MLS Major League Soccer

This Week in MLS

June 7, 2011 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


Livestrong Sporting Park opens Thursday on ESPN2

Livestrong Sporting Park, the 10th stadium built from the ground up for an MLS club, opens Thursday when Sporting Kansas City host the Chicago Fire (10 p.m. ET; ESPN 2). The stadium, which seats 18,467 for soccer, features remarkable attention to details:

- Partnerships with Cisco, Panasonic and Google equip the stadium with one of the fastest internet connections in the country, 326 HD TVs throughout the venue, two video boards (one 25 feet by 84 feet, the largest 16mm HD video board in the world) and a state-of-the-art sound system. Stadium architect Populous called it the most forward-thinking stadium they have ever seen.

- The high-tech locker room features an area where custom shakes are created for each player, who can watch personalized scouting video on his own tablet and smartboard.

- The playing surface has a sub-air heating and cooling system for and no covered benches, as they are in the stands.

- For fans, options range from a Members' Stand with access to a 2,000-person club to field-side reserved seats to six different clubs. The grade of seating gets higher as the aisles rise for closer to the field views, and there are no corner seats.

- Expected attendees Thursday include: MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Kansas City, Kan. Mayor Joe Reardon, honorary Sporting Kansas City member Chad Ochocinco, and Ron Newman, the club's first coach in 1996.

Quotables

"I've been dreaming about my first goal, and in my mind, it's always like a scrappy ball that hits me off the head and goes in the net. Actually, it was a decent goal, so I'm happy for that."

-- Real Salt Lake forward Jean Alexandre, to the Salt Lake Tribune, after scoring his first professional goal

"Groundhog Day. It feels exactly the same as last week."

-- Colorado Rapids head coach Gary Smith, to the Denver Post, after an MLS-record sixth consecutive draw.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

-- New York television analyst Shep Messing after the Red Bulls conceded a stoppage-time equalizer to Columbus

"Everyone's fuming in there, there's a lot of arguing. But it needs to be said."

-- Red Bulls forward Luke Rodgers in the aftermath of the late draw

"That was a big statement for Marvin. How many players would pass up an opportunity for a call? I think that shows how committed he is to this organization."

-- Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman on Marvin Chavez, who turned down a call to the Honduras team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup

"I don't know how to call those weeks. They were hard, different. I never lived what I lived in those weeks before. But there are things that happen to you in life. I had a chance to talk to Javier Morales, and being able to talk to him, I'll always be grateful to him."

-- Chivas USA forward Marcos Mondaini, to the Daily Breeze, after scoring in his return from a four-game suspension for injuring Morales.

Sweet Tweets

@RiversCuomo - May 30

Any of my friends on the west side wanna get together to watch the occasional soccer match, e.g. the Gold Cup coming up?

@dcsportsbog (Dan Steinberg) - May 31

Portland Timbers fans support keeping D.C. United in D.C. http://wapo.st/m67RRa

@DouglasMcIntyre - June 1

Bob Bradley tolerates Twitter, barely: "I agree a lot with Sir Alex on this one. I think it's a waste of time." http://es.pn/iSyGKi

@NYPost_Lewis - June 2

#RBNYs Hans Backe on coaching MLS all-stars: "I want to win this game. I don't want to lose against Man U.'' http://nyp.st/kO2END

@arlowhite - June 2

#Sounders fans. A heartfelt blog by @stevezakuani11 on his long road to recovery: http://tinyurl.com/3uue5n5 . Great stuff Steve.. #mls

@NewYorkRedBulls - June 4

#SpottedAtRedBullArena: Actor/Model Tyson Beckford. http://twitpic.com/5739v0

@TheFull90 (Charles Gooch) - June 5

Don't forget @SportingKC fans, pick up The Star today and get a 10-page special @LIVESTRONGPark special section.

Note: According to the Elias Sports Bureau will return in next week's edition of "TWIM"

Week 13 match previews: June 8-12, 2011 (all times ET)

Wednesday, June 8

Columbus Crew vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m.

- Last week, Jean Alexandre started at forward, scored his first MLS goal and added his first MLS assist in the 2-0 win vs. Vancouver. He was named MLS Player of the Week.

- Real scored two goals in a game for the first time April 9. RSL had scored just three goals in their previous six league matches combined.

- Making his first start in a defensive midfield role after starting 10 of the Crew's first 11 games at left back, Rich Balchan stepped up to score the equalizer in stoppage time last weekend against New York.

- The Crew have won the last four meetings between the teams at Crew Stadium in league play. But Real won in Columbus in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals on their way to capturing MLS Cup.

Thursday, June 9

Sporting Kansas City vs. Chicago Fire, 10 p.m. (ESPN2)

- The match will be the first in the new Livestrong Sporting Park. In nine previous opening games in stadiums specifically built for soccer since the start of the league, the home team has gone 5-1-3. The only road team to win? Kansas City, in the 2007 opening of Toronto's BMO Field.

- Goalkeeper Eric Kronberg made his second start of the season for Sporting and earned the club's first shutout of the year.

- Kansas City went 0-1-3 against the Fire at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

- The Fire's winless streak reached a club-record 10 games with the 0-0 tie against Seattle last week.

Friday, June 10

New York Red Bulls vs. New England Revolution, 8:30 p.m. (FOX Soccer)

- The Red Bulls have tied four straight games.

- Since April 16, Luke Rodgers has five goals and three assists - making him directly involved in nearly half of the Red Bulls goals (eight of 17) in that span.

- The Revolution have lost three games in a row. New England has been shut out in six of its last nine games; their 10 goals scored are fewest in MLS.

- The last time a road team won in the series came in 2007, a 1-0 Revolution victory at Giants Stadium. New York has not won in New England since 2002.

Saturday, June 11

Philadelphia Union vs. Real Salt Lake, 4 p.m.

- Union striker Carlos Ruiz has the best strike rate against Real Salt Lake of any opponent in his eight-year MLS career, with five goals (and three assists) in seven games played (604 total minutes).

- Real Salt Lake allowed just four goals in their first 10 games this season, the second-lowest total in MLS history. Last year, the LA Galaxy allowed two goals in their first 10 games. The shutout of Vancouver on June 4 was RSL's seventh this season.

- Danny Mwanga has scored the last three goals for Union, over a span of 84 minutes. Mwanga scored the final two goals in the 6-2 win at Toronto, then the equalizing goal for the 1-1 draw in Colorado.

- In Philadelphia's inaugural season, Real claimed a 3-0 win at Rio Tinto Stadium in May, and the teams drew 1-1 at PPL Park in August.

D.C. United vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 7:30 p.m.

- Neither club has lost in league play since the start of May. United have gone 2-0-3, while the Earthquakes have gone 3-0-2.

- Against the LA Galaxy, D.C. United boss Ben Olsen put three rookies in the back four - center backs Ethan White and Perry Kitchen and right back Chris Korb - and the Black-and-Red recorded a third shutout on the season.

- Missing Chris Wondolowski and Ryan Johnson to CONCACAF Gold Cup duty, Steven Lenhart scored his first goal with San Jose and Simon Dawkins scored for the first time since April 23.

- The Earthquakes have a five-game unbeaten streak alive against United, including victories on each of their last two trips to RFK Stadium. D.C.'s last win against San Jose came in 2008.

Houston Dynamo vs. Chivas USA, 8:30 p.m.

- Chivas USA have not scored a goal their last seven league trips to Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo is 5-0-2 in those those seven games.

- Marcos Mondaini made a memorable return to the Chivas USA lineup after missing four games to suspension. Mondaini scored the game's only goal vs. Portland, his second of the season.

- The Dynamo's winless streak reached seven games in a 2-0 loss at San Jose, matching the second-longest in club history, behind a 10-game winless run last year.

- Missing three regulars to Gold Cup play, Geoff Cameron started his first game of the season at center back. Cameron was an MLS All-Star and MLS Best XI selection while playing center back during the 2009 season.

Seattle Sounders FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 10:30 p.m. (FOX Soccer/TSN2)

- This is the second match of the Cascadia Cup, the Pacific Northwest rivalry that also includes the Portland Timbers. Seattle and Vancouver have never met in MLS, but their rivalry dates back to 1974 in the North American Soccer League, and continuing through the A-League and USL First Division.

- After his first MLS tally won MLS Goal of the Week honors, Washington native Lamar Neagle made his first MLS start vs. Chicago.

- Whitecaps FC saw their winless run extended to 13 games in the 2-0 loss at Real Salt Lake; they have not yet won away from Empire Field in MLS play. The winless streak has equaled the longest ever in a single season; the league record is 18 games without a victory set by Real Salt Lake from Aug. 10, 2005 to May 6, 2006.

- Two-time MLS Cup winner Peter Vagenas made his Whitecaps FC debut last weekend. He appeared in 21 games for the Sounders in the past two seasons and previously played for Seattle coach Sigi Schmid at the LA Galaxy and UCLA.

LA Galaxy vs. Toronto FC, 10:30 p.m.

- The Galaxy extended their unbeaten streak to seven games (4-0-3) and their shutout streak to 411 minutes against D.C. United. The shutout streak is the third-longest in MLS this season. FC Dallas has the longest at 531 minutes; the Columbus Crew are next at 414.

- Joao Plata made his sixth consecutive start for TFC at forward. But in between at midweek, he earned his first cap for Ecuador, coming on in stoppage time of a 2-2 draw with Canada at BMO Field.

- With Nana Attakora making his first appearance in the TFC back four since April 9, after the season-ending injury to Adrian Cann, the Reds recorded a second shutout in three games. But Attakora was forced from the field late in the contest with a thigh injury.

- The teams have played to scoreless draws in each of their last three meetings, including a 0-0 tie on April 13 this season at BMO Field.

Portland Timbers vs. Colorado Rapids, 10:30 p.m. (Galavision)

- Conor Casey has now scored goals in back-to-back games, converting a penalty kick against Philadelphia. A scorer of double-digit goals each of the last three seasons, Casey gets hotter as the weather does: he had nine goals after June 1 each of the last two seasons, and all 11 of his goals in 2008 came after that date.

- The Rapids set an MLS record with their sixth consecutive draw, the 1-1 tie last weekend against Philadelphia. It's the most draws in a row within a single season; San Jose also had six consecutive draws, over the conclusion of the 2004 season and the start of 2005.

- The Timbers and Jack Jewsbury were both shutout for the first time since April 23 in the 1-0 loss at Chivas USA. Jewsbury had scored a goal or recorded an assist in each of Portland's five games in between (two goals, three assists among the Timbers' six goals), his longest such streak.

- The first game in the Timbers' MLS history was against Colorado, a 3-1 defeat on March 19 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Sunday, June 12

Columbus Crew vs. Chicago Fire, 4 p.m.

- It's the second home game of the week for the Crew. They began the homestand as one of three MLS remaining unbeaten at home (3-0-3), along with conference leaders Philadelphia (4-0-2) and the LA Galaxy (4-0-3).

- Goalkeeper Sean Johnson recorded his first shutout of the season in his second consecutive start after returning to the Fire lineup. Johnson had started the first four games of the season for Chicago before giving way to Jon Conway.

- While the Fire have not won since the second week of the season, they had still taken points in six of their last seven games entering this week.

- The Crew's first home win against the Fire in exactly six years came last July 3. In the eight intervening encounters in Columbus, the Fire went 4-0-4 at Crew Stadium.

FC Dallas vs. Sporting Kansas City, 7 p.m.

- FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman recorded his 100th career shutout last week against New England, most all-time in MLS. Eight of those shutouts have come against Sporting KC.

- With FC Dallas facing a lack of attacking options due to injury, Marvin Chavez turned down a call to the Honduras national team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. He scored his first goal of 2011 in the 1-0 win against New England; the week before he set up FCD's second goal in the 2-2 tie with Houston.

- After opening their new stadium, Sporting head right back out on the road. They went 1-6-3 on their 10-game road trip to start the season. The last team to open with an extended road swing - the Chicago Fire in 2006 - started with two wins and four draws in nine games. They finished the season in third place in the Eastern Conference.

- FC Dallas has won by shutout in each of Kansas City's last two trips to Pizza Hut Park, including a 6-0 victory in 2009. KC's last win at Dallas came in 2007.

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