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Major League Soccer

This Week In MLS

March 23, 2010 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


The 15th season of Major League Soccer kicks off on Thursday, March 25 at Qwest Field in Seattle as Seattle Sounders FC take on Philadelphia Union in a meeting of the League's two newest clubs. A season ago, Sounders FC became the first expansion team in more than a decade to win its inaugural game, kicking off a successful season that ended in a playoff berth. Philadelphia Union are looking to emulate that feat behind the tutelage of Peter Nowak.

First MLS match in Red Bull Arena

Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. gets its MLS unveiling on Saturday when the New York Red Bulls host the Chicago Fire (7 p.m., ESPN). The stunning venue is the eighth soccer-specific stadium built for an MLS club. The Red Bulls aim to become the fourth team to win their opening match in a new ground, the last coming on April 7, 2007 when the Colorado Rapids inaugurated Dick's Sporting Goods Park with a 2-0 victory against D.C. United. All told, home teams are 3-1-3 in opening new soccer-specific stadia in MLS; the lone loss came at Toronto FC's BMO Field, also in 2007, when Kansas City left with a 1-0 victory.

Good Omen for D.C. United?

The now-traditional harbinger for MLS success is winning the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, S.C., and D.C. United did that over the weekend with a 2-0 victory against the host Charleston Battery (USSF D-II). Jaime Moreno scored all five goals for United in the three-game tourney. Five of the last six Carolina Challenge Cup champions have gone on to win either the Supporters' Shield or MLS Cup, including 2009 MLS champion Real Salt Lake.

Game Previews for MLS First Kick

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Philadelphia Union at Seattle Sounders FC, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2/Deportes, ESPN360.com)

Major League Soccer's 16th club, Philadelphia Union, will make their debut at the home of last year's newcomers to open the 2010 MLS season.

Philadelphia will look to join Chicago and Seattle as the only expansion teams to win their inaugural match.

Sounders FC aim to duplicate last season's success, where a 3-0 First Kick win over New York at home set the tone for an eventual playoff spot.

Sebastien LeToux returns to Seattle where he played the last three seasons with the USL Sounders (second division) and MLS, before being selected in the expansion draft by Philadelphia.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Colorado Rapids at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m. (MLS Direct Kick package)

Colorado and Chivas USA met in the 2009 season opener; Paulo Nagamura scored twice in a span of four minutes to give Chivas USA the 2-1 victory.

Both teams look to reverse recent fortunes. Chivas USA have been knocked out after one round of the MLS Cup Playoffs four straight seasons. The Rapids have failed to reach the postseason in each of the last three seasons, eliminated each time in a season finale against rival Real Salt Lake.

The teams opened the 2009 season against each other. Chivas USA won 2-1 at The Home Depot Center, their fifth consecutive home-opening win. Colorado looks to improve upon its 2-10-2 First Kick record.

Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA and Colorado's Conor Casey (second in MLS with 16 goals in 2009) hope for a good start to the season because U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley is expected to announce his roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in mid-May.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Toronto FC at Columbus Crew, 4 p.m. (MLS Direct Kick package)

Toronto FC are looking for their first victory against the Columbus Crew. The Crew have won five of the nine all-time meetings, with four draws.

It will be a rematch of the First Kick 2008 at Crew Stadium, where Columbus won 2-0 behind goals from Adam Moffat and Alejandro Moreno (now with Philadelphia).

Columbus has a 5-5-4 First Kick record since the League's inception in 1996 and Toronto FC has one win and two losses in openers since coming into the League in 2007. Columbus has not lost a First Kick match at Crew Stadium since 2004.

The game features two forwards who finished high in the 2009 Budweiser Golden Boot race. Columbus' Guillermo Barros Schelotto notched 12 goals to finish in a tie for third in MLS, with Toronto's Dwayne De Rosario just behind him with 11.

Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas, 4 p.m. (Telefutura)

Since the Texas rivalry began in 2006, the Dynamo have won seven of the 14 all-time League meetings, with FCD winning just twice. Both of those Dallas wins have come at Pizza Hut Park.

Jeff Cunningham wants to build on his 2009 season. He won the Budweiser Golden Boot for the second time, scoring a career-high 17 goals - 16 of those coming during the second half of the season.

The Dynamo have allowed less than a goal per game in two of the last three seasons and 42-year-old goalkeeper Pat Onstad - the League's oldest active player - is back between the posts.

Two-time MLS Cup winning goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, signed in the offseason, will challenge Dario Sala for the starting job with FC Dallas.

Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls, 7 p.m. (ESPN/Deportes, ESPN360.com)

This game's coaches are making their MLS debuts. The Red Bulls are led by Hans Backe, who won four Danish league titles with Copenhagen and Aalborg, while former El Salvador national team coach Carlos de los Cobos leads the Fire.

Juan Pablo Angel will lead the Red Bulls attack again this season, but his availability for this match is questionable due to a sore knee. Angel scored 12 goals in 2009 to finish in a tie for third in MLS.

The Fire's 2009 assist leader Cuauhtémoc Blanco left for the Mexican second division in the offseason. But they have bolstered their attack with 24-year-old Collins John, a former Fulham striker and teammate of Brian McBride.

The Fire hold a 20-10-6 advantage in the all-time regular season series, and also held a winning record against New York in games played at the club's former home of Giants Stadium (9-7-2).

D.C. United at Kansas City Wizards, 8:30 p.m. (MLS Direct Kick package)

New D.C. United manager Curt Onalfo makes his return to Kansas City, where he was head coach from the start of the 2007 season through the first 18 games last season.

Peter Vermes sheds the interim tag and starts his first full season as head coach of the Wizards. He was the club's technical director for three years before taking over as coach last August.

Jaime Moreno, 36, is the League's last MLS Original, having played in every season in MLS history, and comes into the season in fine form, scoring all five D.C. goals as United won the preseason Carolina Challenge Cup.

The teams last met on the 2009 season's final day. Needing a win to qualify for the playoffs, United conceded a penalty kick in stoppage time - then saw a last-gasp shot hit the woodwork - as the teams ended in a 2-2 draw that concluded the MLS season for both.

Real Salt Lake at San Jose Earthquakes, 9 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports en Español)

Real Salt Lake seeks to become just the third team in league history to repeat as MLS Cup champions.

Real have never won a season-opening match, going 0-2-3 since joining in 2005. Since rejoining MLS, the Earthquakes have lost both of their First Kick matches; San Jose held a 5-4-1 record in season openers from 1996-2005.

Jamaican international Ryan Johnson returns to lead the San Jose offense. The only member of the squad to feature in every regular season match of 2009, his team-high 11 goals was nearly a third of the club's season total.

All but two of the players who featured for RSL in the MLS Cup Final have returned. One of those was 8-goal scorer Yura Movsisyan - but the club might have found a replacement in Álvaro Saborío, who played for Costa Rica in the 2008 World Cup.

New England Revolution at LA Galaxy, 11 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports en Español)

MLS's top two players in 2009 will lock up for First Kick as reigning league MVP Landon Donovan of the Galaxy welcomes the No. 2 vote-getter in New England's Shalrie Joseph to the Home Depot Center.

Looking to establish some stability, the defending Western Conference Champion Galaxy return with their core lineup mostly intact for the 2010 campaign.

Head coach Steve Nicol enters his eighth consecutive season at the helm for New England as the longest tenured coach with one team in MLS history, guiding the Revs to four Eastern Conference titles in that time.

With Matt Reis and Taylor Twellman injured, Preston Burpo steps in as the Revs' opening day goalkeeper and rookie Zack Schilawski (Wake Forest), who led the team with four goals in five preseason games, is expected to start at forward alongside Kheli Dube.

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