Win or Go Home

The deciding game of a two leg aggregate when the first leg ended in a tie of nil-nil. An important reminder. There is no away goal rule, so if the 90 ends in a tie we go to extra time of two 15 minute halves. From there it goes to PKs in the 5 and 5 format to start.

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CU senior Nikki Marshall, left, and University of Nebraska defender Carly Peetz chase down a loose ball at Prentup Field. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

The University of Colorado soccer team will host Texas Tech at 3 p.m. Friday in its final regular-season match.

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The UEFA Champions League returns to action today with eight matches that will go a long way in clarifying the picture as team's battle for position mid-way through the group stage.

Liverpool is in crisis mode and needs a win against Lyon today to stop the bleeding and establish itself as a team capable of advancing out of its group.

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Our Galaxy (9-4-11) host FC Dallas (6-11-6) tonight at the Home Depot Center at 7:30 Pacific (FSN-PT and Direct Kick). The Galaxy is only 2 points out of first place in the Western Conference, while FC Dallas is in second to last place in the West. FC Dallas is all but certain to miss the playoffs with a minimum 10 point deficit to overcome for a wild card spot.

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There has been much written about this year's Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, probably more than about any US Open Cup in the modern era. Unlike some johnny come lately sites who just discovered the tournament was worth their attention TheCup.us has spent years documenting every twist and turn of the pursuit of the Dewar Trophy. Click to continue reading...

The best of the best in Women's Pro Soccer will compete against Umea IK in Sunday's WPS All-Star Game.

Umeå is the top team in Damallsvenskan (Swedish premier division) and has won seven Swedish championships in the last four seasons (2005-2008). In 2007 and 2008 Umeå finished runner-up in the UEFA Women's Cup with Marta on its roster for the five years before she joined the WPS.

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By CHRISTA MANN

After a twenty game regular season and two opening rounds of the playoffs, today's Women's Pro Soccer Championship (4:00 PM EST on FSN and Comcast affiliates) features the L.A. Sol against Sky Blue FC (NJ).

One team was always expected to be in the championship game, while the other, well the other wasn't even expected to make the playoffs amid inner turmoil and early-season struggles.

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By CHRISTA MANN

After a twenty game regular season and two opening rounds of the playoffs, today's Women's Pro Soccer Championship (4:00 PM EST on FSN and Comcast affiliates) features the L.A. Sol against Sky Blue FC (NJ).

One team was always expected to be in the championship game, while the other, well the other wasn't even expected to make the playoffs amid inner turmoil and early-season struggles.

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It was a close semifinal between Sky Blue FC and St. Louis Athletica. Hope Solo makes some big saves in this game! But was it enough... watch to find out!

The 1st ever WPS Championship game is this Sunday at 4pm Eastern time on FSN. If you get that channel check it out!

JM

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The WPS Championship match-up between the Sol and Sky Blue gets underway tomorrow at 3:30 PM ET on FSN. Sky Blue will be the improbable champ. Why? Because they are just like the Belmont High School girls' basketball team, circa 2006. They've come through fire, as it were, and dug deep. They are now relying on their bond as teammates and on leadership (STRONG leadership) from within their own ranks.

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On Saturday, it will be Sky Blue FC making the trip to the Home Depot Center to face Los Angeles (3:30pm - FSN) after beating Saint Louis 1-0 on Wednesday at the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park. Keeley Downing scored the game's only goal in the 30th minute. "I had possession of the ball, picked my head up, and placed it with my left foot," Dowling said. Click to continue reading...

I had a discussion last week with a veteran of the soccer television industry, and I asked him whether soccer schedules these days were more or less confusing than how they used to be five or even 10 years ago. His response was a laugh followed by a definitive answer. Things are much more complicated now.

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By CHRISTA MANN

It's playoff season in Women's Pro Soccer, and only four of seven teams made the post-season cut.

The top rated L.A. Sol and second place St. Louis Athletica earned a bye in the First round and home field advantage in their eventual postseason match-ups.

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Fox has revealed the TV schedule for its playoff round of Champions League matches it'll be on showing live on its Fox Soccer Channel network as well as its sister networks such as FSN and Fox Sports en Espanol.

The schedule is listed below. But in other important and related news, Fox Soccer Channel has pushed back the timeline of its HD coverage from this fall to February 2010, for the round of 16.

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I'm heading out to the PDL title game in Ventura tonight, so I'll keep this brief:

* Here's a game preview.

*Congrats to Coach Charlie Naimo and his Pali Blues on their W-League title victory Friday.

*MLS announced today that New England Revolution Coach Steve Nichol was fined $1,000 and will miss today's 3 p.

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As for the TV coverage in September... On Tuesday and Wednesday Fox has first pick and it remains to be seen whether that first pick will be on FSC or FSN. Setanta has 2nd pick. Fox has 3rd which will go on FSC or FSN. Fox has 4th pick which will go on Fox Sports Espanol. Setanta gets the rest, I think. Click to continue reading...

Fox Sports Net (FSN), the regional Fox TV sports affiliates around the United States, will play more of a pivotal role during the 2009-2010 season in broadcasting not only the recently acquired Champions League coverage but also Premier League football, according to a unnamed source.

In fact, you'll be able to enjoy five hours of continuous soccer coverage on Tuesdays when Champions League matches are scheduled.

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The Barclays Premier League Review Show will be returning to the Fox Sports Regional Networks for the 2009-2010 season after a break of several years, according to an inside source.

Many followers of English football on U.S. television may remember the early incarnations of the Review Show, which was shown on Fox regional affiliates throughout the late 80s and early-to-mid 90s.

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From FSN --who will be airing tomorrow night's Seattle v. Portland U.S. Open Cup match live-- it's Steve Zakuani "In His Own Words". Between me and you (and the 10K other people that read this) don't you think that the Rookie of the Year race so far has been a two-horse race between him and Chris Pontius? Click to continue reading...

Someone recently posted in our comments: "July 1 will be a special night in Portland."
Indeed.
Such is the 30+ year old rivalry between these two clubs and fan bases that Fox Sports Network Northwest is going to do a rare thing: Air a US Open Cup Third Round match.
Usually the only US Open Cup games on TV are the Final and -maybe- the Semi Finals on FSC. Click to continue reading...

FSN Sponsors the Alliance right? FSN NW carries Timbers games right? Sounders have set MLS records for TV ratings. Timbers are joining MLS. This is a Derby in a stadium that won't hold all of the fans. Yet, the Open Cup is basically never televised. This is a match that should be on local cable stations. Click to continue reading...

World Cup qualifying gets out of the gate at 1 a.m. Saturday when North Korea plays Iran on Fox Soccer Channel and doesn't let up for the rest of the weekend. Complicating matters are the on-going MLS games, too.

Click to the links at top right for all the details, but to help you organize your weekend here are the times and channels of five pertinent games for most Southern Californians:

Saturday
*1 p.

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All three Carson-based pro teams have fled town this holiday weekend along with a goodly number of Southern California residents.

So I'll keep this brief:

* Galaxy at FC Dallas at 5:30 p.m. on FSN.

* Chivas USA at Kansas City Wizards at 5:30 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

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Galaxy-New York Red Bulls preview. Live 7:30 p.m. FSN.

I plan to blog from Home Depot Center.

San Jose Earthquakes-Chivas USA preview. Delayed 10 p.m. FSN.

Boston Breakers-Sol preview. No TV.

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Well obviously, you do!
But ever wonder who else reads MLSR? So did we.
So once again we present you a partial picture. Last time we presented some demographics of what type of people read MLSR. This time we give you a geographic breakdown, and even more interesting, a partial list of firms who have been checking us out. Click to continue reading...

The Galaxy are ugly and getting uglier.

Sniping. Name-calling. Signs of locker room discontent. Is the Galaxy big enough for all this?

This is a team whose confidence looks shot and whose players are riven with doubts.

The basic question: how can a team with David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz in the line-up not only look so bad in Sunday's tortured 4-1 loss to Dallas, but have failed to win in the last six games?

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The Galaxy (6-6-5) and winless in their last five games could nevertheless move into first place in the Western Conference this afternoon with a win over (4-6-7) Dallas.

As the Galaxy moves into the second half of their season, Coach Ruud Gullit was still fuming about Thursday's MLS All-Star Game, while Dallas striker Kenny Cooper may well be preoccupied by his impending transfer to Cardiff City.

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Let this post serve as a recap of Miami and a preview of Vancouver. Now that's a lazy blogger if I've ever read one.
Actually, since returning to the Northwest late Monday, I've spent the bulk of the week attempting to replace the hideous blue tile around my fireplace with slate. Ambitious for someone as unhandy as myself, but at least a decent excuse for avoiding the computer for a few days. Click to continue reading...