Week 22 recap
I'm glad to say I did better this weekend then I did on Wednesday with my Open Cup predictions. In other news, that's not saying much.
Columbus did something great for them, they won on the road. Not only that, but they beat a really good team. The Wizards were hoping to take continue of the top spot in the East this weekend, but they got a rude wakeup call in the 34th when Chris Henderson hit a lofting shot into the left post in finally into goal. It turned out the Crew only needed one goal, however, they were lucky with that. In the 62nd minute, Crew defender Chad Marshall basically attacked Wizards forward Josh Wolff in the box, but the ref didn't see it. It should have been red for Marshall (last defender and he had been beaten by Wolff) and a pk for KC. Who knows, maybe the pk would have been blocked, but with all odds, they would have knotted it up. It's an unfair happening, but that happens. KC had some other good chances. In the 80th, Wolff had a perfect chance from the box, but missed. In the 87th, Jonny Walker (Crew goalie) showed his reflexes and made a great dive to stop a hard bullet of a shot by Chris Klein. Still, the Crew got the points and keep their playoff hopes alive for another week. KC 0 - Crew 1
DC United has a new scoring machine, defender Bobby Boswell. The problem is he can only score against his own goalie. For the second week in a row, bad communication in the backfield resulted in DC giving up an own goal. To make matters even worse, DC gave up the go ahead goal very late in extra time. They left New England's Taylor Twellmann unguarded in the box and Andy Dorman put a fine hanging ball right to Twellmann's head. It is a shame to see them fall apart so quickly. Just a couple weeks ago, they had it all together, but now they look confused. They did control the first half (Santino Quaranta's goal in the 4th was excellent), but they just can't stay together. United now find themselves dangerously close to falling out of playoff contention while New England keeps reaching new heights. NE 2 - DC 1
How bad is it for FC Dallas? A tie against Chivas USA is seen as a good thing. A mistake by FCD's Clarence Goodson ended up placing the ball right at Arias's feet and he slotted it home for the easy first goal in the 37th minute. But Dallas would equalize right before halftime when Carlos Ruiz took a wonderful crossing pass by Eddie Johnson and found the net for the 11th time this season. Chivas came out solid in the second half and managed to take the lead again off a corner kick in the 67th. It was a fantastic shot into the area by Arturo Torres, allowing Ezra Hendrickson to just push it home. But then Dallas did something they have not done in a long time, they held on defense and moved forward on offense. Lucky for FCD, Chivas still is missing a defense. Ramon Nunez was able to drill a rebound right past Chivas's Brad Guzan, insuring them a share of the points. However, they almost got all three point, but Guzan made some excellent saves on some good shots late. FCD 2 - Chivas 2
Then there was the battle of California. I think it is safe to say that San Jose and Los Angeles are not very fond of one another. This was the game of "coming back to bite you in the ass." Folks who once played with the other team scored all three goals. Alejandro Moreno got things going when he beat LA Kevin Hartman goalie to a ball in the air and headed it home in the 23rd. LA protested, saying Moreno interfered with the goaltender, but it was the right call. Donovan then did what he does so well, got even. He pounded a strike home from about 20 yards out. The crowd booed their former star, but Landon just hit his chest. All tied up. The next 40 minutes were very physical. I am amazed that referee Abiodun Okulaja handed out only 4 cautions, because they were ripping into each other out there. Things calmed down long enough for Mark Chung to take a superb corner kick in the 75th minute that came to the near post. Danny Califf beat his man and LA's goalie with a slap of his neck as he headed the ball in for the win. LA almost had a late equalizer, but somehow Ricardo Clark was able to put a shot by Tyrone Marshall over the bar. San Jose 2 - LA 1
My Guesses vs. Final Scores
Game (my guess) Final score
Kansas City - Columbus (3-1) 0-1
New England - DC United (2-1) 2-1
FC Dallas - Chivas USA (3-2) 2-2
San Jose - Los Angles (2-1) 2-1
This week 2-2
Total so far this season: 15-19
Columbus did something great for them, they won on the road. Not only that, but they beat a really good team. The Wizards were hoping to take continue of the top spot in the East this weekend, but they got a rude wakeup call in the 34th when Chris Henderson hit a lofting shot into the left post in finally into goal. It turned out the Crew only needed one goal, however, they were lucky with that. In the 62nd minute, Crew defender Chad Marshall basically attacked Wizards forward Josh Wolff in the box, but the ref didn't see it. It should have been red for Marshall (last defender and he had been beaten by Wolff) and a pk for KC. Who knows, maybe the pk would have been blocked, but with all odds, they would have knotted it up. It's an unfair happening, but that happens. KC had some other good chances. In the 80th, Wolff had a perfect chance from the box, but missed. In the 87th, Jonny Walker (Crew goalie) showed his reflexes and made a great dive to stop a hard bullet of a shot by Chris Klein. Still, the Crew got the points and keep their playoff hopes alive for another week. KC 0 - Crew 1
DC United has a new scoring machine, defender Bobby Boswell. The problem is he can only score against his own goalie. For the second week in a row, bad communication in the backfield resulted in DC giving up an own goal. To make matters even worse, DC gave up the go ahead goal very late in extra time. They left New England's Taylor Twellmann unguarded in the box and Andy Dorman put a fine hanging ball right to Twellmann's head. It is a shame to see them fall apart so quickly. Just a couple weeks ago, they had it all together, but now they look confused. They did control the first half (Santino Quaranta's goal in the 4th was excellent), but they just can't stay together. United now find themselves dangerously close to falling out of playoff contention while New England keeps reaching new heights. NE 2 - DC 1
How bad is it for FC Dallas? A tie against Chivas USA is seen as a good thing. A mistake by FCD's Clarence Goodson ended up placing the ball right at Arias's feet and he slotted it home for the easy first goal in the 37th minute. But Dallas would equalize right before halftime when Carlos Ruiz took a wonderful crossing pass by Eddie Johnson and found the net for the 11th time this season. Chivas came out solid in the second half and managed to take the lead again off a corner kick in the 67th. It was a fantastic shot into the area by Arturo Torres, allowing Ezra Hendrickson to just push it home. But then Dallas did something they have not done in a long time, they held on defense and moved forward on offense. Lucky for FCD, Chivas still is missing a defense. Ramon Nunez was able to drill a rebound right past Chivas's Brad Guzan, insuring them a share of the points. However, they almost got all three point, but Guzan made some excellent saves on some good shots late. FCD 2 - Chivas 2
Then there was the battle of California. I think it is safe to say that San Jose and Los Angeles are not very fond of one another. This was the game of "coming back to bite you in the ass." Folks who once played with the other team scored all three goals. Alejandro Moreno got things going when he beat LA Kevin Hartman goalie to a ball in the air and headed it home in the 23rd. LA protested, saying Moreno interfered with the goaltender, but it was the right call. Donovan then did what he does so well, got even. He pounded a strike home from about 20 yards out. The crowd booed their former star, but Landon just hit his chest. All tied up. The next 40 minutes were very physical. I am amazed that referee Abiodun Okulaja handed out only 4 cautions, because they were ripping into each other out there. Things calmed down long enough for Mark Chung to take a superb corner kick in the 75th minute that came to the near post. Danny Califf beat his man and LA's goalie with a slap of his neck as he headed the ball in for the win. LA almost had a late equalizer, but somehow Ricardo Clark was able to put a shot by Tyrone Marshall over the bar. San Jose 2 - LA 1
My Guesses vs. Final Scores
Game (my guess) Final score
Kansas City - Columbus (3-1) 0-1
New England - DC United (2-1) 2-1
FC Dallas - Chivas USA (3-2) 2-2
San Jose - Los Angles (2-1) 2-1
This week 2-2
Total so far this season: 15-19
posted by Mike H at 4:48 PM
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