In-State Rivalry Renewed

Published on August 2, 2013 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Club Deportivo Chivas USA News Release


In-State Rivalry Renewed

When Chivas USA square off with Western Conference foe the San Jose Earthquakes this Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium beginning at 7 p.m. (PT), they will renew one of the few in-state rivalries that exist in Major League Soccer in the 18th installment.

Since the debut of the California rivalry in 2005 during Chivas USA's inaugural season, the Golden State derby has slightly favored the Red-and-White with a 6-5-6 all-time record.

Heading into Saturday night's MLS Week 23 match, the sides have played even at San Jose, with each club taking three wins and a draw apiece. And the Goats will look to bounce back from last Sunday's road loss at Seattle to come away with their first win at Buck Shaw since 2011, which would also deliver Head Coach Jose Luis Real his first road win in six tries.

The former Chivas de Guadalajara manager recently recorded his first home victory on July 17 versus Toronto FC and has led his squad to two ties away from Carson. He now leads the Rojiblancos in the rematch from their April 27 match at the then-called Home Depot Center. The sides played to a thrilling and high-paced 2-2 tie in which the 'Quakes took the initial lead on striker Chris Wondolowski's first-half score. The Goats then answered back by taking the lead in a span of four minutes on Mario de Luna and Tristan Bowen's goals.

The visitors equalized in the 76th minute shortly after Cordell Cato came on as sub to help spark the comeback on a Shea Salinas assist. Saturday's match will be the second of three meetings programmed for this season and Chivas will look to take the season-series advantage. San Jose took last year's series with a pair of wins to go along with a draw.

The Goats enter the conference clash having dropped last week's road game at Seattle, but have still managed to generate a positive run since the end of June, as the club has managed to tally points in four of the last six contests. And the Rojiblancos will look to a rejuvenated offense led by forward Erick Torres, who has knocked in a goal in each of his first two League matches since arriving via loan from brother club Guadalajara, to earn crucial conference points.

In addition to the added threat up top - which will also be bolstered with the return of midfielder Eric Avila after the attacker sat out to serve his one-game suspension due to a red card - the Red-and-White defense has shown improvement under Real's new system. The Goats' back line has been solidified with the acquisition of two-time World Cup veteran Carlos Bocanegra and will have an influx of depth with the return of Steven Purdy from his Gold Cup run with El Salvador's national team.

Saturday's match will also feature a battle between two of the League's marquee goalkeepers in Dan Kennedy and Jon Busch, who are among MLS' top three leaders in saves. Busch holds the top spot with 76 while Kennedy, who has appeared in two less games, occupies the third position with 73. And without a doubt, if the Goats hope to come away with the crucial road result, they will need the Red-and-White captain to add to his franchise-leading numbers.

Chivas USA arrive in San Jose

Chivas USA landed in San Jose Airport at 2 p.m. (PT) on Friday afternoon and immediately after collecting their luggage the Red-and-White headed to the team's hotel where they will stay until Sunday.

The Goats will face Western Conference and state rival the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium. The game, which was rescheduled due to San Jose's participation in CONCACAF Champions League, will kick off at 7 p.m. (PT).

Both teams come into the game looking for the victory and with the sole objective of earning the points that will allow them to move ahead in the standings. The Red-and-White come to Northern California after falling at Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 last Sunday, while the Earthquakes will try to extend their two-game winning streak.

Follow your Goats during their trip to San Jose at Chivas USA official website www.cdchivasusa.com and on Twitter @cdchivasusa .

Preview: Chivas USA going for national championship

The Semifinal Round is all set, and Chivas USA will be facing NorCal Premier League's Vacaville Premier this Sunday, Aug. 4 in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Spano Stadium. Vacaville Premier will be taking the place of NorCal Premier League's second place team, Chico Soccer Club Chico Rooks. The winner of this match will then face the winner of Soccer United Legends (NCP) vs. Corinthians USA Pomona United (SCP) at 4 pm, also at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The Red-and-White goes into the semifinal round on a high note. The group has not fallen in their last 10 games, including friendly scrimmages. In their last game of the regular season, Chivas USA's U23 team defeated Chula Vista Premier FC 5-1. After two bye weekends and two friendly scrimmages, the U23's are ready for this weekend's action.

"I think we're feeling pretty confident because we've been training well, and we've been doing well in our scrimmages. We're feeling pretty good and we're actually pretty excited for the matches," Chivas USA U23 captain and defender Omar Elmasri said to cdchivasusa.com

Currently, Christan Gonzalez leads the Goats with the most goals scored (7), followed by Jose Gomez (6), Alberto Velazquez (5), Anthony Dheming (4), Christopher Santana (3), Bryan de la Fuente and Javier Castro, both with two.

Although the Goats head in to the semifinals with good offense and defense standing, if Chivas USA do advance to the final, the match will be played the same day, pushing the players to perform at their max. The semifinal match will consist of two, 40-minute halves, while the championship game will run the full 90 minutes. Even though it will be tough, Chivas USA's U23's are up for the challenge.

"Ideally, we'd like to play on Saturday and Sunday, but playing two games back-to-back is going to be tough," Elmasri added. "I think fitness is going to play a huge role, but I think our team is pretty fit. Even in our scrimmages, we never decrease the tempo of our game; we always maintain a high tempo and high intensity. I think we'll be good for the two games."

Vacaville Premier enters the semifinal match with two consecutive losses in their last games of the regular season. In their last game, the Vacaville-based team fell 6-2 to SRU U23 Boys. By the end of the season, Vacaville held a 3-1-5 (W-L-T) record, 10 points, 15 goals in favor, 22 against, and sitting in seventh place.

Can't make it to the final this Sunday? Follow us on Twitter and we'll have all the latest updates on Chivas USA's U23 run in the playoffs: @ChivasUSAYouth & @cdchivasusa .

Training Report: Before San Jose

Just a few hours before flying out to San Jose, Chivas USA held their last training session of the week at the StubHub Center's Field 6 ahead of Saturday's match against San Jose Earthquakes.

Starting off the day thirty minutes earlier than usual, Strength and Conditioning Coach Armando Camacho led the team to a light jog around Field 6, and then continued onto a short series of stretching exercises at midfield. The team then worked on an exercise most commonly known as 'torito'.

After 20 minutes of working under Coach Camacho, Chivas USA Head Coach Jose Luis Real took control of the team, putting focus on the team's tactical plan for the match against the San Jose Earthquakes. Working with the potential starting line-up, the team held an inter squad scrimmage that ran until the end of practice. Once training was over, a few selected players practiced taking penalty kicks that not only challenged them, but goalkeepers as well.

Chivas USA travel to San Jose on Friday afternoon ahead of Major League Soccer Week 23 match against the Earthquakes on Saturday at 7 p.m. (PT) at Buck Shaw Stadium. For all the latest news and updates on Chivas USA, follow us on Twitter: @cdchivasusa .

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