TFC were able to hang onto a win in San Jose to register three points on the road for the first time this MLS season. Preki started the match with 2009 TFC MVP Dwayne De Rosario and Designated Player Julian de Guzman on the bench after they returned to The Reds following international duty with the Canadian Men’s National Team in Argentina earlier in the week.

The first half saw Chad Barrett notching his fifth of the season in the 31st minute when Stefan Frei placed a goal kick from the TFC end to the edge of the San Jose box. Jason Hernandez of San Jose made a poor attempt to head the ball back to Cannon his goalkeeper and Barrett was able to get the outside of his right foot onto the ball, resulting in first goal San Jose has surrendered at home since April 24. Barrett was also awarded a yellow card for his post goal celebration with the corner flag.

The play in the first half was not spectacular, but control of play was to the advantage of The Reds. San Jose Earthquakes did create opportunities in the 13, 23 and 35 minutes, but were unable to capitalize on these chances.

Both TFC and San Jose made changes at the half, with TFC bringing in De Rosario and de Guzman for O’Brian White and Martin Saric.

San Jose brought in Arturo Alvarez for Joey Gjertsen.

Early in the second half Stefan Frei confirmed why he is one of the best goal keepers in the league with a great save on Chris Wondolowski, resulting in a corner kick for San Jose. This proved to just the first of many missed opportunities for the Earthquake in the second half.

Dwayne De Rosario added to the TFC lead in the 66th minute by taking a long pass launched by Dan Gargan just inside the San Jose side of half and one touched it from the top of the box past Joe Cannon to make it 2-0 TFC. For De Rosario it was his 7th goal of the season which leads the eastern conference.

The two goal deficit seemed to create a sense of urgency for San Jose and for the remainder of the game they showed the pressure that they can put on opposing teams.

The lone San Jose goal came on a corner with Ramiro Corrales heading in a Bobby Convey cornerin the 76th minute. It appeared that Corrales and one other San Jose player were the only people on the pitch to go after the ball. This resulted in the Earthquake closing the gap with less than 15 minutes remaining in the match.

San Jose continued to put pressure on TFC for the remainder of the match and ended with 16 shots, 7 of those on goal, compared to TFC with 9 shots and 3 of those on goal.

In a half of play that saw no injuries, there was 3 minutes of stoppage time added and at 92 minutes Joe Cannon left his net to join in the San Jose attack on the Toronto goal.

This strategic decision was not successful and resulted in a clearing by Nick LaBrocca down the field to be captured by De Rosario to net his second of the game and finish the match at 3-1.

Next up for Toronto, a home match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday June 2 at 8pm in the final match of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, followed by a visit by the Kansas City Wizards for a 4pm start on Saturday June 5.

Scoring Summary
TOR – Chad Barrett (unassisted) 31
TOR – Dwayne De Rosario (Dan Gargan) 66
SJ — Ramiro Corrales (Bobby Convey) 76
TOR — Dwayne De Rosario (Nick LaBrocca) 94+

Lineups:

Toronto FC
Stefan Frei
Dan Gargan
Nana Attakora
Adrian Cann
Nick Garcia
Jacob Peterson
Nick LaBrocca
Amadou Sanyang
Martin Saric (Julian de Guzman 46)
Chad Barrett (Sam Cronin 82)
O’Brian White (Dwayne De Rosario 46).
Substitutes Not Used: Gabe Gala, Raivis Hscanovics, Maksim Usanov, Jon Conway.

San Jose Earthquakes
Joe Cannon
Chris Leitch (Scott Sealy 77)
Bobby Burling
Jason Hernandez
Ramiro Corrales
Brandon McDonald
Bobby Convey
Ryan Johnson
Chris Wondolowski
Joey Gjertsen (Arturo Alvarez 46)
Brad Ring (Cornell Glen 59)
Substitutes Not Used: Ramon Sanchez, Ike Opara, Steven Beitashour, Jon Busch

Real Salt Lake extended their win streak Saturday to a franchise-best five games after dispatching the Kansas City Wizards 4-1 in a hotly contested affair. While RSL jumped off to an early lead after a pair of goals by Fabian Espíndola and Álvaro Saborío, the Wizards were able to capitalize on RSL’s occasional sloppy play to pull a goal back just before half. Inspired by 15,588 raucous fans at Rio Tinto Stadium, RSL controlled the second half and finished the match off late thanks to a Davy Arnaud ejection and goals from Robbie Russell and Ned Grabavoy. ASN’s Patrick McShane reports from Rio Tinto Stadium and supplies player ratings for the victorious home side.

Conor Casey beat out Jeff Parke on a running battle into the box in the 63rd minute of the Seattle Sounders match-up with the Colorado Rapids and caught Kasey Keller off his line with a deft chip to the far post. The goal stood up as the winner in a 1-0 decision in the home team’s favor at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Pat Shea reports from Colorado and supplies player ratings for both sides.

Toronto FC booked their first road win in MLS play this season when Dwayne DeRosario broke a 2-2 deadlock with his second goal of the game deep into stoppage time at San Jose. Chris Hazard has that report.

In the nation’s capital, Steve Long finally sees reasons to believe in Curt Onalfo’s plans for DC United, after their 3-2 victory over Chivas USA.

The Philadelphia Union surprised an incredibly tough Houston home team last night coming from behind to win 3-2 in the dying moments. It was the #1 draft pick Danny Mwanga that grabbed the game winner all thanks to the unwavering work ethic of both Alejandro Moreno and Sebastien Le Toux. The win now puts the Union at 2-5-1. ASN Philly’s Breton Bonnette observed the match and supplied the following player ratings for the winners.

Finally, at Toyota Park in suburban Chicago, AC Milan strutted their stuff for a sell-out crowd before defeating the Chicago Fire by 1-0. Jeff Tobin has that report.

Even as DC United spiraled downward at the beginning of 2010, there appeared to be a simultaneous improvement in the team’s discipline and overall shape. That seeming contradiction could be explained by a superabundance of injuries to the top tier of players. The team simply lacked the critical talent mass to execute the tasks assigned.

Still, there seemed to be something more at work. I spoke with an experienced coach about it and received an interesting explanation. He described two key elements, the quality of the coach’s plan and the degree of player understanding and consequent buyin.

He would explain to his players that his plan could be good or bad and their buy into it could likewise be either. If his scheme was poor and they bought it or his scheme was good and they didn’t, the result would be mediocre at best.

The 2009 DC United players would invariably answer when interviewed that they bought Tom Soehn’s plan, but they often strayed from it during games, indicating by their actions that they didn’t fully buy it. Mediocrity ensued. Piled on top of a demanding overall schedule, the team fell below even that standard.

Enter Curt Onalfo, a legacy of the legendary DC United. Add an assistant from that same era, Ben Olsen, and you have two disciples of the Bruce Arena school of discipline. One would expect their plan to be a good one and their training to emulate the organization and focus which are Arena characteristics.

United’s first coach had a similar rocky beginning to his tenure, but righted the ship and piloted it to glory. Let’s take that analogy one step further. Arena took a while to integrate a major element of his style into the team, the effective creative midfielder. Onalfo came into 2010 with that same element lacking.

For whatever reason, over the offseason DC United did not acquire the midfield engine that they so clearly needed. Onalfo tested Santino Quaranta there, but found that the young veteran’s natural talents lend themselves to wide midfield or flexible striker play. He has had to resort to a less effective plan until the front office gets him the DP creator that will optimize the roster.

The reason that United can now approach a decent mediocrity (albeit with flashes of brilliance) lies in the players’ buying into the current plan. That plan is well described by a series of quotes from Tino Quaranta:

“We clearly went over this week what we wanted from each individual…We wanted to build off the AC Milan performance in terms of the way we defended, collectively from the forwards to the midfielders to the backs. We had a plan and we followed it to a tee.” That is classic Arena ball: press, control, and go fast when the opportunity arises.

It takes a while to become comfortable and confident. One must be patient, “At halftime I told the guys that if it takes us until the 90th minute to win this game tonight then that’s what it does, but we have to stay patient.”

The patient player has confidence that he and his teammates will fulfill each others’ expectations and that good things will come from overall focus, “It was a disciplined performance. In the past we would put our head down when the 78th-79th minute goal would go in. Tonight we lifted the guys. We kept pushing, we went forward. It was the type of performance we expect from these guys.”

Confidence is infectious, “Once they scored that second goal, I just looked around at the guys and I felt that we were gonna win this game.”

A large part of that confidence comes from the knowledge that the whole team is on the same page. Carey Talley, another Arena legacy, said it well, “We established a rhythm…It came from 1 through 15, however many played tonight….For us we’re starting to see the hard work, the discipline, pay off.

“There has to be a system established, like you say in Houston, where guys step in and do their role. We’re still obviously working on that and every guy is stepping in and trying to do what’s asked of him and you can’t complain about that.”

The defender, who wears the captain’s armband when Jaime Moreno is out, has made his own contribution to team development with his advice to the young Jordan Graye who continues to develop into a solid right defender.

In turn, Graye has begun to pass on his knowledge to 17 year old Andy Najar , who played in front of him, “He’s aware of where I am and I’m aware of where he is. He’s really good defensively.” Success comes about because, “The communication is key. Pena and Talley keep me in check and keep me focused on doing the right things during the game and I kinda put that on Andy too.”

Just as Olsen absorbed the lessons from John Harkes and Marco Etcheverry, the latest number 14, Najar, is growing rapidly, “He takes it seriously. Like Curt says, he’s wise beyond his years when it comes to professionalism in soccer, and that’s why he’s playing for the first team.”

The Open Cup match and regular season games that fill out the rest of this week will sorely test the team’s new found confidence. To Onalfo’s credit, he has slowly built a certain amount of depth into the squad which may see them past Real Salt Lake.

Two of MLS’ most successful coaches over time, Dom Kinnear of Houston and Steve Nicol of New England, built teams with solid systems which gave each player a clear role and obtained their buyin. Onalfo may well be on the right track, requiring only a creative midfielder to make it all work.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. On the eve of departing for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the U.S. Men’s National Team had everything before it, had nothing before it, it was going all the way to the World Cup final, or toward first round elimination – in short, some of the noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

With apologies to Charles Dickens, from whom the previous paragraph was lifted and (in small pieces) adapted for the current situation facing the U.S. World Cup squad, we present coverage of its last warm-up match on U.S. soil. ASN Philly’s Breton Bonnette reports from Lincoln Financial Field. Terry McLaughlin supplies the photos.

In what could be considered the biggest upset win of this WPS season to date, the Chicago Red Stars, at the end of a tumultuous week of changing coaches, defeated league-leading FC Gold Pride and ended their five-game winning streak with an early second-half goal from Kosovare Asllani. Michael Kajdas reports from Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., on that match.

The Boston Breakers came to Yurcak Field in New Jersey on Saturday night looking to stop two streaks, an all time winless record against defending WPS Champions Sky Blue FC and the five game winless streak they’ve carried since the second week of the season. After 90 minutes, the Breakers would leave with both still intact, playing to a 0-0 draw with Sky Blue in a game that saw Heather O’Reilly start at forward rather than her usual spot in midfield. The switch agreed with the U.S. international. “I have a lot of fun playing striker,” she said after the match. Lauren Barker reports from Piscataway, N.J.

Saturday’s match against the San Jose Earthquake will be a great test to see how The Reds are able to perform when they have all of their squad reunited.

Dwayne De Rosario and Julian de Guzman will be returning from international duty, while Nana Attakora and Maksim Usanov should be prepared to return to duty on the pitch.

The Reds (4-4-1) have yet to register a victory on the road during the current MLS campaign, but the return of a full bench and a full weeks rest after playing 8 games 27 days could give TFC a boost for this road match.

The Earthquake (5-2-1) have won their last 3 home dates after starting the season with a loss and draw at Buck Shaw Stadium. It is also impressive that the last time they allowed the opposing team to find the back of the net was April 24.

Saturday will see the return of TFCs Nick Garcia to the San Jose pitch, where he was the team captain before being shipped off to BMO field, but he will need to be in top form to neutralize the Earthquake’s Chris Wondolski, who has 5 goals in his last 6 games.

This match is expected to be a defensive struggle, with Preki’s defense first approach and San Jose’s ability to shut down opposing offense.

Two weeks ago, the Kansas City Wizards hoped that a two game home stand could reverse their fortunes. However, the Wizards could only take one point from both games, and after Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Columbus, the club’s winless streak reached six games.

The loss to Columbus was a microcosm of Kansas City’s winless streak. The Wizards enjoyed more of the ball throughout the game and created far more opportunities than their opponents, but they simply could not find a way to score. Meanwhile, a huge defensive blunder led to Columbus’ only goal, an Emilio Renteria wide-open header in the six hard box.

Kansas City must now travel to the Wasatch Front and face a Salt Lake squad that has not lost at home all season. The defending champions enter Saturday’s game on the heels of a 2-1 road win over Chivas USA. Defender Chris Wingert scored in first half stoppage time, but Chivas appeared that they would at least take a point from the game when Justin Braun equalized in the 80th minute. However, the visitors stole all three points when Fabian Espindola received a clever pass from Alvaro Saborio and drove a shot past goalkeeper Zach Thornton.

Both teams will be missing key players due to injuries and World Cup call ups. For Kansas City, Roger Espinoza is with the Honduran World Cup squad, and Michael Harrington will once again slide over to the left side to cover Espinoza’s spot in the back line. Midfielder Stephane Auvray will miss his third consecutive game as he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery. Jack Jewsbury will remain in the holding midfield position, where he will have to keep a close watch on Javier Morales as well as initiate Wizards attacks.

Real Salt Lake will not have Robbie Findley after the striker’s surprise selection in the American World Cup squad. However, Salt Lake has quality depth at the forward position, particularly with Saborio and Espindola scoring several goals already this season. The depth in midfield will be tested with Kyle Beckerman missing the game after suffering a foot injury last week against Chivas USA. Jean Alexandre came on for Beckerman after his injury, but Ned Grabavoy may also feature. Whether it is Alexandre or Grabavoy, it will be a major task for Salt Lake to replace their do-everything captain, and it could benefit the Wizards captain Davy Arnaud, who excels in making storming runs forward from central midfield.

The form book would indicate an easy victory for Salt Lake, particularly due to their impressive record at home. However, the game may not prove to be so simple. Other than the 3-0 loss to Houston in which they played over half of the game with 10 men, Kansas City has not played played off the park during this losing streak. In fact, they have out shot opponents by more than a two to one margin in their last three games. Real would also be wise to remember when a Kansas City team struggling to find victories came to Rio Tinto Stadium and left 2-0 winners. It was Salt Lake’s last defeat and home, and it serves as a reminder that recent form is not the be-all and end-all.

Still, if the Wizards want to pull the upset, they must turn their possession into goals and avoid the defensive miscues that have plagued them for over a month. Head coach Peter Vermes feels that his team is significantly better than last year. However, they must start to find some victories, or 2010 could end just as 2009 did.

ASN's Alison Ciarleglio was at the U.S. Men's National Team's first "Send-Off Series" match against the Czech Republic at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., on May 25 where she snapped a bunch of terrific photos much like the one pictured here. To see them, check the page on her website! For more on Alison's work, soccer- and sports-related and otherwise be sure to check out the APC Studio gallery via the preceding links.

For a night at least, all was right in the House of Sigi, as the Seattle Sounders soundly defeated Argentina's Boca Juniors by a score of 3-0. Here is a photo gallery supplied by David Lindsay.