Top Stories

MLS Preseason Rewind: DC United tops Chicago, Le Toux nets winner, and more

MLS Logo

By CALEB SONNELAND

The 8th annual Carolina Challenge Cup is underway in Charleston, South Carolina.

DC United notched the only win of the weekend with a 1-0 result over the Chicago Fire while hosts Charleston Battery salvaged a late draw with the Columbus Crew last Saturday.

Signed earlier this month, DC United's new Designated Player Hamdi Salihi grabbed the lone goal in the match in the 66th minute. DC defender Ethan White played Salihi in and the Albanian didn't disappoint, slotting home an emphatic half volley from 15 yards out. The 28-year-old gave United the all-important goal that Fire keeper Jay Nolly couldn't keep out.

In Saturday's other Carolina Challenge Cup match, the Battery were rescued by a late PK from Jose Cuevas to earn a point from the Crew. Eddie Gaven opened the scoring for Columbus before Cuevas equalized for the home team in the 89th minute on a penalty given up by Carlos Mendes.

The next round of Carolina Challenge Cup action kicks off this Wednesday.

Here are some other scores from across MLS to keep you thinking about Opening Weekend:

LE TOUX GRABS WINNER FOR WHITECAPS

MLS journeyman Sebastien Le Toux has gotten off the mark for his new club in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic as the Whitecaps saw off the Houston Dynamo with a 1-0 win in Florida.

The win puts Vancouver on top of the first pool in the tournament and sets the team up for a clash with the runner up of the second pool.

The goal came after Whitecaps striker Long Tan was taken down in the Houston Area in the 14th minute and Le Toux delivered what would be the decisive strike in the contest. 

Tan  (who has drawn three penalties in two matches) would later draw yet another penalty in the first half, but his chipped effort was easily saved by Tyler Deric.

FERREIRA GOES 90 IN DALLAS DRAW

2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira appears close to making a full recovery from the ankle injury that cost him most of the 2011 MLS season, playing 90 minutes on Saturday in FC Dallas' 1-1 draw vs. Swedish club BK Hacken.

Ferreira enjoyed his longest appearance of the pre-season in a match that saw Dallas take the lead just before halftime on a Fabian Castillo goal. Dallas surrendered a 79th-minute equalizer, but that didn't put a damper on the big news of the day, which was Ferreira's first 90-minute match in almost a year.

RED-HOT ROWE LEADS REVS PAST RED BULLS

Rookie midfielder Kelyn Rowe continued his impressive pre-season with a pair of goals on Saturday in New England's 2-0 exhibition victory against the New York Red Bulls in Desert Diamond Cup action in Tucson.

Rowe slotted home a rebound to open the scoring before delivering a beautiful second goal against a Red Bulls squad made up almost entirely of reserve players.

FUCITO SCORES AS IMPACT TIE SPORTING KC

Former Seattle Sounders forward Mike Fucito opened his account for his new club on Sunday, scoring Montreal's lone goal in a 1-1 draw vs. Sporting Kansas City in Disney Soccer Classic action on Sunday.

Fucito scored off a pass from rookie Andrew Wenger to open the scoring before Soony Saad found a leveler for KC in a pre-season match held in Orlando. 

GALAXY TOP 9-MAN SALT LAKE

Paolo Cardozo and last season's hero Mike Magee proved to be the heroes in the LA Galaxy's 2-0 win over MLS Cup contenders Real Salt Lake.

In a match that was scoreless at halftime, the second-half inclusion of David Beckham and a pair of red cards against Real Salt Lake turned the tide in this rematch of the 2011 MLS Western Conference Final.

RAPIDS FALL IN CONSOLATION MATCH

Despite a win, the Colorado Rapids ended in 3rd place in the Hawaiian Islands International after a 1-0 win over the Melbourne Heart on Saturday. 

First-round selection Tony Cascio put his name on the scoresheet in the 30th minute to give the MLS side the decisive goal in a close contest.

Comments

  1. Poor officiating was the real culprit. Grabavoy with a straight red that at best was a yellow (and even that was iffy…Beckham had a lot to do with influencing the red) Yordany Alverez had a second yellow that was a little clearer but still harsh.

    Reply
  2. Well thank you Mikey. And you’re so hardcore with your “Mafia Original”. Clearly not a fan of Ace Ventura, but that’s fine with me. I have an idea… maybe you should focus on the topic at hand before commenting on trivial online usernames without knowing the context. I’ve been posting to this site for well over 4 years and you’re the first person to have an open opinion on my UN. Congratulations. You’re the big winner.

    Reply
  3. Who wrote this? There are so many things wrong.

    The Disney Classic pool winners play each other in the final. And then at the bottom of the page… the Rapids finishing in 3rd place means that they in fact won, not lost.

    Seriously, very poor article.

    Reply
  4. The Rapids won the 3rd-place game at the Hawaiian Islands Invitational Saturday night — they didn’t “fall” in the consolation match.

    Reply
  5. How do you go down to 9 men in a preseason match? Stupidity? Bad luck? Poor officiating? I’m really intrigued about this one.

    Reply
  6. Wrong about the disney classic. The winners of each pool play each other in the final. There is also a consolation game for the runner ups. Both games are on saturday.
    Btw why no coverage on the olando toronto game?

    Reply

Leave a Comment