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Revs and Chivas USA Meet on Sunday in Impact Game of the Week

September 8, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


Impact Game of the Week: New England Revolution at Chivas USA, Sunday, Sept. 13 (TeleFutura, 3 p.m. ET)

Chivas USA hosts the New England Revolution in the MLS Impact Game of the Week, this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on TeleFutura. The opponents are among four teams tied with 33 points and in search of the last remaining Wild Card spots. As of today, the Revolution and Real Salt Lake would be in the playoffs while Chivas USA and D.C. United rank behind them based on points-per-game in matches against all of the teams tied in points.

The Revolution and Chivas USA both have eight games remaining and two games in hand on United and RSL. This match is crucial should head-to-head and goal differential be needed to separate the teams upon completion of the regular season.

Chivas USA haven't defeated the Revolution since June 30, 2007. The Western Conference club is 2-5-2 all-time versus the Revolution. New England won the last three meetings between the teams, and outscored Chivas USA 6-0 in the last two meetings, including a 2-0 result on July 19.

Both teams participated in SuperLiga this year. When Chivas USA entered SuperLiga, they were tied atop the Western Conference. They've gone 2-5-0 since (with four goals scored), and are now tied for fifth in the West. When New England started SuperLiga, they were tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference. They've gone 5-3-2 since, and are now tied for third in the East.

Shalrie Joseph (NE) and Maykel Galindo (CHV) will serve red card suspensions and Marcelo Saragosa (CHV) is suspended for caution accumulation.

Rapids improve their Playoff Hopes; Eight Games This Week

In Week 25, the Wizards shocked the Revolution at Gillette Stadium 4-2. The Revs still hold a qualification spot, but race for playoff spots remains tight.

The Rapids took advantage of Conor Casey's 12th goal of the season for a 1-0 victory over Toronto FC. The loss pushed Toronto FC out of the playoff eight for now, so they will have to make up ground starting with a home game against Colorado on Saturday.

If the MLS Cup Playoffs started today, the Crew (E1) would qualify as the top team in the East, with the Chicago Fire (E2) taking the second automatic berth. The Houston Dynamo (W1) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (W2) would be the automatic qualifiers from the Western Conference.

The Colorado Rapids (10-7-6, 36 points) would capture the first wild card position and Seattle Sounders FC (8-6-10, 34 points) would secure the second wild card. The next four teams overall are all tied with 33 points, but New England and Real Salt Lake have the best points-per-game records head-to-head with the tied clubs (see key to standings chart below).

But the season does not end today, and the current rankings cannot account for the uneven amount of games played.

Each club has between five and eight games left to secure one of eight spots before the MLS Cup Playoffs begin Oct. 29.

Rapids' Casey Widens the Gap in Budweiser Golden Boot Race

In the most widely contested Golden Boot race since 2004, there are many legitimate candidates this season. Conor Casey's game-winning goal versus Toronto FC last Saturday gave him 12 goals this season and put him two ahead of Fredy Montero (Seattle Sounders FC), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew), and Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake).

Just behind the 10-goal quintet are Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls) and Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC), each with nine.

With two goals this past weekend, Wizards forward Josh Wolff joined Luciano Emilio (D.C. United) and Omar Cummings (Colorado) at the eight-goal mark. The Wizards play twice this week, and a healthy Wolff could creep into the race.

This year's race could match the breadth of the 2004 race because 10 players are currently within four goals of the lead.

The first tiebreaker for the Budweiser Golden Boot is assists. If two players are tied for first in MLS in goals and have an equal number of assists, the player with the fewest games played wins the award.

Among the top six scorers, Casey, Cunningham and Schelotto have the most games left. See the chart below for a breakdown of remaining games for some of the top scorers.

Games Home

MLS Club Remaining Games

Colorado Rapids 7 2

Columbus Crew 7 4

FC Dallas 7 3

Los Angeles Galaxy 6 4

Real Salt Lake 6 3

Seattle Sounders FC 6 2

Kansas City Wizards forward Josh Wolff Wins MLS Player of the Week for Week 25

Wizards forward Josh Wolff earned MLS Player of the Week for Week 25 after leading Kansas City to a 4-2 road victory over the New England Revolution. Wolff scored two goals and factored in each of the other two. This marked the third MLS Player of the Week award for Wolff in 2009 and the eighth time he has earned the award in his 11 years in MLS.

The Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected each week of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com.

Previewing Week 25: Sept. 9-, 2009

(All Times Eastern)

Wednesday, September 9

Kansas City Wizards at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. (DK; MatchCenter)

- Currently sitting on the cusp of the MLS Cup Playoffs field, D.C. United open a key stretch when they play host to the Kansas City Wizards in a midweek game at RFK Stadium. United are locked in a four-way tie for seventh place overall, but have their next five League games all at home, beginning with Wednesday's game. United will have significant absences in their defense, which has conceded 36 goals this season (fourth-most in MLS) as starters Marc Burch (ankle surgery) and Dejan Jakovic (hernia surgery) are both sidelined. The Wizards are coming off a 4-2 win at the New England Revolution on Saturday, which started a three-game road swing over a week's time. The win was Kansas City's first since June 13 and ended a four-game losing skid, giving Peter Vermes his first win as interim head coach. Claudio Lopez sent Kansas City on its way with a third-minute goal, snapping the club's goalless run at 426 minutes -- one shy of the club's all-time record -- and Josh Wolff won MLS Player of the Week honors with his third two-goal game of the year.

Saturday, September 12

Colorado Rapids at Toronto FC, 4 p.m. (CBC; DK; MatchCenter)

- Toronto FC and the Colorado Rapids play the back end of their home-and-home series over two weekends after the Rapids won 1-0 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park last Saturday. Conor Casey, who was supposed to join the U.S. national team, but didn't because of wisdom teeth surgery scored the game's only goal in the 51st minute. It was the 12th goal of the season for Casey, now leading the Budweiser Golden Boot race by two goals, while Omar Cummings provided his league-leading 11th assist, three ahead of his nearest pursuers. For the Rapids, it also marked the first time since the second and third weeks of the season they posted wins in back-to-back games, and now sit comfortably in third place in the Western Conference. Saturday's game is a vital one for Toronto FC, which has now been shut out in three consecutive games. The loss in Colorado ended a three-game road swing where they lost twice and drew once; after the BMO Field rematch, the Reds head back out on the road for games against the LA Galaxy and Chicago. They will be without two starters in Adrian Serioux and Amadou Sanyang, both sent off in the final quarter-hour of last Saturday's game.

Kansas City Wizards at New York Red Bulls 7:30 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- In their third conference road match in seven days, the Wizards will try to continue resurrecting their playoff hopes. They already downed New England and face D.C. United midweek; if they pull off a Route 95 trifecta, they'll be right back in the wildcard race. Kansas City defeated New York, 1-0, on April 23, but has not won at Giants Stadium since 2000, going 0-5-7 in their last 12 trips there. The Red Bulls will look to win their third straight match under interim coach Richie Williams.

Seattle Sounders FC at D.C. United 7:30 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- If any D.C. United players utter the words, "this game isn't about revenge," be skeptical. This is a rematch of last week's U.S. Open Cup Final - which Seattle won 2-1 - and while points in the playoff race are crucial for both teams, the hosts surely want to mitigate the pain of that loss. In their only other regular season meeting, United rallied from a 3-1 deficit to earn a draw at Qwest Field on June 17. Seattle's Fredy Montero is in the hunt for the Budweiser Golden Boot and is a candidate for Newcomer of the Year. He will undoubtedly be looking to shine again on the RFK Stadium surface.

Chicago Fire at Real Salt Lake 9:00 p.m. (FSC, FSE)

- Fire forward Brian McBride could return from a shoulder injury that kept him out of League action since July 11. The former U.S. striker is expected to dress, but likely will not start. Real Salt Lake have only defeated the Fire once in nine all-time meetings, but this will be the first time they host Chicago at Rio Tinto Stadium. Chicago is nipping at Columbus' heels in the Supporters' Shield race whereas Real Salt Lake needs points urgently to keep its wild card spot.

FC Dallas at Los Angeles Galaxy 10:30 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- The Galaxy are trying to remain among the top two in the Western Conference. To do so, they will have to contain the streaking Jeff Cunningham, whose 10 goals this year have put him into a tie with Ante Razov for second place in the All-Time goal scoring chart (114 goals). The Galaxy will try to contain Cunningham with rookie defenders Omar Gonzalez and AJ De La Garza, who have been stellar in their first year as professionals. The duo, out of the University of Maryland, are in the running for MLS Rookie of the Year honors. With Landon Donovan expected to be back from U.S. National Team duty, the Galaxy will be firing on all cylinders looking to potentially take sole possession of first place in the Western Conference should the Houston Dynamo slip up. Donovan will be looking to add to his 10 goals on the season, while also leading the Galaxy to the playoffs. Should he capture the Budweiser Golden Boot and capture a playoff berth, he will undoubtedly be in the race for Volkswagen MVP Honors.

Sunday, September 13

New England Revolution at Chivas USA , 3:00 p.m. (TeleFutura)

- With four wild card berths on the line, this interconference matchup - Impact Game of the Week - becomes crucial for the Revolution and Chivas USA. The clubs are tied with two other teams at 33 points. Fortunately for each they have the most games remaining (8), but neither can afford to lose points. The Revolution will be without Shalrie Joseph, who is service a red card suspension. He received the red card early in the loss to the Wizards and without him, the Revolution were not able to contain the Wizards in the midfield. Chivas USA has suffered in form in the latter half of the season, but a late surge and five of eight games remaining at home, could prove key for Preki's squad.

Houston Dynamo at Columbus Crew, 5:00 p.m. (DK, Match Center)

- The top teams in the League, and winners of the past three MLS Cups, (Houston 2006 & 2007, Columbus 2008) clash in a game that could prove vital in the race for the Supporters' Shield. The Crew (10-4-9, 39 points) have been the most consistent team throughout the course of the season, trailed only slightly by the Dynamo (11-7-7, 40 points). A loss by either team could allow the Chicago Fire or the LA Galaxy to move into the lead in their respective conferences. Both teams are looking to rebound from 1-0 losses in their last League games. The Crew took a surprise loss to the New York Red Bulls, which snapped a six-game winning streak, while the Dynamo's 1-0 loss to the Rapids snapped a four-game undefeated streak. This game features several of the most exciting players in the League including rising young star Stuart Holden, and veteran playmaker and reigning Volkswagen MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

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