In the first of three road matches in a row, the Portland Timbers head north to battle their Cascadian rivals from Canada, the Vancouver Whitecaps. Portland carries a nine match unbeaten streak into the May 18 afternoon match, but Vancouver has been playing very solid defense recently plus their offense has been augmented with contributions from some of their younger charges.
One player who didn't figure into FC Dallas' 2-0 blanking of Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place on
Wednesday night was Jackson. The Brazilian-born midfielder missed a third straight game due to
concussion symptoms and while he is on the road trip with the team, it remains uncertain as to
whether or not he will make his return to the pitch on Saturday night against Real Salt Lake at Rio
Tinto Stadium.
CARSON, Calif.-- After a solid win at Colorado on Wednesday, the Vancouver Whitecaps were
looking continue their road trip success. Chivas USA, back from their two week break in MLS action,
came into Saturday night's match at the Home Depot Center trying to pick up their third win at home
this season.
The Portland Timbers traveled east on a two match road trip in the hopes to secure their first win
away from JELD-WEN Field. Behind a promising start and a Sal Zizzo goal, the Timbers appeared to be
on their way, but instead, the Timbers had to fight back to salvage points from a draw behind a
late goal from Darlington Nagbe.
The Portland Timbers continued their road trip to Dallas in search of their first road win of the
2012 season. They left Texas setting the MLS record for longest scoreless streak on the road at 697
minutes so far as they absorbed a 5 to 0 loss to FC Dallas under swealtering conditions.
It has been two weeks since I checked in, but I assure you, MLS Road Trip is still going strong.
Our lack of recent posts haven't been due to the lack of games we attended, actually the opposite.
We are currently in Columbus, Ohio, but in the last two weeks, we have been to four games in two
countries!
At the halfway point on the 2012 MLS season, the Houston Dynamo sit in fifth place in the
Eastern Conference with a record of 6-5-6. If the season ended today, that's good enough for a
playoff spot. Of course, it would mean an extra game, but it would still be the postseason.
The Dynamo are nine points behind DC United for the top spot in the conference, four points
behind the Chicago Fire for the next position in the table (which only proves what a wasted
opportunity Tuesday night was).
The MLS match on Saturday night between Toronto FC and the New England Revolution held a special
significance for recently appointed Reds coach Paul Mariner.
Mariner, coaching just his third game with Toronto, served as an assistant for the Revolution
for six seasons (2004-09). His time with the Revs was spent under Steve Nichol, one of the most
successful coaches in league history.
Join the guys as they look back at D.C. United's past three matches, including the draw against
Montreal and the back-to-back wins against New York Red Bull and the Houston Dynamo (left). They
also look ahead to the Black-and-Red's upcoming road trip and go over the rest of the action across
MLS. Photo: Martin Fernandez
New York hopes to get back on track with a win over rivals New England. (Getty Images)
The weekend is here folks. Yesterday was a busy day around the league with suspensions and fines
being handed down plus a trio of signings that foreshadow a busy summer transfer window ahead.
But the weekend is here and nine games are on tap.
Let's face it, it's been an a very unusual start to the 2012 MLS Season for the Houston Dynamo,
but come May 12th, Dynamo fans will likely decide this unusual start was worth it.
In just over three weeks, the latest jewel in the Houston stadium scene will open in the east
side of downtown, BBVA Compass Stadium, the new home of the Houston Dynamo, gets its hard opening
on Saturday May 12th when the Dynamo host DC United in a home of their own.
Another wild weekend in Major League Soccer shifted the landscape a good bit. Week 7 went down
as one that saw some streaks end, plenty of goals, plenty of red cards and lots of talking
points.
Only a few real big movers this week, Real Salt Lake dipped to the second tier after a second
straight defeat.
Another week down in MLS and time for some rankings.
The top two tiers are still where they were a week ago but the bottom tier got a little more
crowded in my book. Saying all of that we have a new number one (I know I'm late to that party).
Also, San Jose is slowly moving their way into the top tier, I think they are three more points
from joining that mix.
Head coach Kabba Joof and his Rhode Island Reds claimed their first win in franchise history
in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Seacoast United Phantoms.
Diego Tabares (18′), Pedro Mendes (30′) and Paulo Mendes (81′) all scored for the Reds
(1-1-1, 4 points) while Jimmy Petruccelli (44′) pulled one back for the Phantoms (0-2-1, 1
point) at Cranston Stadium.
Andy Najar's Olympic adventure has been a rousing success thus far, but the D.C. United winger
will face his biggest test Saturday.Â
Najar has played a major role in getting Honduras' Olympic soccer team out of its group and into
the quarterfinals, helping set up the all-MLS goal that led to Honduras' shocking win over Spain
and starting all three matches during the group stage.
Sporting Kansas City capped a productive and business-like road trip on Saturday night by
posting another shutout and another victory.
Just four days after beating the Philadelphia Union to book their place in the U.S. Open Cup
Final, Sporting KC went to Columbus and shut down the Crew.
Real Madrid and Juventus will be going head-to-head in this summer's World Football Challenge,
but they won't be doing so in an established MLS market. They'll be doing it in Vegas, baby.
The newly crowned Spanish and Italian champions will clash on August 5 in Las Vegas' Sam Boyd
Stadium, a 36,800-capacity venue that is the home to UNLV football, as part of the summer
tournament in North America, match organizers announced on Tuesday.
New York Red Bulls midfielder Rafa Marquez always figured to face some sort of suspension for
his actions in last weekend's match against the San Jose Earthquakes. On Thursday, Marquez and the
Red Bulls found out just how stiff a punishment he will face.
MLS announced on Thursday that Marquez will be suspended for three matches after injuring San
Jose midfielder Shea Salinas with a bearhug and slam that resulted in Salinas suffering a broken
collarbone.
The New England Revolution are gearing up for a three-match road trip by traveling north of the
border to Quebec to take on the MLS newcomers known as the Montreal Impact on Wednesday night for
their second game in just four days. It will be the second time in a row the Revs have faced a
Canadian side, having just fallen to Toronto 0-1 on the weekend.
In middle of a road trip that sees the Seattle Sounders in three different time zones and maybe
two nights in their own beds, they hit the East Coast to play a team out-performing expectations.
While only seventh in the East, the New England Revolution are 4-1-2 at home and carry a zero goal
differential overall.
Whichever history making side advances from Tuesday's match at Starfire (on FSC) they will then
go on a road trip. Both the Seattle Sounders and Cal FC would face the winner of the Minnesota
Stars at San Jose Earthquakes game. That quarterfinal match would be on June 26th. There is an
oddity in the announcement as the Earthquakes would not be hosting at Buck Shaw, but instead at
Kezar Stadium.
The 2012 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is larger and removes the blind bidding process. The chance that
an MLS side would go on the road increased after changes to the bidding structure. The Seattle
Sounders possible matchup for their entry in round three could see travel to face the Atlanta
Silverbacks or hosting the Georigia Revolution of the NPSL at Starfire.
Saturday's tilt against Real Salt Lake was an all around great game to watch. It was a match
filled with drama, emotion, goals and controversy. The Revs eventually fell 2-1 in what devolved
into a 10v10 match. The go ahead goal came off an RSL set piece, where New England defenders again
failed to trail their assignments and Alvaro Saborio, unmarked, headed it home.
Coming in hot on the heels of a big win over the LA Galaxy, the New England Revolution
supporters almost felt like 3 points were a definite thing from FC Dallas. However, it was not to
be. Regardless of looking like the better team for the majority of the game, a last minute poorly
setup execution of a set-piece led to 3 points being taken away, and New England leaving their
opening road trip with 3 out of a possible 6 points.
This is a fantabulous female footy weekend. It starts Saturday morning with the USWNT facing
Canada in a friendly at Rio Tinto in Sandy, Utah at 11:00am. This is the final game prior to the US
team heading to the London Olympics. Rapinoe, Morgan, Solo and Leroux will be facing a team that
they beat 4-0 in Vancouver this past winter.
Remember the packed May where there were 8 games in 32 games (we included the final game of
April)? June is a bit worse. In 19 days with six games the Seattle Sounders June schedule
(including a road trip that opens July) is tighter with a game every 3.1 days (leaving out July's
early RSL match makes it 5 in 15 days).
The second law of Thermodynamics states that, among other things, the Universe tends to move
towards disorder. For example: I live in a house with my college roommates. One of them cleans the
living room, but two days later the entire house looks like Aaron Carter's parents left for the
weekend. In terms of life, this means that the tiny building blocks that make us up really hate to
be ordered in the shape of, oh, i dont know, a human.
Well, it's not the end of the world losing tonight but I'm not impressed by the fact the Dynamo
are regressing a bit. There are some legitimate reasons for that tonight (adjusted lineup,
injuries, end of a long roap trip), but I'll probably just end up sounding like I'm making excuses.
Let's be honest though, the New York Red Bulls won tonight because they capitalized on yet another
defensive mistake by Houston.
Their Words "With the national coach Jürgen Klinsmann coming from Germany, Bundesliga football is
being followed more intensively. Another reason is the number of USA internationals playing in the
German top flight." Schalke 04 and USA midfielder Jermaine Jones. Other Sources American midfielder
Sacha Kljestan's 'dirty work' helps build a champion in Belgium - from The Sporting News's Brian
Straus: On Sunday, those dreams were real.
It's finally here! Yes, folks, the Portland Timbers 2013 schedule is officially released. While there are still a few outstanding questions relating to kickoff times, Timbers fans have the general dates and times of every home and away match.
Doniak Named TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Week First-year Cavalier forward receives
first national accolade
CHARLOTTESVILLE – Virginia women's soccer first-year forward Makenzy Doniak (Chino Hills,
Calif.) was named the TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's College Player of the Week.
Sounders Women started their road trip with a tough victory over the Santa Clarita Blue Heat. It
was not an easy victory. The heat was an energy sapper, and the Blue Heat were aggressive and ready
for a win. Lyndsey Patterson scored the lone goal of the game early in the first half, and the
Sounders hung on tightly to that lead.
It's been a while since I lived back in the States, but when I was there, summer always meant get
up and go somewhere cool. If I was back home now, it would likely mean get up and go see some
Americans Abroad on preseason tour. In case, you had the same thought, here is the schedule of all
such chances for a memorable road trip.
Fabricio Barancoski scored seconds after the opening whistle, but Alencar Junior equalized
minutes later in Saturday's 1-1 draw between the Voltage and Hydra at Foley Stadium.
Barancoski's first minute goal immediately put Vermont in command, but Junior replied with a
strike of his own in the 18th minute to help Worcester grab a point.
After a long 3-week road trip the Minnesota Stars will be back at home this Saturday, May 5, at the
National Sport Center Stadium. The Stars home opener at the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis on
April 7th was a great success with over 8,000 fan attending. While there's no doubt the team would
prefer to [.
After a week of shambolic mismanagement of FA Cup final logistics, the FA has further fanned the
flames of Liverpool's fury by advising that their "best bet" for getting to the game on time is by
taking a plane to London. Tracking down FA Cup final tickets is easy with the help of online
retailer [..
