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MLS Ticker: Texas derby set for Disney final, Seattle smokes UCF and more

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By AVI CREDITOR

The final of the Disney Classic will be an old-fashioned Texas derby.

FC Dallas outlasted Orlando City S.C., and the Houston Dynamo topped Toronto FC in Thursday night's semifinals at Disney World to set up a rematch of last year's third-place game in this year's final.

Dallas' Milton Rodriguez touched home a Brek Shea header at the goalmouth in the 30th minute for the only tally in FCD's 1-0 victory over the USL-PRO side.

Houston battled back from a 2-1 deficit to take the nightcap, 3-2. Cam Weaver scored the match-winner in the 68th minute after Brad Davis had knotted the score at 2-all just before halftime. Geoff Cameron scored the Dynamo's other goal, while Jacob Peterson and Dwayne De Rosario tallied for TFC, which put Aron Winter's 4-3-3 formation on display.

The two Texas teams, who recently played through a chippy preseason affair, will play in the final on Saturday night (8 p.m.). Toronto and Orlando City will meet in the third-place match at 6 p.m. Both games will be aired on ESPN3.com.

Here are a few more stories from around the league:

SOUNDERS ROUT UCF

The Seattle Sounders did something that a couple of other MLS teams could not do. They blew out the University of Central Florida.

After playing the Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution in relatively competitive matches, the Knights were no match for the Sounders, who overwhelmed them with a 7-0 result in their friendly on Thursday.

O'Brian White and Pat Noonan each scored twice, David Estrada and Michael Fucito tallied goals and a Lamar Neagle cross was put into the net for an own goal to account for the scoring.

WARZYCHA, EDWARD OUT FOR LONG TERM

Sporting Kansas City rookie Konrad Warzycha and FC Dallas defender Edson Edward are both expected to miss the next 6-9 months with severe knee injuries.

Warzycha, a rookie out of Ohio State and the son of Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha, has been diagnosed with a femoral condyle defect in his right knee that requires surgery.

Edward underwent surgery earlier this week for torn knee ligaments (ACL, LCL). He was injured during a training session earlier this month.

QUAKES DROP ENGLAND FINALE

The San Jose Earthquakes wrapped up their trip to England with a 3-1 loss to Leicester City on Thursday.

Chris Wondolowski scored the goal for San Jose, which saw Tim Ward and Ramiro Corrales exit with injuries that the team deemed to be not serious.

Leicester City, which plays in England's League Championship, fielded a team comprised with some first-teamers and some reserves.

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What did you think of the matches in the Disney Classic? Do you see Noonan and White balancing out the Sounders' attack this season? Think Wondolowski will come close to his goal total from a year ago?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. really? Are you really gonna start this argument? It was a freakin preseason friendly with lots of subs. wow. If you are going to draw conclusions based on these kinds of matches, then you are a fool.

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  2. I thought MLS was on par with the bottom half of the EPL. SMH. Let me guess it is because it is preseason right? The same excuse we use against Euro teams when we beat them during their preseason.

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  3. Don’t give up on Nkufo yet. Let’s see if he has better chemistry with his mates after a full training camp and another couple months of regular MLS play. It was clear no one knew where anyone wanted the ball or who was making runs where last season. And let’s be frank: he’ll get much better service from Brad Evans and Alvaro Fernandez than he got from Nate Sturgis and Sanna Nyassi.

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  4. Speaking of which…where was Convey? I didn’t see his name on the listed roster or the previous game roster. Did he travel with the team?

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  5. Do fans attend these friendly games in Europe, such as the Leicester-SJ matchup? I can’ imagine fans at lining up to see the return of Bobby Convey or the goal scoring exploits of Chris Wondolowski. I’m not hating on SJ, but just curious to know if fans are welcome, and if so, do they attend…

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  6. Very excited about Houston this year. I know the preseason doesn’t mean much, but the Dynamo are looking like they are putting together a good team. Lots of depth across the field, and good competition in most positions. Navas Cobo, Dixon and Soto looked a little lost at the end against TFC (in their defense, the lineup changed a lot so they maybe got 5 minutes with the same set of players). The reserve league is going to be great for Houston’s young players, because they seem to have a lot of potential that needs a year of professional polish. I am also interested in how the Cruz/healthy Clark/Ashe wide midfield sweepstakes is going to play out.

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  7. First the big fight(s), now a rematch before the season started.

    MLS couldn’t have planned this better.

    A couple of close games during the regular season and the rivalry will never look back.

    ps. I hope that Chris is right about White. Not excited about NKufo, he is nice guy, a nice old guy.

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  8. indeed…there were a lot of folks in Toronto saying “good riddance” but i think we may well rue this one day not too far down the road

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  9. Thug…y…mos?? Really, umm, not good.

    Better would have been one of the following:

    1. Crack-n-ho’s

    2. Cry-no-mo’s

    3. Anything else

    Back to work…

    Reply
  10. Looks like Dynamo and FC Dallas (nalgas) are taking their rivalry on the road this year. Should be another good game with Houston winning.

    Reply

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