Here's this week's recap:
Johan Venegas made his Montreal Impact debut, but the Costa Rican International was not enough to propel the Impact to a victory over their Eastern Conference rivals. Lloyd Sam equalized early in the second half and then the Impact fought to preserve a draw after Laurent Ciman's ejection in the 79th minute... Sebastian Giovinco's hat trick was more than enough for Toronto FC to dispatch Orlando City despite playing without Michael Bradley. Orlando's Cyle Larin was held scoreless after scoring five goals in his previous two matches... Adam Kwarasey earned his league leading 10th shutout as the Timbers earned their 10th win of the season in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire. Fanendo Adi scored the only goal of the match, his 10th of the season... Michael Bradley returned to the Toronto lineup on Saturday, and while he scored his third goal of the season, the Reds were no match for Sporting Kansas City as Sporting got another goal and an assist from Benny Feilhaber... Tranquillo Barnetta made his first start for the Union, but defense was the story between Orlando City and Philadelphia as the two sides played to a 0-0 draw... DC United was outshot by Montreal 25-1, but thanks to the return of Bill Hamid, DC United somehow pulled out a 1-0 victory. Hamid made eight saves in the match... DaMarcus Beasley's first MLS goal since 2003 helped propel the Houston Dynamo to a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. San Jose played a man down for the final 30 minutes after rookie Fatai Alashe picked up his second yellow card of the match... Kei Kamara scored twice in the second half as Columbus rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Rapids 2-1... Vancouver matched DC United at 13 wins with a 4-0 rout of Real Salt Lake. Jeff Attinella allowed 4 more goals as Real Salt Lake has been outscored 10-4 in their last two MLS matches... Giovani dos Santos's MLS debut was a huge success as the Mexican striker tallied a goal and an assist in just 69 minutes of play and the Galaxy defeated the Sounders 3-1 despite falling behind in the opening minute. Seattle, who played the match without Clint Dempsey or Obafemi Martins, also lost Chad Barrett to an injury minutes into the match and has lost five in a row and 8 of 9... The Red Bulls swept the subway series with New York City FC thanks to a 2-0 win on Sunday night highlighted by goals Bradley Wright-Phillips and Felipe. City is now 0-2-0 in the Frank Lampard era.
RESULTS
TUESDAY
Real Salt Lake 1 Municipal (Guatemala) 0 - CCL, Group G
Querétaro (Mexico) 2 San Francisco (Panama) 0 - CCL, Group C
Santos Laguna (Mexico) 4 W Connection FC (Trinidad & Tobago) - CCL, Group A
WEDNESDAY
New York Red Bulls 1 Montreal Impact 1
Toronto FC 4 Orlando City SC 1
Vancouver Whitecaps 1 Seattle Sounders 1 - CCL, Group F
Club América (Mexico) 4 Motagua (Honduras) 0 - CCL, Group E
Árabe Unido (Panama) 3 Montego Bay United (Jamaica) 0 - CCL, Group H
THURSDAY
LA Galaxy 5 Central FC (Trinidad and Tobago) 1 - CCL, Group D
Herediano (Costa Rica) 3 Isidro Metapán (El Salvador) 0 - CCL, Group B
FRIDAY
Portland Timbers 1 Chicago Fire 0
SATURDAY
Sporting Kansas City 3 Toronto FC 1
Philadelphia Union 0 Orlando City SC 0
DC United 1 Montreal Impact 0
Houston Dynamo 2 San Jose Earthquakes 1
Columbus Crew 2 Colorado Rapids 1
Vancouver Whitecaps 4 Real Salt Lake 0
SUNDAY
LA Galaxy 3 Seattle Sounders 1
New York Red Bulls 2 New York City FC 0
NOTABLE GOALS
Joao Plata (Real Salt Lake) - Joao Plata scored less than two minutes into Real Salt Lake's Champions League Opener against Municipal (Guatemala) and that was all they'd need as they hung on for the 1-0 win for three big points on the road.
Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC) - Playing without Michael Bradley or Jozy Alitdore, Sebastian Giovinco stole the show in Toronto's 4-1 win over Orlando City. Giovinco scored three times, his second hat trick and fourth multi-goal effort of the season, and the Italian international now has 16 goals on the year.
Tim Parker (Vancouver) - Parker, the 13th overall pick in this year's draft, scored the opening goal in Vancouver's Champions League showdown with the Seattle Sounders. The 6'2" center back has made 5 regular season starts for the Caps this year.
Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy) - Alan Gordon started LA's Champions League Opener and delivered a goal and an assist in just 57 minutes against Central F.C. (Trinidad and Tobago).
Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy) - Zardes had a big week as he had a goal and an assist in LA's Champions League win on Thursday and then turned around to score again against Seattle on Sunday. Zardes has five goals for the Galaxy this season.
Giovani dos Santos (LA Galaxy) - Gio dos Santos has put the rest of the league on notice scoring and assisting off the bench in his Galaxy debut against Central and then producing the same results as a starter in LA's 3-1 win over Seattle.
Ignacio Maganto (LA Galaxy) - LA's top pick in this year's draft at #21 started their Champions League opener and produced the final goal in a 5-1 rout.
Fanendo Adi (Portland) - The 24 year-old Adi reached double digit goals with his game winner against Chicago on Friday night. Adi scored nine goals in his debut season a year ago.
Benny Feilhaber (Sporting KC) - Feilhaber's sensational season continued this week as he notched yet another goal and an assist in Sporting's 3-1 win over Toronto. Feilhaber has the same amount of goals in 21 matches this year that he scored in 87 matches over the previous three seasons (8).
Michael Bradley (Toronto FC) - Bradley returned to the Toronto lineup for the first time since June 27th, and while he scored his career-high third goal, Toronto came up short in a 3-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City.
Krisztián Németh (Sporting KC) - The Hungarian Hammer scored for the first time in over a month as Sporting cruised to a 3-1 win over Toronto FC. Németh has eight goals on the season.
Chris Rolfe (DC United) - Rolfe, now 32 years old, tied his career high for goals in a season when he scored the game winner in DC's 1-0 win over Montreal. Rolfe's only other nine-goal season came in 2008 with the Chicago Fire, but more remarkable was the fact that United was outshot 25-1 and still managed a win.
DaMarcus Beasley (Houston) - Run DMB scored his first MLS goal since 2003 when he was a 21 year-old member of the Chicago Fire. He now has 15 goals in his MLS career which dates back to 2000, and this one helped the Dynamo to a 2-1 win over San Jose.
Kei Kamara (Columbus) - Kamara scored twice in the Crew's 2-1 win over Colorado helping him retain the league's scoring lead with 17 goals in 24 matches. In his previous 48 MLS matches, Kamara scored just 18 goals. Kamara's next goal will be the 70th of his MLS career.
Octavio Rivero (Vancouver) - Rivero knocked in an early penalty helping set the tone early as Vancouver routed Real Salt Lake 4-0 on Saturday night. Rivero has nine goals on the season including four game winners.
Pa-Modou Kah (Vancouver) - After scoring one goal in his first 58 MLS matches, Kah now has three in his last two after tallying in Vancouver's 4-0 rout of Real Salt Lake.
Cristian Techera (Vancouver) - The 23 year-old Techera picked up his first MLS brace in Vancouver's 4-0 win over RSL. Techera now has 4 goals and 3 assists in his first MLS season.
Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy) - Keane made it goals in back-to-back matches and also added an assist in LA's 3-1 win over Seattle. The Galaxy now have four wins in their last five matches with Keane tallying eight goals during that stretch.
Bradley Wright-Phillips (NYRB) - BWP made it double-digit goals in back-to-back seasons after netting the game winner against New York City FC on Sunday night. Wright-Phillips has scored four goals in three matches against City this season, all Red Bulls wins.
SHUTOUTS BY:
Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake) - Rimando made three saves in Real Salt Lake's 1-0 Champions League win over Municipal (Guatemala).
Adam Kwarasey (Portland) - The league leader in shutouts became the first keeper to double digit clean sheets in 2015. The former Ghanaian National Team goalie has back-to-back shutouts for the Timbers.
Tally Hall (Orlando City) - Hall made four saves and earned his first shutout since June 24th as Orlando City played Philadelphia to a scoreless draw. Hall has four shutouts in 14 starts this season. He had a career high 12 shutouts with the Dynamo in 2012.
John McCarthy (Philadelphia) - McCarthy earned the first shutout of his career in Philadelphia's 0-0 draw with Orlando City. McCarthy made just one save while making the seventh start of his first MLS season.
Bill Hamid (DC United) - Hamid returned to action for the first time since the end of June and turned in an 8-save effort that helped United overcome a 25-1 shots disadvantage and turn it into three points.
David Ousted (Vancouver) - Ousted made it back-to-back shutouts and three straight wins for the Caps as they soundly beat Real Salt Lake on Saturday night. Ousted has nine shutouts on the year and leads the league with 13 wins.
Luis Robles (NYRB) - Robles equaled last season's shutout total by picking up his sixth of the year in New York's 2-0 win over their crosstown rivals. Robles has 25 shutouts in his MLS career.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
MLS SuperDraft Rookie Watch, Week 23
Orlando City's Conor Donovan made his MLS debut against Philadelphia, but hobbled off in the first half with a knee injury. Elsewhere, ejections were the name of the game this week as both San Jose's Fatai Alashe and Colorado's Axel Sjöberg earned double yellows and were sent off in their respective club's losses. Meanwhile, four rookies got Champions League starts with both Vancouver's Tim Parker and LA's Ignacio Maganto finding the back of the net. Here's a rundown of all the action:
MLS
1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Toronto FC, 90 mins, 3 shots
1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Philadelphia, 90 mins, 2 shots
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs Houston, 60 mins, yellow card, red card
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs Portland, 90 mins, yellow card
10 - Connor Hallisey - Sporting KC - Started vs Toronto, 90 mins, 1 shot
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC - Sub vs Toronto, 14 mins
14 - Axel Sjöberg - Colorado - Started vs Columbus, 89 mins, yellow card, red card
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Sub vs LA, 86 mins 2 shots
20 - Amadou Dia - Sporting KC - Sub vs Toronto, 2 mins
21 - Ignacio Maganto - LA Galaxy - Sub vs Seattle, 1 min
22 - Conor Donovan - Orlando City - Started vs Philadelphia, 14 mins
27 - Boyd Okwuonu - Real Salt Lake - Sub vs Vancouver, 18 mins
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Sub vs LA, 30 mins, 2 shots, yellow card
CCL
13 - Tim Parker - Vancouver - Started vs Seattle, 90 mins, 1 shot, 1 goal
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Started vs Vancouver, 90 mins
21 - Ignacio Maganto - LA Galaxy - Started vs Central, 90 mins, 2 shots, 1 goal
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Started vs Vancouver, 90 mins
MLS
1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Toronto FC, 90 mins, 3 shots
1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Philadelphia, 90 mins, 2 shots
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs Houston, 60 mins, yellow card, red card
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs Portland, 90 mins, yellow card
10 - Connor Hallisey - Sporting KC - Started vs Toronto, 90 mins, 1 shot
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC - Sub vs Toronto, 14 mins
14 - Axel Sjöberg - Colorado - Started vs Columbus, 89 mins, yellow card, red card
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Sub vs LA, 86 mins 2 shots
20 - Amadou Dia - Sporting KC - Sub vs Toronto, 2 mins
21 - Ignacio Maganto - LA Galaxy - Sub vs Seattle, 1 min
22 - Conor Donovan - Orlando City - Started vs Philadelphia, 14 mins
27 - Boyd Okwuonu - Real Salt Lake - Sub vs Vancouver, 18 mins
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Sub vs LA, 30 mins, 2 shots, yellow card
CCL
13 - Tim Parker - Vancouver - Started vs Seattle, 90 mins, 1 shot, 1 goal
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Started vs Vancouver, 90 mins
21 - Ignacio Maganto - LA Galaxy - Started vs Central, 90 mins, 2 shots, 1 goal
40 - Oniel Fisher - Seattle - Started vs Vancouver, 90 mins
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
CONCACAF Champions League Starts Tonight!
The biggest club soccer competition in our region is back with three matches tonight kicking off group play in the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League. Here's a quick rundown of who's in this year's tournament:
Group A
W Connection F.C. (Trinidad and Tobago)
Saprissa (Costa Rica)
Santos Laguna (Mexico)
Group B
Isidro Metapán (El Salvador)
Herediano (Costa Rica)
Tigres UANL (Mexico)
Group C
Verdes (Belize)
San Francisco (Panama)
Querétaro (Mexico)
Group D
Central (Trinidad and Tobago)
Comunicaciones (Guatemala)
LA Galaxy (USA)
Group A
W Connection F.C. (Trinidad and Tobago)
Saprissa (Costa Rica)
Santos Laguna (Mexico)
Group B
Isidro Metapán (El Salvador)
Herediano (Costa Rica)
Tigres UANL (Mexico)
Group C
Verdes (Belize)
San Francisco (Panama)
Querétaro (Mexico)
Group D
Central (Trinidad and Tobago)
Comunicaciones (Guatemala)
LA Galaxy (USA)
Monday, August 3, 2015
What's up with Jozy?
Not a good couple of months for Jozy Altidore. Here's a look at some of the "highlights" of Jozy's last four months.
March 31 - Ejected following a double yellow against Switzerland
May 16 - Left match versus New England with hamstring injury
July 3 - Missed a penalty kick in friendly versus Guatemala
July 7 - Subbed off after 59 minutes against Honduras in Gold Cup Group Play
July 10 - Subbed off after 45 minutes against Haiti in Gold Cup Group Play
July 13 - Benched against Panama in Gold Cup Group Play
July 14 - Removed from Gold Cup Roster and replaced by Alan Gordon
August 1 - Ejected in 3-1 loss versus New England after 39 mins
In summary, a pair of ejections, an injury, a missed penalty, and losing his roster spot in the Gold Cup. Not good at all. Hopefully whatever it is, he snaps out of it, because he's needed by both club and country.
Weekly Top Tens and Power Rankings
THE SOCCERSMITH'S MLS POWER RANKINGS
1 - Sporting Kansas City (9-4-7) - Settled for a draw with Houston, but still have a league-low four losses. Last Week: 2
2 - LA Galaxy (10-7-7) - Sebastian Lletget already has six goals, Steven Gerrard and Robbie Keane are clicking, and now they're getting ready to bring Giovanni Dos Santos into the fold. Last Week: 4
3 - FC Dallas (11-6-5) - Saw their winning streak snapped and finally lost a game in which Kellyn Acosta started, but no one in Dallas is panicking. Last Week: 1
4 - DC United (12-7-5) - Scored six goals (SIX) in a win over Real Salt Lake, and have now rallied from 2-0 deficits in back-to-back wins. Last Week: 5
5 - New York Red Bulls (9-6-5) - New York has found the Wright stuff as the brothers Wright-Phillips combined to deliver the game winner against Philadelphia. Last Week: 6
6 - Vancouver Whitecaps (12-8-3) - First team in the Western Conference to 12 wins, and they finally got a boost from their defense both in shutting out the Sounders and scoring goals (yeah, I'm talking about you, Pa-Modou Kah). Last Week: 7
7 - Toronto FC (8-8-4) - Jozy Altidore is having a forgettable stretch and Michael Bradley's banged up. Can Sebastian Giovinco put the team on his shoulders once again? Last Week: 3
8 - Portland Timbers (9-8-6) - Adam Kwarasey leads MLS with nine shutouts. Unfortunately, Portland's offense hasn't been clicking. Last Week: 10
9 - Orlando City SC (7-9-6) - Cyle Larin is for real with five goals in his last two matches. Orlando's been making roster moves as well and they appear poised to make a run in the East. Last Week: 15
10 - Columbus Crew (8-8-7) - Absolutely horrible defensive effort against Orlando City. "Changes" are they coming, but will it help the defense? Last Week: 8
1 - Sporting Kansas City (9-4-7) - Settled for a draw with Houston, but still have a league-low four losses. Last Week: 2
2 - LA Galaxy (10-7-7) - Sebastian Lletget already has six goals, Steven Gerrard and Robbie Keane are clicking, and now they're getting ready to bring Giovanni Dos Santos into the fold. Last Week: 4
3 - FC Dallas (11-6-5) - Saw their winning streak snapped and finally lost a game in which Kellyn Acosta started, but no one in Dallas is panicking. Last Week: 1
4 - DC United (12-7-5) - Scored six goals (SIX) in a win over Real Salt Lake, and have now rallied from 2-0 deficits in back-to-back wins. Last Week: 5
5 - New York Red Bulls (9-6-5) - New York has found the Wright stuff as the brothers Wright-Phillips combined to deliver the game winner against Philadelphia. Last Week: 6
6 - Vancouver Whitecaps (12-8-3) - First team in the Western Conference to 12 wins, and they finally got a boost from their defense both in shutting out the Sounders and scoring goals (yeah, I'm talking about you, Pa-Modou Kah). Last Week: 7
7 - Toronto FC (8-8-4) - Jozy Altidore is having a forgettable stretch and Michael Bradley's banged up. Can Sebastian Giovinco put the team on his shoulders once again? Last Week: 3
8 - Portland Timbers (9-8-6) - Adam Kwarasey leads MLS with nine shutouts. Unfortunately, Portland's offense hasn't been clicking. Last Week: 10
9 - Orlando City SC (7-9-6) - Cyle Larin is for real with five goals in his last two matches. Orlando's been making roster moves as well and they appear poised to make a run in the East. Last Week: 15
10 - Columbus Crew (8-8-7) - Absolutely horrible defensive effort against Orlando City. "Changes" are they coming, but will it help the defense? Last Week: 8
MLS Weekly Recap - Week 22
Here's this week's recap:
Frank Lampard made his long awaited and much anticipated MLS debut for New York City FC, but a win was not in the cards for City as they were beaten 3-2 by Ignacio Piatti and the Montreal Impact. Didier Drogba, the Impact's big new addition, did not dress for the match... In their first head-to-head match-up since the Luis Silva-Álvaro Saborío trade, DC United and Real Salt Lake's back-up keepers combined to allow 10 goals in a high scoring affair. DC United rallied all the way back from a 2-0 deficit for the second consecutive match and United became the first team to 12 wins this year... New York had the Wright stuff working this weekend as newly signed Shaun Wright-Phillips came off the bench and assisted on little brother Bradley's game winning goal against the Philadelphia Union. With the win, the Red Bulls have taken over second place in the Eastern Conference while the Union lose their league-worst 13th match of the season... Jozy Altidore's rough stretch continues as he was ejected in the first half and Toronto was unable to recover in a 3-1 loss to New England. The Revs got a big boost from Jermaine Jones who made his first appearance for the club since May. The Revs are now unbeaten in their last three... Cyle Larin scored two more goals and the Orlando offense erupted for five total as Orlando City routed the Columbus Crew 5-2. Larin now has 11 goals on the season tying the rookie record set by Chicago's Damani Ralph in 2003... Sporting Kansas City was unable to hang onto an early lead and was forced to settle for a draw with the Houston Dynamo, 1-1. Cubo Torres once again came off the bench for the Dynamo who remain unbeaten in games in which he appears this year... Donovan Ricketts returned to the Galaxy and LA rewarded him with a 3-1 win despite falling behind early 1-0. Steven Gerrard went a full 90 minutes for the first time since his arrival and contributed with a stoppage time assist to Robbie Keane to help put the match out of reach... Pa-Modou Kah scored his first two goals of the season as Seattle's free fall continues following a 3-0 loss to Vancouver. Despite the returns of Clint Dempsey, Stefan Frei and Brad Evans to the Sounders lineup, Seattle lost their fourth straight - all by shutout - and are 1-7-0 in their last 8 matches scoring just two goals during that stretch. Vancouver meanwhile becomes the first Western Conference team to reach 12 wins... San Jose and Portland played to a scoreless draw, as San Jose snapped a four game losing streak, but are still winless in their last five... Chicago snapped Dallas's 5-game winning streak thanks to an early goal by David Accam, and then survived a late Matt Watson red card and hung on for a 2-0 win.
RESULTS
TUESDAY
Club América U-20s 1 MLS Homegrown Team 1, Club América wins 5-4 on penalties
WEDNESDAY
MLS All Stars 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1 - MLS All Star Game
SATURDAY
Montreal Impact 3 New York City FC 2
DC United 6 Real Salt Lake 4
New York Red Bulls 3 Philadelphia Union 1
New England Revolution 3 Toronto FC 1
Orlando City SC 5 Columbus Crew 2
Houston Dynamo 1 Sporting Kansas City 1
LA Galaxy 3 Colorado Rapids 1
Vancouver Whitecaps 3 Seattle Sounders 0
SUNDAY
San Jose Earthquakes 0 Portland Timbers 0
Chicago Fire 2 FC Dallas 0
NOTABLE GOALS
Tommy Thompson (MLS Homegrown) - Thompson scored the first ever MLS Homegrown Game goal, but the MLSers would fall 5-4 in a shootout to Club América's U-20s. The 19 year-old Thompson has yet to score in 25 MLS matches.
David Villa (MLS All Stars/NYCFC) - Villa scored what ended up being the game winning goal in this year's All-Star Game and then added his 13th goal of the season in New York's 3-2 loss to Montreal. Villa has seven goals in his last five matches and ten in his last eight.
Kaká (MLS All Stars) - Kaká converted a penalty kick in the All-Star Game, and assisted on Villa's game winner and then picked up another assist in Orlando's 5-2 win over Columbus on Saturday. Kaká has assists in back-to-back matches for the first time this season and now has four assists on the year to go along with nine goals.
Ignacio Piatti (Montreal) - Piatti's first brace of the season led the way for Montreal as they won their second straight, defeating New York City FC 3-2. Piatti leads the Impact with 8 goals on the year and has 12 goals in just 24 career MLS starts.
Chris Rolfe (DC United) - At age 32 Chris Rolfe is in the midst of his most productive MLS season since 2008 when he had 9 goals and 8 assists for the Chicago Fire. With two goals against Real Salt Lake in DC United's wild 6-4 win, Rolfe now has 8 goals to go along with three assists this season.
Joao Plata (Real Salt Lake) - Plata has now scored in three straight for Real Salt Lake who had their two game winning streak snapped when their defense imploded against DC United.
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake) - Beckerman returned from the Gold Cup and scored his first goal of the season for Real Salt Lake, but it wasn't enough to overcome their inability to defend in a 6-4 loss. Beckerman has 36 goals in 370 career appearances for the Miami Fusion, Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake.
Perry Kitchen (DC United) - Kitchen scored for the first time since his April brace against the Red Bulls and helped propel DC United to a big win over Real Salt Lake. It was the second straight match that United was able to overcome a 2-0 deficit and come away with three points.
Bradley Wright-Phillips (NYRB) - Bradley took an assist from his brother Shaun to score the game winner against Philadelphia. While BWP isn't producing at last season's rate, he does have nine goals on the year now.
Sacha Kljestan (NYRB) - Sacha tallied his fourth goal of the season when he converted a penalty in New York's 3-1 win over the Union. His next goal will tie his career high set in 2008 and 2009 with Chivas USA and will give him 20 goals in his MLS career.
Anatole Abang (NYRB) - New York's 19 year-old super sub scored his fourth goal of the season and third when coming off the bench. His accomplishments are all-the-more impressive when you consider he's logged only 379 minutes all season.
Charlie Davies (New England) - Davies' first brace of 2015 helped New England knock off Toronto 3-1 and the Revs now find themselves unbeaten in their last three matches. Davies, who hadn't scored since mid-June now has nine goals on the year.
Lee Nguyen (New England) - Last year's breakout performer made it goals in three straight as New England is starting to get hot at just the right time.
Cyle Larin (Orlando City) - Larin tied Damani Ralph's rookie record when he scored his 11th goal of the season, and second goal of the match, on Saturday. Larin now has five goals in his last two games. Crazy as it may same, he has yet to tally an assist this year.
Dom Dwyer (Sporting KC) - Dwyer scored his seventh goal of the season, but Sporting KC still had to settle for a draw with Houston.
Ricardo Clark (Houston) - Now in his 11th MLS season, Clark has just set a new career high with his fifth goal of the year. Clark scored four goals in each of the last two seasons.
Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy) - Keane got on the end of a Steven Gerrard pass to make it four straight seasons with at least ten goals. He now has 63 goals in his five years with the Galaxy.
Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy) - Lletget scored yet again and now has six goals since joining the Galaxy this spring. The Galaxy are 5-0-1 when he scores.
Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy) - Alan Gordon, back from the Gold Cup, started for the first time since May and rewarded his club with his fifth goal of the season. Gordon's next goal with be the 50th of his career.
Pa-Modou Kah (Vancouver) - After scoring just once in his first 58 MLS matches, Kah scored twice in Vancouver's convincing win over the suddenly struggling Sounders.
Pedro Morales (Vancouver) - Morales scored for the first time in almost two months when he buried a free kick against Seattle. He's up to four goals on the year after scoring ten a season ago.
David Accam (Chicago) - Accam's sixth goal of the season helped the Fire to just their second win in their last ten matches.
Shaun Maloney (Chicago) - Maloney made it goals in back-to-back matches and helped the Fire snap a three-game winless streak in the process. The Scottish international has three goals since coming to MLS.
SHUTOUTS BY:
David Ousted (Vancouver) - Ousted, who led the league in shutouts a year ago with 13, picked up his first clean sheet in almost two months with a three-save effort against Seattle. Ousted has 8 shutouts on the year and 25 in his career.
Adam Kwarasey (Portland) - Kwarasey took over the league lead in shutouts with his ninth of the season coming in Portland's 0-0 draw with San Jose.
David Bingham (San Jose) - After surrendering a total of eight goals in losses to LA and Vancouver, Bingham turned in a five-save performance to help San Jose salvage a point against Portland. Bingham has six shutouts this season.
Sean Johnson (Chicago) - Johnson made three saves in helping Chicago hang on for a win over Dallas despite going down to ten men with ten minutes remaining in the contest. Johnson has four shutouts in 14 starts.
Frank Lampard made his long awaited and much anticipated MLS debut for New York City FC, but a win was not in the cards for City as they were beaten 3-2 by Ignacio Piatti and the Montreal Impact. Didier Drogba, the Impact's big new addition, did not dress for the match... In their first head-to-head match-up since the Luis Silva-Álvaro Saborío trade, DC United and Real Salt Lake's back-up keepers combined to allow 10 goals in a high scoring affair. DC United rallied all the way back from a 2-0 deficit for the second consecutive match and United became the first team to 12 wins this year... New York had the Wright stuff working this weekend as newly signed Shaun Wright-Phillips came off the bench and assisted on little brother Bradley's game winning goal against the Philadelphia Union. With the win, the Red Bulls have taken over second place in the Eastern Conference while the Union lose their league-worst 13th match of the season... Jozy Altidore's rough stretch continues as he was ejected in the first half and Toronto was unable to recover in a 3-1 loss to New England. The Revs got a big boost from Jermaine Jones who made his first appearance for the club since May. The Revs are now unbeaten in their last three... Cyle Larin scored two more goals and the Orlando offense erupted for five total as Orlando City routed the Columbus Crew 5-2. Larin now has 11 goals on the season tying the rookie record set by Chicago's Damani Ralph in 2003... Sporting Kansas City was unable to hang onto an early lead and was forced to settle for a draw with the Houston Dynamo, 1-1. Cubo Torres once again came off the bench for the Dynamo who remain unbeaten in games in which he appears this year... Donovan Ricketts returned to the Galaxy and LA rewarded him with a 3-1 win despite falling behind early 1-0. Steven Gerrard went a full 90 minutes for the first time since his arrival and contributed with a stoppage time assist to Robbie Keane to help put the match out of reach... Pa-Modou Kah scored his first two goals of the season as Seattle's free fall continues following a 3-0 loss to Vancouver. Despite the returns of Clint Dempsey, Stefan Frei and Brad Evans to the Sounders lineup, Seattle lost their fourth straight - all by shutout - and are 1-7-0 in their last 8 matches scoring just two goals during that stretch. Vancouver meanwhile becomes the first Western Conference team to reach 12 wins... San Jose and Portland played to a scoreless draw, as San Jose snapped a four game losing streak, but are still winless in their last five... Chicago snapped Dallas's 5-game winning streak thanks to an early goal by David Accam, and then survived a late Matt Watson red card and hung on for a 2-0 win.
RESULTS
TUESDAY
Club América U-20s 1 MLS Homegrown Team 1, Club América wins 5-4 on penalties
WEDNESDAY
MLS All Stars 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1 - MLS All Star Game
SATURDAY
Montreal Impact 3 New York City FC 2
DC United 6 Real Salt Lake 4
New York Red Bulls 3 Philadelphia Union 1
New England Revolution 3 Toronto FC 1
Orlando City SC 5 Columbus Crew 2
Houston Dynamo 1 Sporting Kansas City 1
LA Galaxy 3 Colorado Rapids 1
Vancouver Whitecaps 3 Seattle Sounders 0
SUNDAY
San Jose Earthquakes 0 Portland Timbers 0
Chicago Fire 2 FC Dallas 0
NOTABLE GOALS
Tommy Thompson (MLS Homegrown) - Thompson scored the first ever MLS Homegrown Game goal, but the MLSers would fall 5-4 in a shootout to Club América's U-20s. The 19 year-old Thompson has yet to score in 25 MLS matches.
David Villa (MLS All Stars/NYCFC) - Villa scored what ended up being the game winning goal in this year's All-Star Game and then added his 13th goal of the season in New York's 3-2 loss to Montreal. Villa has seven goals in his last five matches and ten in his last eight.
Kaká (MLS All Stars) - Kaká converted a penalty kick in the All-Star Game, and assisted on Villa's game winner and then picked up another assist in Orlando's 5-2 win over Columbus on Saturday. Kaká has assists in back-to-back matches for the first time this season and now has four assists on the year to go along with nine goals.
Ignacio Piatti (Montreal) - Piatti's first brace of the season led the way for Montreal as they won their second straight, defeating New York City FC 3-2. Piatti leads the Impact with 8 goals on the year and has 12 goals in just 24 career MLS starts.
Chris Rolfe (DC United) - At age 32 Chris Rolfe is in the midst of his most productive MLS season since 2008 when he had 9 goals and 8 assists for the Chicago Fire. With two goals against Real Salt Lake in DC United's wild 6-4 win, Rolfe now has 8 goals to go along with three assists this season.
Joao Plata (Real Salt Lake) - Plata has now scored in three straight for Real Salt Lake who had their two game winning streak snapped when their defense imploded against DC United.
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake) - Beckerman returned from the Gold Cup and scored his first goal of the season for Real Salt Lake, but it wasn't enough to overcome their inability to defend in a 6-4 loss. Beckerman has 36 goals in 370 career appearances for the Miami Fusion, Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake.
Perry Kitchen (DC United) - Kitchen scored for the first time since his April brace against the Red Bulls and helped propel DC United to a big win over Real Salt Lake. It was the second straight match that United was able to overcome a 2-0 deficit and come away with three points.
Bradley Wright-Phillips (NYRB) - Bradley took an assist from his brother Shaun to score the game winner against Philadelphia. While BWP isn't producing at last season's rate, he does have nine goals on the year now.
Sacha Kljestan (NYRB) - Sacha tallied his fourth goal of the season when he converted a penalty in New York's 3-1 win over the Union. His next goal will tie his career high set in 2008 and 2009 with Chivas USA and will give him 20 goals in his MLS career.
Anatole Abang (NYRB) - New York's 19 year-old super sub scored his fourth goal of the season and third when coming off the bench. His accomplishments are all-the-more impressive when you consider he's logged only 379 minutes all season.
Charlie Davies (New England) - Davies' first brace of 2015 helped New England knock off Toronto 3-1 and the Revs now find themselves unbeaten in their last three matches. Davies, who hadn't scored since mid-June now has nine goals on the year.
Lee Nguyen (New England) - Last year's breakout performer made it goals in three straight as New England is starting to get hot at just the right time.
Cyle Larin (Orlando City) - Larin tied Damani Ralph's rookie record when he scored his 11th goal of the season, and second goal of the match, on Saturday. Larin now has five goals in his last two games. Crazy as it may same, he has yet to tally an assist this year.
Dom Dwyer (Sporting KC) - Dwyer scored his seventh goal of the season, but Sporting KC still had to settle for a draw with Houston.
Ricardo Clark (Houston) - Now in his 11th MLS season, Clark has just set a new career high with his fifth goal of the year. Clark scored four goals in each of the last two seasons.
Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy) - Keane got on the end of a Steven Gerrard pass to make it four straight seasons with at least ten goals. He now has 63 goals in his five years with the Galaxy.
Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy) - Lletget scored yet again and now has six goals since joining the Galaxy this spring. The Galaxy are 5-0-1 when he scores.
Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy) - Alan Gordon, back from the Gold Cup, started for the first time since May and rewarded his club with his fifth goal of the season. Gordon's next goal with be the 50th of his career.
Pa-Modou Kah (Vancouver) - After scoring just once in his first 58 MLS matches, Kah scored twice in Vancouver's convincing win over the suddenly struggling Sounders.
Pedro Morales (Vancouver) - Morales scored for the first time in almost two months when he buried a free kick against Seattle. He's up to four goals on the year after scoring ten a season ago.
David Accam (Chicago) - Accam's sixth goal of the season helped the Fire to just their second win in their last ten matches.
Shaun Maloney (Chicago) - Maloney made it goals in back-to-back matches and helped the Fire snap a three-game winless streak in the process. The Scottish international has three goals since coming to MLS.
SHUTOUTS BY:
David Ousted (Vancouver) - Ousted, who led the league in shutouts a year ago with 13, picked up his first clean sheet in almost two months with a three-save effort against Seattle. Ousted has 8 shutouts on the year and 25 in his career.
Adam Kwarasey (Portland) - Kwarasey took over the league lead in shutouts with his ninth of the season coming in Portland's 0-0 draw with San Jose.
David Bingham (San Jose) - After surrendering a total of eight goals in losses to LA and Vancouver, Bingham turned in a five-save performance to help San Jose salvage a point against Portland. Bingham has six shutouts this season.
Sean Johnson (Chicago) - Johnson made three saves in helping Chicago hang on for a win over Dallas despite going down to ten men with ten minutes remaining in the contest. Johnson has four shutouts in 14 starts.
MLS SuperDraft Rookie Watch, Week 22
As we enter the second half of the season, with the Gold Cup now over and teams starting to bring in talent through the transfer window, we're seeing fewer rookies actually getting onto the field which is going to make Cyle Larin's quest to win the Rookie of the Year that much more of a no-brainer. The Canadian striker scored two more goals to tie the rookie record of 11 in one season and it's only the beginning of August. In other action, Fatai Alashe and Matt Polster both turned in strong shifts in the midfield for their respective clubs and Amadou Dia went the distance for Sporting Kansas City in the back. Here's the complete rundown:
1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Columbus, 78 mins, 8 shots, 2 goals
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs Portland, 90 mins, 1 shot
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs Dallas, 90 mins, 1 shot
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC - Sub vs Houston, 11 mins
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Sub vs Vancouver, 30 mins
20 - Amadou Dia - Sporting KC - Started vs Houston, 90 mins
1 - Cyle Larin - Orlando City - Started vs Columbus, 78 mins, 8 shots, 2 goals
4 - Fatai Alashe - San Jose - Started vs Portland, 90 mins, 1 shot
7 - Matt Polster - Chicago - Started vs Dallas, 90 mins, 1 shot
12 - Saad Abdul-Salaam - Sporting KC - Sub vs Houston, 11 mins
16 - Cristian Roldan - Seattle - Sub vs Vancouver, 30 mins
20 - Amadou Dia - Sporting KC - Started vs Houston, 90 mins
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