The LA Galaxy hoped to send Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle off to national team camp in style, with a win over Toronto FC Saturday night at the Home Depot Center. It didn’t happen thanks in no small part to the exploits of TFC keeper Stefan Frei. “A goalkeeper can always be a great equalizer in our sport and he was great tonight,” Donovan said of Frei’s effort after the match. Still, the 0-0 draw allows the Galaxy to keep their unbeaten start to the season intact. ASN’s Ivan Yeo reports from Carson, Calif.

Three thousand miles away, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., Fred Montero single-handedly put an end to the New York Red Bulls unbeaten run at their new ground. Montero slotted home the only goal of the match in the 85th minute. ASN has tons of coverage from that match.

Down the road in Philadelphia, FC Dallas midfielder Brek Shea scored his first ever MLS regular season goal, which stood up until the very last minute of stoppage time when Philadelphia’s Danny Mwanga got his first career goal. The Union rookie rocketed a shot from just inside the box for a 1-1 final at Lincoln Financial Field. Breton Bonnette wrote a match report while Sam Toma rated the Philadelphia players.

Philip Woodruff followed the proceedings from Dallas and supplied a match report and FC Dallas player ratings.

In the nation’s capital, the Colorado Rapids ended one of the longest streaks in MLS history, defeating DC United 1-0 at RFK Stadium for the first time in 11 years and sending the home side further into the abyss of the MLS table. Chris Snear has that report.

For just the second time this season and the first time in over a month, the New England Revolution were able to keep a clean sheet as they held their opponents the San Jose Earthquakes scoreless. Although the Revs were not able to find the back of the net themselves, they proved not only to have the defensive mettle necessary to earn a draw, but showed strength in the midfield for the second league game in a row. Hank Alexandre reports from Gillette Stadium.

Finally, in Kansas City, with the home side trailing 2-1 in the 89th minute, Kei Kamara found himself all alone in front of a gaping goal. Less than a month ago in similar circumstances, the Wizards striker garnered worldwide attention when he slipped, missed the ball, and handled on his way to the ground. This time, Kamara remained on his feet and easily tapped it in to complete a two goal, second-half comeback for the Wizards. “This time I was wearing blue shoes,” Kamara explained after the match, which was covered by Nate Brinson.

You’ve read the reports. Now behold the photo galleries! At left, Todd Dunivant heads in the LA Galaxy’s third goal of the day at Seattle’s Qwest Field. The Seattle Sounders were soundly defeated by the LA Galaxy by 4-0, a transgression the Sounders front office would atone for by refunding season ticket holders for the cost of the game. Here is a photo gallery supplied by David Lindsay.

ASN’s Carmina Besson was at the San Jose Earthquakes 4-0 defeat of the New York Red Bulls on Saturday (right), a match that didn’t quite live up to its billing as an early red card cost the visitors. Here the photographic evidence. All ©Carmina Besson/ASN

For the second week in a row Real Salt Lake faced an Eastern Conference foe at home, and for the second week they emerged victorious, though the match could have taken an entirely different tack had the Philadelphia Union converted their chances. Check out the photo gallery. All photos ©Julie Harper/ASN

It’s the start of a new month, which means it is time to revisit our Twitter account standings! This table tracks the number of followers each Major League Soccer team has through its ASN Twitter account. We launched this feature
about six months ago.

1. (1). LA Galaxy: 837 followers (4 more than on April 9)
2. (2). Seattle Sounders FC: 620 (+3)
3. (3). New York Red Bulls: 615 (+35)
4. (4). Toronto FC: 529 (+63)
5. (5). Chicago Fire: 401 (+3)
6. (6). Houston Dynamo : 385 (-1)
7. (7). Chivas USA: 340 (+6)
8. (8). Columbus Crew: 325 (+9)
9. (11). Philadelphia Union: 317 (+35)
10. (9). DC United: 311 (+0)
11. (10). New England Revolution: 294 (+0)
12 (12). Real Salt Lake: 267 (+2)
13. (14). FC Dallas: 255 (+10)
14. (13). San Jose Earthquakes: 245 (-1)
14. (15). Kansas City Wizards: 245 (+8)
16. (16). Colorado Rapids: 191 (+7)

A very interesting month. For the first time since we’ve been keeping this table teams actually lost followers. Granted it was just one follower in both instances; @DynamoASN and @QuakesASN. But it is still surprising, particularly in the latter’s case. The Quakes have been performing better on the field since, well, since they became the Houston Dynamo. And nearby Silicon Valley should surely result in more tech-savvy (and Twitter savvy?) fans than in a place like Salt Lake City or Columbus (to grossly over-generalize)?

But it wasn’t just these two accounts that suffered. Growth was anemic or inexistent (0 new followers by @dcuASN and @RevsASN–the first time that’s happened too) in all but three accounts: @TorontoFCasn (the biggest gainer by far), @RBNYasn and @PhillyUnionASN. The Union jumped two spots and the Red Bulls are within striking distance of @SoundersASN, whom they trail by five followers–something that can easily be made up in the month ahead. @LAgalaxyASN remains far ahead in the distance but a paltry four new followers at least means it didn’t expand this lead.

Click to view round six

Click to view round five

Click to view round four

Click to view round three

Click to view round two

Click to view round one

Oh by the way: Just in case you were wondering, ASN’s “mothership” Twitter account, @amersocc, which covers broader (not always team-specific) issues affecting the American game, boasts 1,341 followers at the time of this writing. Our Women’s Professional Soccer account, @wpsASN, is followed by 703 people.

ASN’s Carmina Besson was at the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 defeat of the Colorado Rapids on Saturday (right) and filed these photographs.

The Seattle Sounders were unable to close out the Columbus Crew Saturday (left) and were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against the defending Supporters Shield champions. Photo gallery supplied by David Lindsay.

Julie Harper was at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, for Real Salt Lake’s triumphant return home (right). Granted Toronto FC is not exactly Man United, but a win is a win. Check out those photos here.

Alison Ciarleglio was at RFK Stadium for the New York Red Bulls’ 2-0 defeat of DC United (left). Those photos, along with others, on Alison’s website here.

In the nation’s capital, DC United lost its plot in the second half of a steamy encounter (over 90 degrees at kickoff) with the New York Red Bulls, succumbing 2-0. The loss drops United to 0-5 (something DCU fans can lament in their new forum if they so choose).

For New York it was the first victory at RFK Stadium in nearly five years, which was of particular satisfaction to veteran defender Mike Petke. But the most noise was made once again by Edson Buddle.

With every week that brings us closer to the South Africa World Cup, Buddle makes another strong case for his inclusion into Bob Bradley’s World Cup Roster. The LA Galaxy forward added the role of facilitator to his scoring duties Saturday night against the Philadelphia Union. Buddle had a hand in the Galaxy’s second fastest strike in team history, then added his eighth and ninth goals of the season later in the first half, as the Galaxy remained atop the Western Conference standings with a 3-1 victory over the first-year Union at the Home Depot Center. ASN’s Ivan Yeo reports on that match. ASN Philly has coverage as well; check out their player ratings.

Baggio Husidic scored his second goal in as many games for the Chicago Fire, but the team’s overall efforts were mediocre Saturday night at Toyota Park. The visiting team, Chivas USA, did little to contribute to the game’s flow and the 1-1 result was just desserts for both sides. Jeff Tobin reports and supplies player ratings for the home side. Fire fans are encouraged to discuss the game (and whatever else suits their fancy) in the new forum created specifically for this purpose.

An early Steve Zakuani goal was canceled out by Steven Lenhart’s first-half stoppage-time header as the Columbus Crew held the Sounders to another frustrating draw, 1-1, at Qwest Field. Seattle was not lacking in chances to score, taking 16 shots on the night, but only put three of those on target – and more importantly, only one of them ended up in the back of the net. But the overall play on the Xbox Pitch was some of the best this season, and will leave fans of the rave green team with reason to be optimistic, reports Nick Schiffler, who also supplied player ratings for Seattle.

It was a pleasant return home for Real Salt Lake as the defending champs dominated an inept Toronto FC squad for a 2-1 victory. Possibly attempting to earn a point on the road, Toronto fielded a defensive formation with the majority of their attacking starters on the bench. Unfortunately this tactic wasn’t particularly effective, as RSL strolled throughout the match imposing their will on an outmatched TFC squad. Patrick McShane reports from Rio Tinto Stadium and also supplies player ratings for the victorious home side. RSL fans are encouraged to discuss the game in their forum.

The San Jose Earthquakes shut out the Colorado Rapids 1-0 Saturday night in a confident performance that was decided when Chris Wondolowski raced onto a bouncing ball and struck it for a bell ringer that bounced up and down off the cross bar and into goal. “Tonight was a typical Wondo goal that we see everyday in practice,” coach Frank Yallop said after the match. “He can really hit a ball.” The Quakes now have three wins in five games. Eric Pederson reports from the Bay Area.

See more of Alison’s work from the game on her website.

Defense stole the spotlight this past week in Major League Soccer as many of the matches looked like wars of attrition rather than displays of the "beautiful game". Several goalkeepers showed their worth - Kansas City's Jimmy Nielsen, Toronto FC's Stefan Frei, the Galaxy's Donovan Ricketts, and the Crew's Will Hesmer in particular. One walked away with ASN's Player of the Week honors - the first goalkeeper to do so in 2010. There were many first timers with only Toronto FC's Dwayne DeRosario earning a repeat appearance. Read all about it here.

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For more information on your host Jason Davis check out Match Fit USA and of course be sure to listen to AmericanSoccerShow.com, home of the popular American Soccer Show weekly podcast. Be sure to listen in every Monday!

Subscribe to ASN's Audio Soccer News Daily for free! (Just this audio feed, no other ASN items!)

For more information on your host Jason Davis check out Match Fit USA and of course be sure to listen to AmericanSoccerShow.com, home of the popular American Soccer Show weekly podcast. Be sure to listen in every Monday!

The Seattle Sounders defeated the Kansas City Wizards 1-0 on a stoppage time goal by Michael Fucito. Read about that in ASN's preliminary match report and in our secondary story featuring player ratings.

Here is a photo gallery supplied by David Lindsay.

After letting a win slip away by giving up a last-second goal versus Real Salt Lake last week, the Sounders turned around and scored one of their own Saturday night at Qwest Field. The heroics of Kasey Keller, a veteran of hundreds (or more?) of professional matches, and Michael Fucito, playing in his second, brought the Sounders their last-minute win over the Kansas City Wizards.

“I turned and I was one on one with the goalie, hit it, and you know, I finished it well, it was unbelievable,” said Fucito after the match.

A first reaction from ASN’s Kyle Alm, who also takes the opportunity to revisit questions he had about the team coming into the season.

Unsurprisingly, Keller and Fucito feature prominently in ASN’s player ratings supplied by Nick Schiffler.