Author Archives: Ridge Mahoney

[MLS WEEKEND ROUNDUP] The Galaxy rallies to beat Houston and keep pace with eighth-place Chicago, which knocks off New England; the Rapids stay live with a home victory; Chivas USA takes over first place in the Western Conference by winning in Salt Lake City; Columbus stumbles after taking the lead and loses at home to FC Dallas, which clinched a playoff spot.

If New York coach Bruce Arena told his team it had to break its recent trend of tying three straight games, 2-2, the message came through garbled. Poised again to clinch a playoff spot by winning, again the Red Bulls faltered. They scored an own goal and had a player ejected as ex-New York right back Marvell Wynne and his mates took them down, 2-1, at BMO Field in front of the usual cacophonous crowd of red-clad crazies and a national TV audience.

[TV PREVIEWS] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney breaks down the action in MLS, which begins Friday when Kansas City hosts D.C. United. It’s gut-check time for the Wizards and the Fire, who can solidify if not confirm postseason reservations by winning at home, and must-win time for skidding homies Columbus and Colorado. The Galaxy takes its improbable but not impossible playoff quest to Houston, and the 2005 expansion teams renew their unique rivalry in Utah. Toronto has a whole lot of Mo’mentum after beating RBNY.

The two men most responsible for the rebirth of the San Jose Earthquakes weren’t in attendance, but those who were there- including former Clash and Quakes defender John Doyle, who was named Wednesday as the team’s new general manager – heaped praise upon Oakland A’s co-owners John Fisher and Lewis Wolff, the money men behind the MLS expansion team. “I think a lot of it comes back to local ownership,” says A’s president Michael Crowley, who will fill the same role for the Quakes. “The team that was here previously never had that and I think you need that in any sport, baseball or soccer or whatever sport you name. Or whatever business you name, for that matter.”

[TV PREVIEW] As they survey BMO Field and see the crowd and hear its passion, the players, coaches and officials of Red Bull New York must wonder if it will ever come to pass for them, this seemingly ideal melding of location, facility, and fandom. Red Bull Park is still years away. League games in the Meadowlands are ridiculously expensive and drained of atmosphere, except for the nine-goal appearance of David Beckham in early August.

When Guadalajara needed one of its attacking stars to step up, Ramon Morales did. When D.C. United needed someone to do something in the offensive third, nobody came through. Morales nailed a golazo in the 64th minute at Jalisco Stadium Tuesday night, stepping into a loose ball rolling along the penalty arc and drilling it high past keeper Troy Perkins. Thus Guadalajara won the Copa Sudamericana second leg, 1-0, and the series on away goals (1-0) with the teams deadlocked 2-2 on aggregate.

The angry reaction by Chivas USA players and Coach Preki to the antics and purported dives by Fire attacker Cuauhtemoc Blanco is, in the eyes of some opponents, a case of the stripes getting a hefty dose of their own medicine.

[MLS WEEKEND WRAPUP] Only one of the teams fighting for the eighth and final playoff slot was able to win, and the Galaxy’s 2-1 defeat of Columbus seriously mars the Crew’s chances. D.C. United and New England both won to clinch the top two spots, in either order, atop the Eastern Conference, and Houston’s 3-0 pasting of Dallas at Pizza Hut Park lifted it into a tie with Chivas USA atop the West. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney provides his take on the weekend’s MLS action …

[TV PREVIEWS] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney previews the weekend’s six MLS games, which include a Texas shootout and Cuauhtemoc Blanco‘s visit to Chivas USA …

Kansas City took the principle of squandering chances to the extreme Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium, and plunged both its short- and long-term prospects into doubt. With a record Arrowhead MLS crowd of 32,867 in attendance, the Wizards (10-11-6) could have picked up three valuable points in the standings and also built some momentum at the gate. Instead, the fans saw two Kansas City players sent off, Eddie Johnson and his mates flub numerous chances, and the Galaxy steal out of town with a 1-0 win courtesy of a Gavin Glinton header. Big crowd, big letdown.

Losing Marc Burch near the end of the first half probably cost D.C. United a goal, but will his absence in the second leg end up costing his team the series? In front of 21,022 fans at RFK Stadium, United pulled out 2-1 win Wednesday night in the first leg of its Copa Sudamericana showdown with Guadalajara, which peppered the D.C. goal before and after Burch’s ejection in the 44th minute. Guadalajara ended up with a 21-5 edge in shots, but just one goal by Sergio Santana, as compared with one each for midfielders Ben Olsen and Clyde Simms

The Galaxy‘s playoff hopes are ephemeral at best, but the problems facing the Wizards are all too real. Kansas City rallied to tie Chivas USA last weekend only to succumb in stoppage time to Ante Razov’s second goal of the game to lose, 2-1. A week after a dramatic stoppage-time rally netted two goals and a 3-2 victory over Columbus, the Wizards threw away two points in the waning seconds. They have lost three of their last five and are good but not great at home (7-4-2).

[MLS WEEKEND WRAP] Chivas USA stung Kansas City with a stoppage-time goal to move into the Western Conference lead; Chicago’s tie with D.C. United keeps it a point ahead of ninth-place Columbus, which rallied for a win in Toronto; New York needed a rally at home to tie New England; Real Salt Lake dinged Colorado’s playoff hopes with a 1-0 win; and THE GALAXY BEATS DALLAS!!!