire.

The playoffs opened up last night in front of a raucous 30,000 + fans at Qwest Field in Seattle last night, but the expansion Sounders went home disappointed as they failed to find the back of the net in their 0-0 draw with the Houston Dynamo.

With the tie, Houston now only has to win at home when the series resumes on November 8th to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

The MLS playoffs continue tonight with Columbus traveling to Sandy, Utah to take on Real Salt Lake in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series (6 p.m. Direct Kick). If Real Salt Lake is to have any chance against the regular season champion Crew they need a result tonight -- as they typically struggle mightily on the road.

In-stadium rivals Chivas USA and the L.A. Galaxy played to an exciting 2-2 draw Sunday night, setting the stage for what will be the most important MLS "Super Clasico" to date next Sunday.

Chivas USA got off to a hot start in the match and they took the lead in just the 4th minute when Maicon Santos drilled a right footed shot past L.

Last week I took a look at five key questions that would play a role in determining the winner of Game 1 of the Fire-Revolution Eastern Conference Semifinal Series. Now, with the 2-1 Revolution win in the books, it's time to take a second look at those five questions and see how they played out.

The Fire came into last Sunday's Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the New England Revolution with high hopes that they could leave Boston with a result.

And though the Fire got off to the right start in the series opener - scoring an early goal to put the pressure on New England - the team was undone by a pair of defensive lapses and ultimately fell to the Revolution 2-1.