October 23, 2006
The MLS playoffs have begun.
Saturday was the day of the Road Warriors as the best teams in each conference were each able to get a win away from home.
In NY, DC United got a late goal as Jamie Moreno and Christian Gomez played a beautiful one-two play at the top of the Red Bulls penalty area and Gomez chipped a beautiful shot over the top of Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway in the 77th minute.
DC looked like they've shaken off the poor play that has plagued them down the stretch of the regular season. Although, the match did look like it was going to end up a scoreless affair as neither team was really creating a lot of scoring chances.
The second leg is next Sunday at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2).
In Colorado, Western Conference Regular Season Champs FC Dallas was able to get goals from Carlos Ruiz and Abe Thompson and gain a 2-1 edge on the Rapids heading into their second leg next Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
DeRo and Dorman turn in to goats on Sunday
Yesterday was the Day of the Goat in MLS and not just because Chivas USA defeated the Houston Dynamo 2-1. Both games saw the home team win by a goal and a visiting player left wearing the goat horns.
In the day's first game, New England's Andy Dorman was the player that should have slithered off the field at the end of the match. Chicago's loan goal came off of a free kick by Justin Mapp that should have gone off the Revolution's wall and not into the back of the net. Most of the players in the Revs wall failed to jump and Andy Dorman actually turned his head out of the path of the ball. Matt Reis wasn't publicly killing Dorman afterward, but he should have been.
The second leg in New England will be next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET (FSC).
In the second game of the day, Chivas USA took a 2-0 lead with a free kick goal by Ante Razov and a header by Paco Palencia. Brian Ching helped bring Houston back with a one touch goal just inside the near post in the 75th minute. Ten minutes later, Ching was able to draw a penalty kick call when he was dragged down in the box by Jason Hernandez. MLS MVP Finalist Dwayne De Rosario stepped to the penalty spot for the Dynamo, but Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan guessed correctly and was able to make a diving save to his left.
The second leg in Houston will be next Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET (FSC & HDNet).
Check out Fox Soccer Channel's Center Circle with Sunil Gulati
Last evening I was able to check out the one on one interview show that Fox Soccer Channel did with the head of US Soccer, Sunil Gulati.
While Sunil didn't talk publicly about specific candidates to replace Bruce Arena, it was a very cool look at the man who heads up the US federation.
The show is on this evening at 5:30pm ET and is well worth the half of an hour.
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not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to
send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read
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