Another season of AYSO is in the books. Once again I coached a U-14 boys team. That means the team consisted of 12 and 13 year-olds. We were the Honey Badgers.

This year was tough. We played 10 league matches. Our record was 0-9-1. Our goal difference was minus 26. We didn't score a goal until our 6th match, which coincided with out first lead of the season.

It's the lull before the storm in Seattle Sounders land. The Seattle Sounders lost on Tuesday 2-1 to Monterrey, but despite the loss, the Sounders still advance to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. Chivas USA will be in town this weekend for the last regular season match-up. The results hardly matter for either team and the Sounders will be looking forward to the playoffs.

Tonight's match is a must win for the Portland Timbers. Unfortunately, given their rocky past with road games, it also makes it an unlikely win. The fact of the matter is that the Portland Timbers have been on a down swing since the San Jose Earthquakes came to Portland and I just don't know if the team can turn that around for the final two games.

The Portland Timbers just didn't do enough with their many chances on Friday in their 2-0 bruising by the thuggish Houston Dynamo. Kenny Cooper's gotta get more on that header, Jorge Perlaza's gotta take that shot, Jack Jewsbury and Lovel Palmer gotta keep their shots down, and Darlington Nagbe's gotta stop hesitating in front of goal.

Well, this is truly a tough day and match for Fire fans. As Merwin lamented in his post game recap of the Dallas match, not only is the door pretty much slammed on the Fire's playoff hopes, but they played a pretty poor game Wednesday night to boot. While the Men in Red certainly have the talent to beat DC United tonight, one has to wonder how much is left in the tank and if they can overcome the heartbreak that has been the past 11 days or so.

This game oh man this game. This one beat me. Right now I'm just glad there are only two games left to go over. Join me after the break as we go over this game. Not a whole lot of good things to talk about here so I'm going to make this quick.

After the game there was a lot of talk about how the team wasn't "trying" or lacked effort.

The mid-week games saw Dallas get back to their winning ways while Vancouver took down DC United. Playoff hopes were diminished for both Eastern Conference teams. Here's Pedro Gomes with the mid-week recap.
Chicago Fire 1, FC Dallas 2
Dallas traveled to Chi-Town looking to cement a place in the post-season against a recently resurgent Chicago Fire squad who were looking to keep their play-off hopes alive.

By MIKE NASTRI

Harrison, NJ-- The New York Red Bulls finally put together a dominating win that is expected of the star-laden franchise, pushing them from the brink of missing the playoffs to looking like a team capable of making noise in the post-season.

This weekend's penultimate Houston Dynamo home match at Robertson Stadium is a fairly simple affair. Houston must control the suddenly dangerous Dominic Oduro and the rest of the improving Chicago Fire or their playoff hopes will take a serious realism torpedo.

DC United's 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Union last night helped but they still have games in hand on the Dynamo so with only three matches, a total of nine possible points, on the table, it's get points or get golfing for Houston.

Darrius Barnes has had an impressive three years in Major League Soccer. He entered the league in the 2009 SuperDraft. He was drafted by the New England Revolution and has remained a stalwart defender from day one. In his first season, he played every minute. That's no small feat for any player, let alone a rookie.

The MLS playoff race is heating up and we have teams choosing their own destinies. It's my favorite time of year. A hint of fall, the weather is cooling and we have MLS teams who find themselves at crucial junctures where player decisions, injuries and tactics can make or break a season.
We got a taste of this in DC midweek against Chivas.

Ben Olsen was furious as DC United's playoff hopes took a body blow when they let a two goal lead slip away at home allowing Chivas to tie the game in the second half, and DC even missed a stoppage time penalty kick ...

The Dynamo got what they desperately needed on Saturday night against the San Jose Earthquakes...three points.

It wasn't a foregone conclusion until late and after a first half that saw the Dynamo dominate possession and still trail going in to the locker room, the team's playoff hopes were all but flat lined.

Do not believe that the Rapids lost to the suddenly resurgent Toronto FC on Saturday night.

No, Colorado managed only a scoreless tie at home against the worst team in the league at home earlier this season. The 2-1 loss in Toronto was merely the latest stanza in a the mediocre medley of 2011.

Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Playoff seeding in both conferences could see a shake-up Saturday when Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City meet at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Thanks to a win over Houston last weekend, Kansas City currently sits one point behind Columbus for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Houston Dynamo's playoff hopes took a severe hit, but were not completely killed, Saturday night in Kansas City where Teal Bunbury's brace helped give Sporting Kansas City a 3-0 victory and first place in the Eastern Conference.

Bunbury's first goal came in the 9th minute and, although it would prove to be unnecessary for the win, Bunbury picked up his second goal in the 73rd minute.

The Houston Dynamo's playoff hopes took a severe hit, but were not completely killed, Saturday night in Kansas City where Teal Bunbury's brace helped give Sporting Kansas City a 3-0 victory and first place in the Eastern Conference.

Bunbury's first goal came in the 9th minute and, although it would prove to be unnecessary for the win, Bunbury picked up his second goal in the 73rd minute.

What's this, a Philadelphia goalkeeper gets his own TTB edition? Yes and for good reason to. You see, starting tonight for the Philadelphia Union is Zac MacMath, the #5 overall pick in this years SuperDraft. He'll be the fourth youngest goalkeeper ever to start for an MLS side at the age of 20. The reason why he's starring in this edition is because I want to highlight his possible implications for Saturday's match against the Timbers as he'll likely be starting then as well.

If the Chicago Fire's playoff hopes were an actual fire, they would be down to a couple of glowing embers after a night's sleep. Things don't look good but the light isn't out just yet. Sebastian Grazzini and Pavel Pardo have added a flicker of hope here and there. As the team hits the last stretch of games in the 2011 season, we will find out if we are just dealing with some fast lighting newspaper or have some real burning going on.

Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon has been one of the keys to the second-year club's considerable improvement in 2011, but he won't be in the nets as the Union begin a crucial stretch

Mondragon will be sidelined for between two to four weeks with a fractured finger suffered during the Union's 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Another great episode of this RBNY-themed podcast. This week, Mark and Dave discuss the dissapointing 2-2 draw @New England, our dim playoff hopes and discuss the upcoming schedule. Their guest this week is last weekend's 2 goal hero Dane Richards. As usual, Bull & Cow of The Week and great listener email round this off this one.

The Timbers US Open Cup entry was shot by playing a reserve squad for a mid-week match. Their playoff hopes are fading fast. The Cascadia Cup still stands within reach.

What do the Timbers need to win the Cascadia cup? Two wins and a little bit of luck. They have to beat Vancouver tonight in Portland, and again at the re-opening of BC Place.

The other two teams in Group D of the CONCACAF Champions League are kicking off now. If we're gunning for second place in the group (as we probably should be), we'll want a Monterrey win here to reduce the competition. On the other hand, a stumble by the Mexican team would open a crack in the door to a group win and possibly an easier route through the bracket.

The Dynamo ultimate success this season may have been saved this weekend by the goalpost. Just a minute before Geoff Cameron's goal earned the Dynamo a point, the Union's Sebastien Le Toux had Tally Hall and the defense beat and only needed to guide the ball in to the waiting goal...and he hit the post.

Think about this for a second: the last time LA lost an MLS game Amy Winehouse, Osama Bin Laden and the Whitecaps' playoff hopes were all still alive*. They've been crushing it that long and may very well continue to bully people all the way 'til November. Watch out Portland, the behemoth rolls in to your town --and America's living rooms-- tonight.

Well not quite, but after tonight's game against Independiente we can finally get back to focusing on nothing but the regular season. I'm not one of those people who goes around toting "Trophies over Friendlies" antra you've probably been seeing on Twitter lately. I don't believe the two are mutually exclusive.

Jose Francisco Torres and Herculez Gomez will be watching the Mexican liguilla from their couches as Pachuca's Clausura playoff hopes went up in flames in a home loss to Atlas.

By "Danny Beerseed" / FBM Founder
The 16th season of Major League Soccer kicks off tonight and like a fine wine it has aged gracefully. Or, more similarly, like a teenager thrashing about, some times its a hit... other times... not so much.
Despite its adolescent acne, we love American soccer and MLS.

The Chicago Riot will look to revive their fading playoff hopes but they couldn't ask for a tougher weekend opponent in the Baltimore Blast. The Riot and Blast will square off tonight at 6:35 pm CST in Baltimore and then both teams will fly into Chicago for a Sunday, January 30 match at the Odeum Sport and Expo Center with a 7:00 pm CST kick-off time.