Photo by ISIphotos.comÂ
The second participant in the MLS Eastern Conference finals will be decided today when the New
England Revolution face the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park.
That playoff game is just one of the highlighted match-up on this busy Saturday.
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The most highly-anticipated match of the English Premier League season is upon us, and so are
some truly can't-miss MLS playoff series deciders.
Chelsea plays host to Manchester United on Sunday with a chance to open up a five-point lead
atop the EPL standings, while six MLS teams head into action knowing that defending MLS champions
Columbus has been eliminated from the post-season.
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The most highly-anticipated match of the English Premier League season is upon us, and so are
some truly can't-miss MLS playoff series deciders.
Chelsea plays host to Manchester United on Sunday with a chance to open up a five-point lead
atop the EPL standings, while six MLS teams head into action knowing that defending MLS champions
Columbus has been eliminated from the post-season.
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Two days until the Galaxy-Chivas USA Western Conference semifinal from Carson's Home Depot
Center (4:30 p.m. ESPN2) and the Galaxy blog reports tickets are going fast and the club is
considering opening up the grass berm.
Don't have yours yet? Click here.
Suggested reading/listening/viewing:
*Reporter Phil Collin has more on the game here.
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WVHooligan 06 November @ 10:42 AM EST
Landon Donovan leads the Galaxy against rivals Chivas. (Getty Images)
One more weekend of action and we will be in the conference finals here. One club is already in
and three others will move on this weekend. After last weekend's play the pressure is on a couple
home teams to rebound while one just has to keep on doing what they do best in front of their
fans.
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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.
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Andy Williams Seals the Deal for Real in Win
Andy Williams seals the deal for RSL with a late goal in Real's 4-2 aggregate win to
advance in the 2009 MLS Playoffs and move on to the Eastern Conference Final. Last week
after Real Salt Lake beat Columbus at home in Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, Jason Kreis said
something interesting after the game.
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Guillermo Barros Schelotto was being counted on to help his Columbus Crew climb out of the one-goal
deficit it faced after a Game One defeat to Real Salt Lake, and he did just that with two
first-half goals in Thursday night's Game Two. Unfortunately for the Crew, the normally stout
defense it was counting on to pitch a shutout delivered a mistake-filled performance that has
helped put an end to Columbus' quest for a repeat.
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Guillermo Barros Schelotto was being counted on to help his Columbus Crew climb out of the one-goal
deficit it faced after a Game One defeat to Real Salt Lake, and he did just that with two
first-half goals in Thursday night's Game Two. Unfortunately for the Crew, the normally stout
defense it was counting on to pitch a shutout delivered a mistake-filled performance that has
helped put an end to Columbus' quest for a repeat.
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The Chicago Fire routed the New England Revolution 3-0 in the return leg of the Eastern
Conference semifinals to advance 3-0 on aggregate (ASN, Nov. 7, 2008).
The 3-0 score was one goal higher than ASN's chief Fire pundit had predicted on the eve of the
match. With the victory, Chicago finally reversed a multi-year streak of exiting the playoffs at
the hands of the Revs.
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Du Nord 05 November @ 05:41 PM EST
STARTERSColumbus & Salt Lake square off in the 2nd leg of their first round playoff series. The winner
advances to the Semifinals.
dN
6 teams have already secured their spot in the Round of 16 knock out stage - Chelsea, Porto &
Sevilla, Bordeaux, Lyon & Manchester United.
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Match Fit USA 05 November @ 01:48 PM EST
It seems that the US as a soccer community takes a bit of a beating over the exploits of American
owners who dip their toes into English waters; while Randy Lerner has managed to keep Villa fans...
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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.
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The regular season is over and the playoffs are the order of the day in Major League Soccer.
Surprise qualifiers Real Salt Lake made themselves known in the first leg of their tie with
Supporters Shield winners Columbus Crew, while all four conference semi-finals were even matches
with little to separate the sides.
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The United States
The 2009 MLS Playoffs got underway last Thursday when Seattle Sounders FC hosted Houston Dynamo
before a crowd of approximately 36,000 soccer fans. Although the end result was 0-0, it was a
thrilling match with both teams battling hard to find the goal. The teams meet for the second leg
of their first round tie at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas at 2:00 pm local time this Sunday,
and fans should expect a nail biter of a match.
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WVHooligan 03 November @ 05:52 PM EST
As mentioned earlier on my Twitter feed today has been a slow day due to some bad headaches on
my end. I won't go into it much but I am feeling a little better after some medicine kicked in here
(thanks to the few who asked). I didn't have much planned for tonight but I did want to get into
the coaching carousel that is going on in Major League Soccer.
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Du Nord 03 November @ 05:11 PM EST
STARTERSDC United announced that head coach Tom Soehn has resigned, so the team now join New York, Kansas
City and Toronto in the hunt for a new leader.
MLS PLAYOFF NEWSIt was great to see that New England had scrubbed their field of all football lines for Sunday's
game.
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Rejoice fanatics, rejoice! I thought ESPN might forget about us once the postseason came about but
I guessed wrong. Which is a good thing because that means that we get more of the most attractive
MLS highlights package around. I still think this would be amazing on ESPN2HD, you know on actual
TV, but I guess we'll all just have to be patient little soccer-monks for a while longer before we
get that kind of clout.
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3rd Degree 02 November @ 10:54 PM EST
FCD striker on the heals of his remarkable second half of 2099 that landed him the MLS Golden Boot
has been named a finalist for MLS MVP. Landon Donovan of LA Galaxy and Shalrie Joseph of the New
England Revolution are the other two finalists. Cunningham scored 13 goals in his final 12 games of
2009 and led MLS with 17 goals.
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Here's the full list as released today by MLS:
Goalkeeper of the Year
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Donovan Ricketts - Los Angeles Galaxy
Zach Thornton - Chivas USA
Fair Play Finalists - Individual
Kasey Keller - Seattle Sounders FC
Pat Onstad - Houston Dynamo
Steve Ralston - New England Revolution
Comeback Player of the Year
Brian McBride - Chicago Fire
Ben Olsen - D.
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Seattle's Kasey Keller is a finalist for numerous Major League Soccer awards, including
goalkeeper of the year. (photo by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Major League Soccer released the finalists for the league's 2009 awards today. The winners will
be announced starting Wednesday and ending Nov.
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Landon Donovan, Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Cunningham are the finalists for MLS MVP honors and just
three of the MLS players identified as finalists for season-ending awards by Major League
Soccer.
Donovan is one of several members of the Los Angeles Galaxy to be selected as finalists for
honors.
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
Landon Donovan, Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Cunningham are the finalists for MLS MVP honors and just
three of the MLS players identified as finalists for season-ending awards by Major League
Soccer.
Donovan is one of several members of the Los Angeles Galaxy to be selected as finalists for
honors.
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The Fire and the Revs have met in the playoffs 8 times. 8 TIMES! It's getting way too predictable,
like Lakers v. Celtics in the Reagan-era NBA Finals. A handful of Chicago players and coach Denis
Hamlet took a minute to talk about the most consistent post-season pairing since the Buffalo Bills
and "choking".
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WVHooligan 02 November @ 10:13 AM EST
The playoff version of the SuperClasico got off to a bang with a 2-2 draw. (Getty Images)
Some could say the results we saw in the first week of the playoffs were fairly expected. The
SuperClasico ended in a draw that I think most folks expected to get; Real Salt Lake found a way to
get a win over the Crew at home; Seattle and Houston battled it out to a scoreless draw; and maybe
the only real shocker of the weekend was the Revs beating Chicago 2-1.
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
Home teams went unbeaten on the first weekend of the MLS Playoffs, setting up a quartet of
nail-biters for the second legs of all four series.
The New England Revolution and Real Salt Lake held serve at home, posting key victories, while
the Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy were able to take draws in their visits to Seattle and,
well, Los Angeles.
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Catching these four match-ups in the middle, so each will be half analysis/half prediction...
Seattle Sounders FC v. Houston Dynamo (0-0 aggregate)
After tying 0-0 in Seattle for the first leg, the finale will take place Sunday. The story of the
first game was 90 minutes of physical brawling, I think the second leg will be the opposite: some
entertaining soccer.
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CLICK HERE to read my ESPNChicago.com post from the Chicago Fire's 2-1 loss to the New England
Revolution in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. It features a recap, analysis
and commentary from Fire midfielder Chris Rolfe, who scored Chicago's lone goal.
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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.
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Sunny and 80 degrees here at the under populated Home Depot Center.
Kick off has apparently been pushed back to 2:25 p.m. to accommodate TV if you're wondering.
It's the same starting lineup this afternoon that both teams fielded for the respective MLS
season finales.
Here's Arena's team: Donovan Rickettts, Sean Franklin, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd
Dunivant, Chris Birchall, David Beckham, Dema Kovalenko, Mike Magee, Edson Buddle, Landon
Donovan.
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The Chicago Fire take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium today in Game One of
their Eastern Conference Playoff series (2pm, FSC).
This is their fifth straight playoff encounter and there's no love lost here as the sides are a
safe bet to play a physical and uncompromising series.
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The Chicago Fire take on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium today in Game One of
their Eastern Conference Playoff series (2pm, FSC).
This is their fifth straight playoff encounter and there's no love lost here as the sides are a
safe bet to play a physical and uncompromising series.
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Soccerblog 01 November @ 09:45 AM EST
Eastern Conference Semifinals - First Leg
New England Revolution vs Chicago Fire
Sun., Nov. 1, Gillette Stadium (2 p.m. ET; FSC/FSE)
DF Chris Albright (L lateral meniscus tear); MF Steve Ralston (R ACL tear); FW Taylor
Twellman (concussion)
That is pretty much the meats and bones of the team gone there.
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
There are two key MLS playoff series kicking off today, and European soccer action looms, but
the U.S. Under-17 national team's final World Cup group match should garner plenty of attention on
this Soccer Sunday.
The U.S. Under-17 team is coming off a 1-0 win vs.
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Photo by ISIphotos.com
There are two key MLS playoff series kicking off today, and European soccer action looms, but
the U.S. Under-17 national team's final World Cup group match should garner plenty of attention on
this Soccer Sunday.
The U.S. Under-17 team is coming off a 1-0 win vs.
Click to continue reading...
