Monday, June 29, 2015

This Week's US Open Cup Match-Ups

The Round of 16 is upon us. Here's a rundown of this week's matches:

Tuesday

Orlando City SC vs Columbus Crew, South Regional
Philadelphia Union vs DC United, East Regional
Chicago Fire vs Charlotte Independence (USL), South Regional
Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids, Central Regional

Wednesday

New York Red Bulls vs New York Cosmos (NASL), East Regional
Sporting Kansas City vs FC Dallas, Central Regional
Real Salt Lake vs Portland Timbers, West Regional
San Jose Earthquakes vs LA Galaxy, West Regional

In case you missed it earlier, here's our breakdown of the match previews.

Weekly Top Tens & Power Rankings

THE SOCCERSMITH'S MLS POWER RANKINGS

1 - Sporting Kansas City (7-3-6) - Krisztián Németh keeps on scoring, and Sporting will keep both Matt Besler and Benny Feilhaber during the Gold Cup. Last Week: 2
2 - DC United (10-5-5) - Bill Hamid picked up a pair of shutouts this week. Look out if these guys ever figure out how to start consistently scoring goals. Last Week: 4
3 - Portland Timbers (8-6-4) - Bad loss against LA followed by an emotional win over the Sounders. Darlington Nagbe gave us a glimpse, is there more where that came from? Last Week: 1
4 - Toronto FC (7-6-2) - The stars came out against Montreal, but followed that up with a disappointing draw against DC United. Last Week: 5
5 - Vancouver Whitecaps (10-6-2) - Octavio Rivero scored for the first time in a while as the Caps got to 10 wins on the season. Last Week: 6
6 - Seattle Sounders (9-7-2) - No Dempsey and no Martins results in back-to-back losses. With three rookies getting minutes, the Sounders are still getting something out of their stars being out. Last Week: 3
7 - San Jose Earthquakes (7-5-4) - Matías Pérez García is finally starting to deliver and it's no coincidence that the results are coming along with it. Last Week: 9
8 - LA Galaxy (7-6-7) - Showed how dangerous they are in their win against Portland, but immediately imploded against San Jose. Not to worry though, Steven Gerrard is around the corner. Last Week: 7
9 - New York Red Bulls (6-5-5) - The Red Bulls are back. Back-to-back wins this week. Anatole Abang has provided a major jolt to the starting lineup. Last Week: 11
10 - Orlando City SC (6-6-5) - It's the Kaká and Cyle Larin show in Orlando City, but it's Tally Hall's insertion into the starting XI that really appears to have turned things around.  Last Week: 12

MLS Weekly Recap, Week 17

Here's this week's recap:

With Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins both out, the Union took advantage and shocked the Seattle Sounders 1-0... Real Salt Lake sustained a pair of red cards and were outshot by the Red Bulls 24-4, but managed to keep the damage to a minimum losing just 1-0. Nick Rimando made seven saves... Kei Kamara scored two more goals and Ethan Finlay picked up his ninth assist of the season as the Crew survived giving up a first minute goal and defeated the Revs 2-1... Orlando City got goals from Cyle Larin and Kaká as they spoiled Joseph Greenspan's MLS debut and knocked off the Rapids 2-0. Larin's goal was his sixth of the year, easily leading all rookies.. Toronto FC got goals from all three of their stars (Altidore, Bradley, Giovinco) as they rallied to knock off their nemesis, the Montreal Impact, 3-1... DC United became the first team to ten wins thanks to Conor Doyle's second half goal as they defeated the Chicago Fire, 1-0. Mike Magee made his second appearance for the Fire logging 16 minutes as a second half substitute... The LA Galaxy scored five for the second straight MLS match and routed the Timbers snapping their four-game winning streak. Robbie Keane had a goal and two assists to lead the Galaxy attack... FC Dallas got a pair of first half goals and won for the first time in a month and a half, 2-0 over their rivals, the Houston Dynamo. Houston rookie Rob Lovejoy left the match in the first half with a hamstring injury... Bill Hamid made it two shutouts in a week when he also shut out the triple threat of Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco in their 0-0 draw with Toronto... Octavio Rivero scored for the first time since May 9th and Vancouver took advantage of an Andrew Farrell red card in their 2-1 win over the Revolution... Krisztián Németh scored his 7th goal, Benny Feilhaber tied Ethan Finlay for the league lead in assists with nine, and Chance Myers played his first MLS match since May 23, 2014 (and picked up an assist no less) as Sporting defeated Colorado 2-0... No sooner than did Feilhaber tie Ethan Finlay for the assist lead that the Columbus Crew winger picked up assist number ten and added a goal as the Crew twice fought back from one goal deficits to force a draw with Real Salt Lake... Chris Wondolowski and company snapped the LA Galaxy's hot streak bouncing back from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat their rivals, 3-1. Matías Pérez García stayed red hot for the Quakes notching a pair of assists to give him a goal and three helpers in his last two matches... The Red Bulls won another showdown with their crosstown rivals thanks to a pair of assists from Sacha Kljestan and a goal from Bradley Wright-Phillips... The Portland Timbers turned in a dominant performance against the short-handed Sounders thanks to a breakout performance from Darlington Nagbe and two more goals from Fanendo Adi.

MLS SuperDraft Rookie Stats Through June

Here's a look at your MLS Superdraftees who've seen MLS action in 2015:

1 - Cyle Larin (Orlando City) - 13 apps, 10 starts, 847 mins, 29 shots, 6 goals
2 - Khiry Shelton (New York City FC) - 12 apps, 6 starts, 704 mins, 12 shots, 1 goal, 1 assist
3 - Romario Williams (Montreal) - 1 app, 6 mins
4 - Fatai Alashe (San Jose) - 13 apps, 12 starts, 1028 mins, 7 shots, 1 goal, 3 yellows
7 - Matt Polster (Chicago) - 14 apps, 13 starts, 1147 mins, 6 shots, 5 yellows
8 - Zach Steinberger (Houston) - 2 apps, 28 mins, 1 shot
9 - Clement Simonin (Toronto FC) - 1 app, 1 start, 90 mins, 1 shot, 1 yellow
10 - Connor Hallisey (Sporting KC) - 6 apps, 2 starts, 201 mins, 5 shots, 1 assist
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam (Sporting KC) - 6 apps, 58 mins, 1 shot
13 - Tim Parker (Vancouver) - 4 apps, 3 starts, 272 mins, 1 yellow
14 - Axel Sjöberg (Colorado) - 9 apps, 9 starts, 810 mins, 8 shots, 3 yellows
16 - Cristian Roldan (Seattle) - 13 apps, 7 starts, 592 mins, 5 shots, 1 yellow
17 - Miguel Aguilar (DC United) - 13 apps, 4 starts, 456 mins, 3 shots, 1 yellow
19 - Sergio Campbell (Columbus) - 1 app, 1 start, 90 mins, 2 shots
20 - Amadou Dia (Sporting KC) - 12 apps, 7 starts, 686 mins, 4 shots, 1 yellow
21 - Ignacio Maganto (LA Galaxy) - 8 apps, 6 starts, 489 mins, 8 shots, 1 goal, 1 assist
23 - Connor Brandt (New York City FC) - 1 app, 9 mins
26 - Joseph Greenspan (Colorado) - 2 apps, 2 starts, 180 mins, 1 yellow
27 - Boyd Okwuonu (Real Salt Lake) - 1 app, 10 mins
36 - Rob Lovejoy (Houston) - 14 apps, 2 starts, 306 mins, 6 shots, 1 goal, 1 assist
40 - Oniel Fisher (Seattle) - 3 apps, 2 starts, 184 mins, 4 shots
45 - Cameron Porter (Montreal) - 2 apps, 1 start, 39 mins, 1 shot
48 - Andy Craven (Seattle) - 1 app, 30 mins
67 - Dominique Badji (Colorado) - 9 apps, 6 starts, 492 mins, 12 shots, 1 goal, 1 yellow
71 - Raymond Lee (Philadelphia) - 1 app, 12 mins
79 - Manolo Sanchez (New York Red Bulls) - 3 apps, 22 mins, 6 shots

With the MLS debuts of Sergio Campbell, Ensign Joseph Greenspan, Boyd Okwuonu, Andy Craven and Manolo Sanchez this past month, the total of 2015 SuperDraftees to see the field this season jumps up to 26. Cyle Larin scored two more goals and continues to easily lead all rookies with six goals on the year. No other member of the 2015 draft class has scored more than once. Here's a look at the rest of your leaders in various categories:

Appearances: Matt Polster (Chicago), Rob Lovejoy (Houston) - 14
Starts: Matt Polster (Chicago) - 13
Minutes: Matt Polster (Chicago) - 1147
Shots: Cyle Larin (Orlando City) - 29
Goals: Cyle Larin (Orlando City) - 6
Assists: Khiry Shelton (NYCFC), Rob Lovejoy (Houston), Connor Hallisey (Sporting KC), Ignacio Maganto (LA Galaxy) - 1
Yellow Cards: Matt Polster (Chicago) - 5

MLS SuperDraft Rookie Watch, Week 17

Busy week for the rookies as Joseph Greenspan (Colorado), Andy Craven (Seattle) and Boyd Okwuonu (Real Salt Lake) all made their MLS debuts. In other action Cyle Larin scored goal number six, Manolo Sanchez ripped off five shots in just nine minutes of action for the Red Bulls and Fatai Alashe turned in a strong 90-minute shift in San Jose's big win over the LA Galaxy.  Here's a rundown of all the action:

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Colorado, 69 mins, 3 shots, 1 goal
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs LA, 90 mins
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC - Appeared as sub vs Colorado, 12 mins
13 - Tim Parker - Vancouver - Started vs New England, 90 mins
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Started vs Philadelphia, 90 mins 
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Appeared as sub vs Portland, 21 mins
17 - Miguel Aguilar - DC United - Started vs Chicago, 90 mins, 1 shot
17 - Miguel Aguilar - DC United - Appeared as sub vs Toronto, 32 mins, yellow card
20 - Amadou Dia - Sporting KC - Appeared as sub vs Colorado, 1 min
26 - Joseph Greenspan - Colorado - Started vs Orlando City, 90 mins 
26 - Joseph Greenspan - Colorado - Started vs Sporting KC, 90 mins, yellow card
27 - Boyd Okwuonu - Real Salt Lake - Appeared as sub vs Columbus, 10 mins
36 - Rob Lovejoy - Houston - Started vs FC Dallas, 29 mins, 1 shot
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Started vs Philadelphia, 90 mins
48 - Andy Craven - Seattle - Appeared as sub vs Portland, 30 mins
79 - Manolo Sanchez - New York Red Bulls - Appeared as sub vs Real Salt Lake, 3 mins, 3 shots
79 - Manolo Sanchez - New York Red Bulls - Appeared as sub vs NYCFC, 6 mins, 2 shots




Friday, June 26, 2015

Two Matches to Go

In case you've missed it, the U.S. Women are two wins away from their first World Cup Title since 1999. Carli Lloyd's second half header beat China's Wang Fei for the game's only goal as the U.S. extended their shutout streak to 423 minutes and now get ready for a semifinal showdown with Germany. Here's a rundown of how the U.S. and Germany both reached the World Cup Semifinals:

USA (4-0-1)

GROUP D

W 3-1 vs Australia - Megan Rapinoe 2 (2), Christen Press (1)
D 0-0 vs Sweden
W 1-0 vs Nigeria - Abby Wambach (1)
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W 2-0 vs Colombia - Alex Morgan (1), Carli Lloyd (1)
W 1-0 vs China - Carli Lloyd (2)

GERMANY (3-0-2)

GROUP B

W 10-0 vs Ivory Coast - Célia Šašić 3 (3), Anja Mittag 3 (3), Simone Laudehr (1), Sara Däbritz (1), Melanie Behringer (1), Alexandra Popp (1)
D 1-1 vs Norway - Anja Mittag (4)
W 4-0 vs Thailand - Melanie Leupolz (1), Lena Petermann 2 (2), Sara Däbritz (2)
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W 4-1 vs Sweden - Anja Mittag (5), Célia Šašić 2 (5), Dzsenifer Marozsán (1)
D 1-1 vs France, W 5-4 (PKs) - Célia Šašić (6)

Which Team Has the Most Players in the Gold Cup?

Wondering which team has the most players on Gold Cup rosters? Wonder no more! It's Guatemala's Comunicaciones with a staggering 12 players that will be suiting up next month. Even crazier, ELEVEN of those players will suit up for Guatemala. Here's the complete list:

Jorge Aparicio - Guatemala
Jairo Arreola - Guatemala
Rolando Blackburn - Panama
Carlos Castrillo - Guatemala
José Manuel Contreras - Guatemala
Brandon de León - Guatemala
Carlos Figueroa - Guatemala
Kendel Herrarte - Guatemala
Wilson Lalin - Guatemala
Jonathan Marquez - Guatemala
Carlos Mejía - Guatemala
Ruben Morales - Guatemala

Not surprisingly Comunicaciones has won the league's last six titles (2 per season over the past three years) and are headed back to the CONCACAF Champions League this fall.





Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Weekly Top Tens & Power Rankings - 6/23/15

THE SOCCERSMITH'S MLS POWER RANKINGS

1 - Portland Timbers (7-5-4) - I don't know if they're the best team in the league right now, but they knocked the Sounders out of the Open Cup and they're in the midst of the longest winning streak in the history of their franchise. W 3-1 USOC, W 2-0 vs HOU Last Week: 5
2 - Sporting Kansas City (6-3-6) - Gave up a late goal in a loss to RSL and barely won their Open Cup match, but they still have the fewest losses in the league. Last Week: 1a
3 - Seattle Sounders (9-5-2) - Not a good week for the Sounders as they were knocked out of the tournament they almost always win, lost Obafemi Martins to injury, lost Clint Dempsey to a suspension, and then lost to the Quakes... AGAIN. Last Week: 1
4 - DC United (9-5-4) - United rallied for a big win against the Revs on the heels of advancing to the 5th Round of the Open Cup with an extra time win. With nine wins they're seven points clear in the East and currently sit atop the Supporters Shield Standings. Last Week: 6
5 - Toronto FC (6-6-1) - Disappointing showing against City for the Reds. With Jozy and Bradley headed to the Gold Cup, Sebastian Giovinco is going to have to step up his game even more. Last Week: 3
6 - Vancouver Whitecaps (9-6-2) - The Caps don't win pretty, but with nine wins they only trail the Sounders at the top of the West. David Ousted's two penalty kick saves were easily the biggest of the week. Last Week: 7
7 - LA Galaxy (6-5-7) - Robbie Keane is back in the mix and it's no coincidence that they scored 11 goals in two games this week. Yeah, the opponents weren't the most impressive, but goals are goals, and the Galaxy are only going to get better. Last Week: 12
8 - New England Revolution (6-5-6) - Disappointing week for one of the East's elite as they lost to their chief Eastern Conference competition AND became the first MLS club to get eliminated from the US Open Cup. Last Week: 4
9 - San Jose Earthquakes (6-5-4) - Wondo saved them in the Open Cup, but it was their another DP, Matías Pérez García who led the way in their win over Seattle. The Quakes have scored five goals in two wins over the Sounders this season. Last Week: 13
10 - Montreal Impact (5-5-2) - The Impact showed up again last week which means they'll probably lose badly this week. Last Week: 15

Monday, June 22, 2015

MLS SuperDraft Rookie Watch, Week 16

Lots of picks in action this week with MLS clubs entering the US Open Cup in Round 4. Colorado got goals from Dominique Badji AND Naval Academy Grad Joseph Greenspan against Colorado Springs, Cyle Larin scored once again for Canada, and Earl Edwards won a 10-round shootout for Orlando City despite allowing 4 goals against Charleston. Meanwhile in MLS action, the Red Bulls debuted 79th overall pick Manolo Sanchez as a substitute against Vancouver. Here's a rundown of all the week's action:

US Open Cup


7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs Louisville City, 120 mins
8 - Zach Steinberger - Houston - Started vs Austin, 69 mins
10 - Connor Hallisey - Sporting KC - Started vs St. Louis FC, 68 mins
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC -  Appeared as sub vs St. Louis FC, 34 mins
15 - Otis Earle - FC Dallas - Appeared as sub vs OKC Energy, 34 mins
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Started vs Portland, 71 mins
17 - Miguel Aguilar - DC United - Started vs Pittsburgh, 120 mins
20 - Amadou Dia - Sporting KC - Started vs St. Louis FC, 90 mins
21 - Ignacio Maganto - LA Galaxy - Started vs PSA Elite, 90 mins
22 - Conor Donovan - Orlando City - Started vs Charleston, 103 mins
26 - Joseph Greenspan - Colorado - Started vs Colorado Springs, 90 mins, 1 goal
27 - Boyd Okwuonu - Real Salt Lake - Started vs Sounders 2, 90 mins
36 - Rob Lovejoy - Houston - Started vs Austin, 90 mins
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Started vs Portland, 120 mins
43 - Earl Edwards Jr - Orlando City - Started vs Charleston, 120 mins, 4 GA
67 - Dominique Badji - Colorado - Started vs Colorado Springs, 65 mins, 1 goal


28 - Kingsley Bryce - Chicago - Appeared for St. Louis FC (USL) vs Sporting KC, 10 mins
32 - Christian Volesky - Portland - Started for Rochester (USL) vs Union, 120 mins, misssed PK
48 - Andy Craven - Seattle - Started for Sounders 2 (USL) vs Real Salt Lake, 90 mins
65 - Cameron Iwasa - Montreal - Started for Sacramento (USL) vs San Jose, 81 mins
73 - Tony Rocha - Sporting KC - Started for Austin (USL) vs Houston, 90 mins

World Cup Qualifying

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Appeared for Canada vs Dominica, 63 mins, 3 shots, 1 goal

MLS

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Montreal - 90 mins, 3 shots
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs Seattle - 90 mins, 1 shot
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC -  Appeared as sub vs Real Salt Lake, 1 min
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Started vs San Jose - 90 mins, 1 shot
17 - Miguel Aguilar - DC United - Appeared as sub vs New England, 38 mins
20 - Amadou Dia - Sporting KC - Started vs Real Salt Lake, 89 mins
36 - Rob Lovejoy - Houston - Appeared as sub vs Portland, 32 mins
79 - Manolo Sanchez - New York Red Bulls - Appeared as sub vs Vancouver, 13 mins, 1 shot

MLS Weekly Recap, Week 16

Here's this week's recap:

Check here and here for our US Open Cup Round 4 recaps. 14 of 17 MLS clubs have advanced to the Round of 16... FC Dallas's winless streak continued after giving up a late equalizer to Dillon Serna. Serna, who had only seen limited action for the Rapids this season, got the nod after scoring twice against Colorado Springs (USL) midweek... The Quakes got two goals from people not named Chris Wondolowski and stunned the Sounders 2-0 in Seattle. In Seattle's defense, all three of their designated players, Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins and Osvaldo Alonso, missed the match... Sacha Kljestan was ejected ten minutes into the match and Bradley Wright-Phillips had TWO penalty kicks blocked by David Ousted as Vancouver became the second MLS club to nine wins this season... David Villa scored twice as New York City FC has quietly won three in a row after an 11 game winless streak... Montreal snapped Orlando's unbeaten run at five games and picked up just their second shutout of the season. Montreal has five wins in their last seven... The Galaxy scored 11 goals this week which not coincidentally coincided with Robbie Keane's return to the starting lineup... Portland extended the longest winning streak in their young franchise history to four games with a 2-0 win over the short-handed Dynamo... Olmes García scored deep into stoppage time to give Real Salt Lake a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City Javier Morales assisted on both RSL goals giving him five assists on the year. Benny Feilhaber notched his eighth assist in a losing effort... Chris Rolfe scored twice in the second half as DC United rallied for a 1-0 win over New England. With the win, United moved atop the Supporters' Shield Standings.

Here's a rundown of all the action:

RESULTS

TUESDAY

Canada 4 Dominica 0 - World Cup Qualifying
New York Red Bulls 3 Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) 0 - US Open Cup
Philadelphia Union 0 Rochester Rhinos (USL) 0 - Philadelphia wins in shootout, 3-1 - US Open Cup
Sporting Kansas City 1 Saint Louis FC (USL) 0 - US Open Cup
Chicago Fire 1 Louisville City FC (USL) 0 (a.e.t.) - US Open Cup
FC Dallas 4 Oklahoma City Energy FC (USL) 1 - US Open Cup
Colorado Rapids 4 Colorado Springs Switchbacks (USL) 1 - US Open Cup
Real Salt Lake 2 Seattle Sounders FC 2 1 - US Open Cup
San Jose Earthquakes 2 Sacramento Republic 2 - San Jose wins in shootout, 6-5 - US Open Cup
Portland Timbers 3 Seattle Sounders 1 (a.e.t.) - US Open Cup

WEDNESDAY

DC United 3 Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL) 1 (a.e.t.) - US Open Cup
Columbus Crew 3 Richmond Kickers (USL) 1 - US Open Cup
New York Cosmos (NASL) 2 New York City FC 2 - Cosmos win in shootout, 4-3 - US Open Cup
Orlando City SC 4 Charleston Battery (USL) 4 - Orlando wins in shootout, 8-7 - US Open Cup
Charlotte Independence (USL) 1 New England Revolution 0 - US Open Cup
Houston Dynamo 2 Austin Aztex (USL) 0 - US Open Cup
LA Galaxy 6 PSA Elite (USASA) 1 - US Open Cup

FRIDAY

FC Dallas 1 Colorado Rapids 1

SATURDAY

San Jose Earthquakes 2 Seattle Sounders 0
Vancouver Whitecaps 2 New York Red Bulls 1
New York City FC 2 Toronto FC 0
Montreal Impact 2 Orlando City SC 0
LA Galaxy 5 Philadelphia Union 1
Portland Timbers 2 Houston Dynamo 0

SUNDAY

DC United 2 New England Revolution 1
Real Salt Lake 2 Sporting Kansas City 1

Saturday, June 20, 2015

US Open Cup Round 4 MLS Goal Scorers

In case you missed it, here's a rundown of all the goals scored by MLS players in Round 4 of the US Open Cup. Players listed in red were eliminated from the competition.

3 GOALS

Robbie Keane (Ireland) - LA Galaxy 
Carlos Rivas (Colombia) - Orlando City SC 

2 GOALS

Michael Barrios (Colombia) - FC Dallas
Adam Bedell (USA) - Columbus Crew 
Kwadwo Poku (Ghana) - New York City FC 
Dillon Serna (USA) - Colorado Rapids 
David Texeira (Uruguay) - FC Dallas
Chris Wondolowski (USA) - San Jose Earthquakes

Friday, June 19, 2015

Gold Cup's Coming!!!

Gold Cup's Coming, time to start getting excited!! Just to get you in the mood, I've pulled some highlights for you:



U.S. Open Cup 5th Round Match Previews

EAST

Philadelphia Union vs DC United

The Union and DC United have split two meetings this year with the Union taking the first 1-0 on May 17th and United rallying for a 2-1 win two weeks later. Neither side won in regulation in Round 4 with the Union being held scoreless for 120 minutes and requiring a shootout to get past Rochester, and United scoring twice in added time to defeat the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 3-1. In 2013 these two sides faced off in the fourth round with United walking away with a 3-1 win on the strength of a Dwayne De Rosario hat trick, but the Union have had the more recent Open Cup success as they reached the finals of last year's tournament before falling to Seattle 3-1 in added time.

New York Red Bulls vs New York Cosmos (NASL)

The Cosmos look to bounce the Red Bulls from the Open Cup for a second consecutive season after humiliating them 3-0 a year ago behind two goals from Norwegian striker Mads Stokkelien. The upset-minded Cosmos already have a taste of beating MLS clubs this year as well after rallying from a 2-0 deficit to shock New York City FC. The Red Bulls were no slouches in round 4 either though as they cruised to a 3-0 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks, but lost midfielder Lloyd Sam to an injury in the process.

SOUTH

Chicago Fire vs Charlotte Independence (USL)

Not exactly sure why Dallas and Houston aren't in the South Bracket and Chicago and Columbus aren't in the Central, but I'm sure whoever the geographically savvy person was who came up with this had a good reason. Anyhow, the Independence are the lone USL squad to reach the Round of 16 after pulling off a 1-0 upset of a short-handed New England Revolution club. While clearly the underdogs, the Independence will take on a Fire team that aren't exactly world beaters either. Chicago needed 116 minutes to break through against Louisville City FC in their 1-0 win.

Orlando City SC vs Columbus Crew

The Crew got a big boost from Adam Bedell who notched a brace in his first match of 2015 while Ethan Finlay added a goal of his own in their 3-1 win over the Richmond Kickers. Orlando meanwhile was the beneficiary of three penalty kicks, all of them scored by Carlos Rivas, and still managed to blow a 4-2 lead before winning a ten-round penalty kick shootout 8-7 (during which Rivas ironically missed). In two matches against Orlando this season, Columbus has scored five goals, winning 3-0 and drawing 2-2.

CENTRAL

Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids

The Rapids and Dynamo tied 0-0 in their only match-up this season, but the Dynamo have been playing much better as of late thanks to the tandem of Will Bruin and Giles Barnes. The Rapids got a big boost this week from Naval Academy graduate Joseph Greenspan who scored in his Rapids debut and helped them to a 4-1 win over the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. Both clubs lost in the 5th round of last year's tournament and neither side has reached the tournament quarterfinals since Houston did so in 2010.

Sporting Kansas City vs FC Dallas

Dallas broke out of its offensive slump thanks to braces from David Texeira and Micael Barrios against Oklahoma City, but they'll have a much tougher task ahead of them when they face Sporting Kansas City. Sporting routed Dallas 4-0 just three weeks ago atoning for an earlier 3-1 loss back when Dallas was actually playing well. Dallas has not raised the Cup since 1997 while Kansas City won in 2004 and again in 2012.

WEST

Real Salt Lake vs Portland Timbers

This match features two clubs going in opposite directions. Real Salt Lake has won just two of their last eleven MLS matches (2-5-3) while Portland is in the midst of the longest winning streak in the history of their franchise. Not to mention that the Timbers just knocked their chief rivals, Seattle, out of the U.S. Open Cup. These two teams met on opening weekend and played to a 0-0 tie.

San Jose Earthquakes vs LA Galaxy

The San Jose Wondos get ready to face off against the Galaxy in the latest installation of the California Clásico. Both of these teams leaned heavily on their stars in Round 4 as Chris Wondolowski put the Quakes on his back and rallied them from a 2-0 deficit to knock off the Sacramento Republic while Robbie Keane picked up a hat trick in LA's 6-1 win over lower division side PSA Elite. The two clubs haven't faced each other yet this season, but LA won the season series a year ago with a win and two draws. Wondo scored a pair against LA last season.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

US Open Cup Recap - Round 4, Day 2

Columbus Crew 3 Richmond Kickers 1

Appearing for the Crew for the first time this year, 6'7" striker Adam Bedell scored a pair of goals and Ethan Finlay added another as the Crew defeated the Kickers 3-1.

DC United 3 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1 (a.e.t.)

Facundo Coria's first DC United goal wasn't enough by itself as United needed 30 extra minutes to knock off the Riverhounds. Kofi Opare netted the game winner while Nick DeLeon added an insurance goal.

New York Cosmos 2 New York City FC 2, Cosmos win 4-3 in Shootout

City wasted a pair of goals by Kwadwo Poku and blew a 2-0 lead on their way to elimination. Cosmos strike Lucky Mkosana scored in the 90th minute to tie the game and Patrick Mullins missed saw his attempt to win the shootout saved by Jimmy Maurer, the 4th overall pick in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft. Shay Facey then missed his attempt from the spot and Hunter Gorskie buried the game winner. The Cosmos have now knocked off MLS clubs from New York in consecutive tournaments.

Orlando City SC 4 Charleston Battery 4, Orlando wins 8-7 in Shootout

Orlando City rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to force extra time and then blew a 4-2 lead in extra time and needed a 10-round shootout to sneak past the Battery. Carlos Rivas made three penalty kicks during the match, but ironically missed during the shootout. Danny Mwanga scored the winning kick.

Charlotte Independence 1 New England Revolution 0

The Revs were the first MLS team to fall to a lower division side as they dropped a 1-0 decision to Charlotte. The Revs did not start Charlie Davies, Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo or Teal Bunbury and the offense struggled as a result.

Houston Dynamo 2 Austin Aztex 0

Despite using a lineup comprised mostly of back-ups, Houston scored on either side of halftime and knocked off Austin 2-0. Joe Willis, formerly a backup to Bill Hamid in DC, picked up the shutout in net for the Dynamo while Ricardo Clark added the insurance goal in second half stoppage time.

LA Galaxy 6 PSA Elite 1

LA actually trailed briefly against underdogs PSA Elite before blowing the game wide open. Robbie Keane scored three times, while Gyasi Zardes and Sebastian Lletget each had one apiece.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

US Open Cup Recap - Round 4, Day 1

New York Red Bulls 3 Atlanta Silverbacks 0

The Red Bulls were eliminated in this round of last year's tournament by the New York Cosmos 3-0. They didn't mess around this year against Atlanta starting regulars Bradley Wright-Phillips, Sacha Kljestan, Lloyd Sam, Luis Robles and others and cruised to a 3-0 win of their own. Sam and Ronald Zubar each scored in the opening 15 minutes, but Sam left the match just over 20 minutes in with both groin and ankle injuries. Sean Davis added an insurance goal in the second half.

Philadelphia Union 0 Rochester Rhinos 0, Philadelphia Wins 3-1 in Shootout

After 120 minutes of scoreless action, the Union edged out the Rochester Rhinos 3-1 in a penalty kick shootout. Maurice Edu, Vincent Nogueira and Cristian Maidana each converted for the Union. John McCarthy played the full match in net for Philadelphia and was scored on just once in four tries during the shootout.

Sporting Kansas City 1 Saint Louis FC 0

Benny Feilhaber connected with Graham Zusi for the match's lone goal as Sporting knocked off Saint Louis FC 1-0. Tim Melia remains unbeaten in net for Sporting in seven starts across all competitions since taking over for Luis Marín. Perhaps more importantly though for Sporting, Chance Myers made his return to the field for the first time after tearing his achilles tendon a year ago. Myers went 55 minuets before coming off in favor of rookie Saad-Abdul Salaam.

FC Dallas 4 Oklahoma City Energy 1

David Texeira and Michael Barrios both netted a pair of goals as FC Dallas jumped out to a 3-0 first half lead and cruised to a 4-1 win over the Energy. Dallas reached the semifinals of last year's tournament before falling on penalties to the Philadelphia Union.

Chicago Fire 1 Louisville City FC 0 (a.e.t.)

Quincy Amarikwa broke a 0-0 tie in the 115th minute as the Fire snuck by Louisville City. Sean Johnson picked up the shutout in net for Chicago. Scottish international Shaun Maloney came off the bench for the Fire, but left in extra time after taking a knock.

Colorado Rapids 4 Colorado Springs Switchbacks 1

Rookies Dominique Badji and Joseph Greenspan each scored goals while Dillon Serna had two and an assist as the Rapids routed the Switchbacks 4-1. Greenspan was making his first appearance for Colorado while Badji had lost his starting spot and had been seeing only limited minutes in recent matches.

Real Salt Lake 2 Seattle Sounders FC 2 1

Real Salt Lake rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit thanks to goals by Joao Plata and Javier Morales. Playing without regulars Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando, Jámison Olave or Tony Beltran and only getting five minutes from Álvaro Saborío, RSL got strong performances from its reserves and advanced to the 5th Round for the first time since 2013.

Portland Timbers 3 Seattle Sounders 1 (a.e.t.) 

In last year's quarterfinals, Seattle knocked off Portland 3-1 in extra time behind goals from Kenny Cooper and Marco Pappa. The Timbers returned the favor this year though as Rodney Wallace and Maximiliano Urruti scored after regulation guaranteeing a new U.S. Open Cup Champion in 2015. Seattle fought valiantly despite going a man down in the 69th minute when Brad Evans picked up a second yellow card, eventually drawing even behind a goal from Obafemi Martins, but they couldn't conjure up enough magic to knock off their rivals. Matters were made that much more difficult when they were reduced to seven men in extra time following subsequent ejections of Michael Azira and Clint Dempsey, AND an injury to Martins who left the match on a stretcher. Diego Valeri also scored for the Timbers as he made his return from injury.

San Jose Earthquakes 2 Sacramento Republic 2, San Jose Wins 6-5 in Shootout

In a rematch of last year's 4th Round match-up won by the Quakes, Sacramento looked to be on their way to a revengeful upset only to surrender a pair of goals to Chris Wondolowski in a six-minute span to force overtime. Still, Sacramento had their chances in extra time, AND had a chance to win in PKs, but Bryan Meredith made a huge save at 3-3, the Quakes made their final 3 kicks to win the 8-round shootout, 6-5.

Weekly Top Tens and Power Rankings - 6/16/15

THE SOCCERSMITH'S MLS POWER RANKINGS

1 - Seattle Sounders (9-4-2) - Exploded for three second half goals against Dallas as they became the first to nine wins this season. Martins and Dempsey are still in the middle of everything, but Seattle's starting to get contributions from throughout the roster. Last Week: 1a
1a - Sporting Kansas City (6-2-6) - Idle this week, but Seattle's impressive win was enough to drop them ever so slightly. Last Week: 1
3 - Toronto FC (6-5-1) - Michael Bradley looked great in Europe these past two weeks, let's see if that carries over into his play in MLS. If not, they still have Sebastian Giovinco holding things down. Last Week: 3
4 - New England Revolution (6-4-6) - This club definitely is stronger with Jermaine Jones on the field, but it was nice to see Diego Fagúndez contribute in his absence. Last Week: 6
5 - Portland Timbers (6-5-4) - Which Timbers club is going to show up THIS week? Got a much needed bye to rest some players so hopefully that helps. Last Week: 5
6 - DC United (8-5-4) - Surrendered a rebound goal off a penalty and nothing else, but the offense has to do better. Last Week: 4
7 - Vancouver Whitecaps (8-6-2) - Russell Teibert converted a penalty for Canada, but otherwise not a lot of action in the northwest. Let's see if Octavio Rivero responds well to his week off. Last Week: 7
8 - New York Red Bulls (4-4-5) -  Probably don't deserve to be this high, but we'll see what they do this week. Last Week: 10
9 - Orlando City SC (5-5-5) - Orlando is unbeaten since Tally Hall took over in goal five matches ago. Last Week: 15
10 - Houston Dynamo (5-5-5) - I've committe to buying Will Bruin. will it pay off? Last Week: 11

MLS SuperDraft Rookie Report - Week 15

Pretty quiet week for the rookies with only five matches on the schedule. Cyle Larin scored for Canada in World Cup Qualifying, but Chicago's Matt Polster was the only member of the 2015 SuperDraft class to start an MLS match in Week 15. Here's a rundown of all the action.

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Scored for Canada vs Dominica (2018 WCQ)
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs New England, 90 mins, Yellow Card
17 - Miguel Aguilar - DC United - Appeared as sub vs Orlando City, 33 mins

MLS Weekly Recap - Week 15

Here's this week's recap:

Not a lot of action in MLS this week with only five games on the slate, but more big news on the National Team front as the U.S. stunned Germany in Germany 2-1. New York City FC midfielder Mix Diskerud notched the equalizer while Bobby Wood scored the game winner for a second straight match. It marked the first time the U.S. had ever beaten the Germans in Germany... Canada won their World Cup Qualifying opener against Dominica behind goals from MLSers Cyle Larin (Orlando City) and Russell Teibert (Vancouver). The second leg will be played today (6/16)... The U.S. U-20s lost a heartbreaker in the U-20 World Cup quarterfinals falling on penalties 6-5 after playing to a 0-0 draw with Serbia... New York City FC won their second straight behind goals by David Villa and Diskerud... Seattle scored three times in the second half as they routed FC Dallas and became the first MLS team to nine wins this year... Bill Hamid saved a Kaká penalty, but couldn't recover for the rebound as DC United fell 1-0 to the suddenly surging Florida-based football club. Kaká has seven goals on the season and his club is unbeaten in their last five matches... The Galaxy continue to tread water and salvaged a point against the Columbus Crew despite no Steven Gerrard (still), no Robbie Keane, and Gyasi Zardes being limited to 30 minutes off the bench.

Here's a rundown of all the action:

RESULTS

WEDNESDAY

United States 2 Germany 1

THURSDAY

Canada 2 Dominica 0 (World Cup Qualifying)

SATURDAY

New York City FC 3 Montreal Impact 1
Columbus Crew 1 LA Galaxy 1
New England Revolution 2 Chicago Fire 0
Seattle Sounders 3 FC Dallas 0

SUNDAY

Orlando City SC 1 DC United 0

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Gold Cup Snubs in MLS

Here's five MLS-based players who didn't make Jürgen Klinsmann's provisional Gold Cup roster that have a right to feel snubbed:

1) Benny Feilhaber - Feilhaber is in the midst of his best MLS season with 5 goals and a league-leading 7 assists while starting every game for Sporting Kansas City. Feilhaber has been more or less a non-factor since the 2010 World Cup Cycle appearing in just 3 matches for the U.S. since 2010. Replaces: Brad Davis.

2) Ethan Finlay - Like Feilhaber, Finlay also has seven assists this season tying his career high set in 2014. Finlay has either scored or assisted on 45% of Columbus's goals this season. Despite an 11-goal season in 2014, Finlay has yet to appear in a match for the United States. Replaces: DaMarcus Beasley.

3) Will Bruin - Bruin's been one of the hottest players in MLS lately. The only American with more goals in MLS this season is Chris Wondolowski, but unlike Wondo, Bruin hasn't been doing his damage at the penalty spot. In fact, Bruin leads all Americans in goals from the run of play with 7. That's more than Clint Dempsey and more than Jozy Altidore if you're keeping track. Replaces: Chris Wondolowski.

4) Charlie Davies - This one might be a bit of a reach, but I really like what Charlie Davies brings to the table. He's not the player he was before the accident, but hasn't his play in last year's postseason and in the early part of this season earned him something? Replaces: Alan Gordon.

5) Clint Irwin - Irwin is tied for the lead in shutouts among American keepers in MLS with Nick Rimando and he has a better goals against average than the U.S.'s #2 keeper does. Irwin's save percentage trails only Stefan Frei and Bill Hamid among keepers with at least ten starts this season. Replaces: William Yarbrough.

USMNT Provisional Gold Cup Roster

Here's a list of the 35 players named to the U.S.'s preliminary Gold Cup roster. The list needs to be pared down to 23 before the 27th of June, but up to six players can be added for the quarterfinal stage. MLS Players are listed in bold.

Goalkeepers:

Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
William Yarbrough (Club Leon)
Bill Hamid (DC United)

Defenders

John Brooks (Hertha Berlin)
Ventura Alvarado (Club America)
Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy)
Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City)
DeAndre Yedlin (Tottenham Hotspur)
Timothy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Brek Shea (Orlando City SC)
Michael Orozco (Puebla)
DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo)
Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders)
Tim Ream (Bolton)
Greg Garza (Club Tijuana)

Midfielders

Michael Bradley (Toronto FC)
Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes)
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake)
Mix Diskerud (New York City FC)
Joe Corona (Club Tijuana)
Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo)
Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Perry Kitchen (DC United)
Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt 04)
Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution)
Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)
Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

Forwards

Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution)
Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC)
Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders)
Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy)
Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar)
Jordan Morris (Stanford)
Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)


Wins and Wins and Wins for the US

The U.S. is on a hot streak right now. Men's, Women's, Senior Teams, Youth Teams, everything is coming up red, white and blue. Here's a rundown of the past couple days in case you've missed it.

Women's World Cup

Megan Rapinoe scored on either side of intermission and Christen Press delivered the game winner as the U.S. defeated Australia 3-1 in their opening match of the World Cup. Hope Solo added five saves and Alex Morgan turned in an 11-minute shift off the bench as the U.S. jumped to the top of Group D. Next up for the Americans, a showdown against their former coach, Pia Sundhage, who now coaches her native Sweden. The two sides will face off on Friday night in Winnipeg. Sweden drew with Nigeria 3-3 in their opener after blowing leads of 2-0 and 3-2.

U-20 World Cup

Rubio Rubin scored the lone goal of the match and goalkeeper Zack Steffen saved a late penalty by Jarlan Barrera as the U.S. upended Colombia 1-0 and advanced the World Cup quarterfinals. MLSers Matt Miazga (NYRB), Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Marky Delgado (FC Toronto) and Bradford Jamieson (LA Galaxy) all started for the U.S., however Jamieson left 11 minutes in with an injury and Acosta was ejected following his second yellow card in the 81st minute. Jordan Allen (Real Salt Lake) and Tommy Thompson (San Jose) both made appearances off the bench for the U.S. Next up for the U.S. is Serbia who edged out Hungary 2-1 in extra time. Serbia won Group D with a 2-1-0 record outscoring their opponents 4-1. Six different players have scored for the Serbians so far in the tournament.

U-23 Toulon Tournament

The U.S. capped off a successful run with a 2-1 win over England to take third place in the prestigious Toulon Tournament. The two U.S. goals both came by way of the penalty spot with Alonso Hernandez scoring in the first half and Benji Joya, who spent part of the 2014 season on loan to the Chicago Fire, scoring the game winner in the second. The third place finish tied for the best finish ever for the U.S. in the tournament tying the 1989 U.S. team that also finished in third, ironically also thanks to a win over England.

Men's National Team Friendly

Days after pulling off a stunning come-from-behind win over the Netherlands in Amsterdam, the U.S. Men were at it again doing the unthinkable and going toe-to-toe with Germany IN GERMANY, and coming away with a 2-1 win. The unlikely hero? Once again, for the second time in as many matches, Bobby Wood scored the game winner, this one on a blistering left-footed shot from outside the box that found the side netting at the far post. The U.S. also got a goal from New York City FC's Mix Diskerud who took a cross from Michael Bradley (Toronto FC) off his chest before flicking the equalizer past German keeper Ron-Robert Zieler. The U.S. men have now won three straight knocking off Mexico, the 3rd place team from the 2014 World Cup, and the 2014 World Cup Champions. Not a bad time to be clicking with the Gold Cup looming.

Monday, June 8, 2015

MLS Weekly Recap - Week 14

Lots to talk about this week, so here we go! The Montreal Impact picked up two wins this week knocking off Canadian rivals Vancouver AND the Columbus Crew. Just like that, they're back to .500... The Portland Timbers have won three straight matches for the first time in franchise history. Fanendo Adi came off the bench to score twice in the last ten minutes against New England... Will Bruin scored two more goals for the Dynamo who scored 4 times in the second half to defeat the Red Bulls... New York City FC won for just the second time this season snapping a winless streak that dates back to March 15th... In a battle of two of the West's best, Seattle was downed by Sporting KC 1-0 thanks to a Benny Feilhaber penalty kick. Seattle played the match without Clint Dempsey OR Obafemi Martins... Adaílton became the first player in MLS history to score two own goals in the same game as the Fire lost twice this week and gave up six goals in the process... Playing without Michael Bradley and with Jozy Altidore on limited minutes due to a hamstring injury, Sebastian Giovinco scored twice and led the Reds to a 2-1 win over DC United.

Here's a rundown of all the action:

RESULTS

WEDNESDAY

DC United 3 Chicago Fire 1
Philadelphia Union 3 Columbus Crew 0
Montreal Impact 2 Vancouver Whitecaps 1

FRIDAY

Houston Dynamo 4 New York Red Bulls 2
United States 4 Netherlands 3

SATURDAY

New York City FC 2 Philadelphia Union 1
Toronto FC 2 DC United 1
Montreal Impact 2 Columbus Crew 1
Sporting Kansas City 1 Seattle Sounders 0
Orlando City SC 3 Chicago Fire 2
Vancouver Whitecaps 1 LA Galaxy 0
Portland Timbers 2 New England Revolution 0

SUNDAY

Colorado Rapids 0 Real Salt Lake 0
FC Dallas 0 San Jose Earthquakes 0

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Week 14 - 2015 MLS SuperDraft Rookie Report

Cyle Larin was at it again this week, coming off the bench for Orlando to score a brilliant goal, his 5th of his rookie campaign. Around the rest of the league, Sergio Campbell made his debut for Columbus going a full 90 minutes against Philadelphia while nine other members of the 2015 Draft Class started as least one match this week. Here's a rundown of all the action:

1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Appeared as sub vs Chicago, 24 mins, 1 shot, 1 goal
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs FC Dallas, 90 mins, 1 shot
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs DC United, 90 mins, Yellow Card
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs OCSC, 83 mins
10 - Connor Hallisey - Sporting KC - Started vs Seattle, 85 mins, 3 shots
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC - Appeared as sub vs Seattle, 5 mins
13 - Tim Parker - Vancouver - Started vs Montreal, 90 mins, Yellow Card
14 - Axel Sjöberg - Colorado - Started vs Real Salt Lake, 90 mins, 2 shots, Yellow Card
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Started vs Sporting, 77 mins
17 - Miguel Aguilar - DC United - Started vs Chicago, 45 mins
19 - Sergio Campbell - Columbus - Started vs Philadelphia, 90 mins, 2 shots
20 - Amadou Dia - Sporting KC - Started vs Seattle, 90 mins, 1 shot
21 - Ignacio Maganto - LA Galaxy - Started vs Vancouver, 75 mins
36 - Rob Lovejoy - Houston - Appeared as sub vs NYRB, 24 mins  



MLS Weekly Top Tens and Power Rankings - 6/8/15

THE SOCCERSMITH'S MLS POWER RANKINGS

1 - Sporting Kansas City (6-2-6) - Yes, Seattle didn't have their stars, and yes Feilhaber's goal was a result of a soft PK, but when you're number two, and you beat number one, you probably deserve to move up. At least right now. Tim Melia has been dominant in six starts since taking over in goal. Last Week: 2
1a - Seattle Sounders (8-4-2) - Not fair to drop them too far considering their top two offensive players weren't available against Sporting, so we'll call them 1a this week. Last Week: 1
3 - Toronto FC (6-5-1) - Sebastian Giovinco is the best player in the league right now. Period. Last Week: 6
4 - DC United (8-4-4) - Good win against Chicago, but couldn't contain the Atomic Ant in a loss to Toronto. Last Week: 5
5 - Portland Timbers (6-5-4) - The suddenly relevant Timbers have now won three in a row despite not having Diego Valeri on the field. Fanendo Adi took his demotion to the bench well scoring two goals off the bench in their win over New England. Last Week: 12
6 - New England Revolution (5-4-6) - Shocked late by Portland surrendering a pair of late goals. New England is still a force to be reckoned with, but they really need Lee Nguyen to step up. Last Week: 3
7 - Vancouver Whitecaps (8-6-2) - Bounced back from a loss to Montreal to defeat the Galaxy 1-0. Octavio Rivero has just one goal in his last ten matches. Last Week: 7
8 - Montreal Impact (4-4-2) - Beat the Whitecaps AND the Crew in an impressive week. Now they just need some consistency because I feel like these guys have the potential to be really good. Last Week: 17
9 - FC Dallas (6-4-4)Fabián Castillo was limited to 30 minutes while Blas Pérez was away on international duty. The result? No goals for Dallas. Last Week: 9
10 - New York Red Bulls (4-4-5) - Couldn't hang with Houston in a wild second half. The Red Bulls, who started out hot, have cooled off. Last Week: 8

Friday, June 5, 2015

USMNT U-20 & U-23 Updates

U-23s 

Playing in the Toulon Tournament, the U.S. find themselves getting ready to play in the third place game against England after finishing in second place in Group A behind France, but ahead of the Netherlands, Costa Rica and Qatar. The U.S. is 2-2 in the tourney, but advanced ahead of the Netherlands on goal differential thanks to France's 4-0 win over the Oranje on Thursday. France will face Morocco for the title. Both the consolation match and the finals are set for Sunday. The U.S. has placed in the tournament just one other time when they finished third back in 1989. Here's a look at how the U.S. has fared so far:

L 3-1 vs France - Jordan Morris (1)
W 3-1 vs Netherlands - Jerome Kiesewetter (1), Alonso Hernández (1), Will Packwood (1)
L 2-1 vs Costa Rica - Fatai Alashe (1)
W 1-0 vs Qatar - Julian Green (1)

U-20s 

After opening the U-20 World Cup with wins over Myanmar and New Zealand, the U.S. had a chance to win their group with a win or draw against the Ukraine. Unfortunately, they didn't have an answer for Viktor Kovalenko (Shakhtar Donetsk) as he scored three times in a 3-0 win. Kovalenko now has five goals in the tournament. The U.S. now settles for second place in Group A, but is still on track to advance to the Round of 16. Around the tournament, there have been several surprises as big name countries Argentina and Mexico have already been eliminated from the competition. The U.S. will now face Colombia on June 10th. The Colombians finished second in Group C with a record of 1-1-1 defeating Qatar 1-0 before drawing 1-1 with Senegal and losing 3-1 to Portugal. Here's a look at how the U.S. has fared:

W 2-1 vs Myanmar - Maki Tall (1), Emerson Hyndman (1)
W 4-0 vs New Zealand - Bradford Jamieson (1), Hyndman (2), Paul Arriola (1), Rubio Rubin (1)
L 3-0 vs Ukraine

Orange Crushed, U.S. Stuns Netherlands 4-3

Well, I'll be honest with you. I didn't see that coming. Especially when we fell behind 1-0, and absolutely when we went down 3-1. But here we are, 4-3 winners over the vaunted Dutch. Beating them on their home field. The heroes were unlikely ones too. Goals were scored by Gyasi Zardes, John Brooks, Danny Williams and Bobby Wood. Yes, Michael Bradley was tremendous, but so was Jordan Morris. So a U.S. team without Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, Jozy Altidore, Tim Howard, Matt Besler, Omar Gonzalez, Geoff Cameron or Alejandro Bedoya walked into Amsterdam and defeated the Dutch. Is this the type of result we can get used to seeing? I don't know if I'm ready to go that far, but it was definitely a positive and the world ought take notice. Three final thoughts:

1) As good as the offense was, the defense was not. The U.S. were destroyed by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (2 goals, 1 assist) and surrendered 27 shots. Yes, the U.S. rallied for a win, but the fact remains that they fell behind 3-1 in the first hour. That's not good enough, and comebacks of that magnitude come along once in a blue moon and are no way to live.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

U.S. U-20s Win Again, Róchez Scores Twice for Honduras

Two games, two wins. The U.S. U-20s have clinched a spot in the knockout round of the U-20 World Cup after cruising to a 4-0 win over New Zealand. LA's Bradford Jamieson opened the scoring while Emerson Hyndman, Paul Arriola and Rubio Rubin all added goals in the rout. MLSers Matt Miazga (NYRB), Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Marky Delgado (Toronto), and Jamieson (LA) all started for the U.S. while Tommy Thompson (San Jose) once again came in off the bench. Here's the highlights:


MLS Weekly Predictions - Week 14

Wednesday

DC United 0 Chicago Fire 0 - Two struggling offenses will do battle. Don't expect a lot of scoring unless Kennedy Igboananike's performance this weekend was his coming out party.

Vancouver Whitecaps 3 Montreal Impact 0 - The Caps will look to make a statement in a preview of the Canadian Championship.

Columbus Crew 3 Philadelphia Union 0 - Do you think Kei Kamara is going to slow down against Philadelphia? I don't.

Friday

New York Red Bulls 2 Houston Dynamo 1 - The Red Bulls defense needs to slow down the Killer Bs (Will Bruin and Giles Barnes) if the hope to come away with three points.

Saturday

Toronto FC 2 DC United 0 - Sebastian Giovinco looks like the best player in the league right now. Even without his supporting cast, he's making things happen.

Columbus Crew 2 Montreal Impact 0 - I feel like Columbus should have a lot more wins than they do with the way they're playing.

Philadelphia Union 1 New York City FC 1 - Hard to feel good about either one of these squads right now.

Chicago Fire 1 Orlando City SC 1 - Kaka has his side playing better, but they're still inconsistent.

Seattle Sounders 1 Sporting Kansas City 1 - If you only get to watch one game this weekend, this is the one you should watch.

Portland Timbers 1 New England Revolution 1 - The Revs will be without Jermaine Jones and Juan Agudelo this week. They have plenty of depth, but Lee Nguyen needs to play better.

LA Galaxy 1 Vancouver Whitecaps 0 - The Galaxy just keep finding a way. I guess that's what championship caliber teams do.

Sunday

Colorado Rapids 1 Real Salt Lake 1 - Two teams going the wrong direction. Can both teams lose?

San Jose Earthquakes 3 FC Dallas 2 - Somebody other than Wondo needs to start scoring for San Jose.


Week 13: 4-9 (Seattle, LA, Sporting KC, Vancouver)

Overall: 35-74 (Things were looking pretty good until going 1 for 9 this weekend)

Weekly Top Tens and Power Rankings - 6/2/15

THE SOCCERSMITH'S MLS POWER RANKINGS

1 - Seattle Sounders (8-3-2) - With a pair of wins this week, the Sounders easily hung on to the top spot in our rankings. With Dempsey and Martins playing well, the fact that Marco Pappa is now stepping up his play makes them all the more dangerous. Last Week: 1
2 - Sporting Kansas City (5-2-6) - Sporting erupted for four goals with Dom Dwyer on the bench thanks to the return of Graham Zusi. With Tim Melia locking down the starting keeper spot, the defense has picked up as well. Last Week: 2
3 - New England Revolution (5-3-5) - Lee Nguyen is making last season's breakout performance seem kind of fluky, but Charlie Davies, Teal Bunbury and Juan Agudelo have been picking put the slack. Last Week: 4
4 - Columbus Crew (4-4-4) - Kei Kamara already has 10 goals. His career high is 11.  Last Week: 6
5 - DC United (7-3-4) - Rallied for a win against Philadelphia after coming up empty against Portland. Offensive struggles have really been the story, but the defense hasn't posted a shutout since May 2nd. Last Week: 5
6 - Toronto FC (5-5-1) - No Jozy Altidore? No problem. Luke Moore has a goal and two assists since Jozy got hurt. Last Week: 11
7 - Vancouver Whitecaps (7-5-2) - Got a much needed win against RSL, but Octavio Rivero has just one goal in his last eight starts. Last Week: 9
8- New York Red Bulls (4-3-5) - Seattle's late game magic stole a point from them. On the bright side, New York's core won't be impacted by National Team Duty. Last Week: 7
9 - FC Dallas (6-4-3) - Dallas has lost 4-0 twice this season. Their three game winning streak to start the season seems a long way away. Last Week: 3
10 - LA Galaxy (5-4-6) - Ignacio Maganto is turning into a nice find as the Galaxy continue to stay afloat while they wait for Steven Gerrard. Last Week: 13

MLS Weekly Recap - Week 13

Lots to talk about this week, so here we go! Sporting KC won big this week against FC Dallas with Graham Zusi turning in a monster effort in his return to the starting lineup. Connor Hallisey made his first start for Sporting and picked up an assist... The Atomic Ant had a pair of assists as Toronto didn't appear to miss Jozy Altidore against the Quakes. Chris Wondolowski scored the 101st goal of his career in a losing effort... Kei Kamara became the first player to reach 10 goals, but the short-handed Crew were forced to settle for a draw... Will Johnson returned to action for the Timbers as Portland picked up a pair of wins this week to move back into contention... The Sounders became the first team to reach eight wins this season as they scored a late winner to knock off the New York Red Bulls.

Here's a rundown of all the action:

RESULTS

WEDNESDAY

Seattle Sounders 1 Colorado Rapids 0
Portland Timbers 1 DC United 0
LA Galaxy 1 Real Salt Lake 0

FRIDAY

Sporting Kansas City 4 FC Dallas 0

SATURDAY

Toronto FC 3 San Jose Earthquakes 1
Vancouver Whitecaps 2 Real Salt Lake 1
DC United 2 Philadelphia Union 1
Houston Dynamo 1 New York City FC 1
Columbus Crew 2 Orlando City SC 2
Chicago Fire 3 Montreal Impact 0
Portland Timbers 2 Colorado Rapids 1

SUNDAY

Seattle Sounders 2 New York Red Bulls 1
New England Revolution 2 LA Galaxy 2