US roster has distinct MLS flavor

U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley has called in a squad made up largely of Major League Soccer players for a training camp to prepare for a Jan. 24 friendly against Sweden at The Home Depot Center.

The group, which features 20 MLS players, will assemble in Carson, Calif. on Jan. 4.

"This is the beginning of a big year for the national team, and it is important that we get started off heading in the right direction," Bradley said in a statement. "This is another great opportunity to reinforce the principles of how this team operates both on and off the field, as well as getting players ready for the match against Sweden and the first World Cup qualifier this year against Mexico in February."

Ten of the 15 MLS clubs are represented, including five players from the MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew -- goalkeeper William Hesmer, MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall and midfielders Eddie Gaven, Brian Carroll and Robbie Rogers.

Marshall is one of four players on Bradley's squad to earn major MLS postseason hardware. Bradley's roster also includes Chicago's Jon Busch, the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year; LA Galaxy defender Sean Franklin, the MLS Rookie of the Year; and FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper, the MLS Comeback Player of the Year.

Brian Ching, who scored all four of his national team goals in 2008 in World Cup qualifying matches, is the leading capwinner on the young squad with 32 appearances. The forward is one of four players selected from the Houston Dynamo, joining midfielders Geoff Cameron, Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden.

Midfielder Sacha Kljestan played in eight matches last year for the US -- the most of any player on this squad -- and is one of two Chivas USA players, joining defender Jonathan Bornstein. Fullback Chris Wingert, who enjoyed a stellar 2008 MLS season with Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC's Marvell Wynne and Cory Gibbs from the Colorado Rapids round out the MLS-based defenders.

Jack Jewsbury is the lone player from the Kansas City Wizards selected. He and Chicago's John Thorrington are the final two players in a midfield exclusively comprised of MLS talent.

Joining Cooper and Ching up front is Chicago's Chris Rolfe, one of three Fire players on the roster.

The four Scandinavian-based players, all currently on winter break, are goalkeeper Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), defenders Clarence Goodson (IK Start) and Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland) and forward Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF). Goalkeeper Matt Pickens is out of contract.

After the friendly against Sweden, the U.S. will prepare for a showdown with rival Mexico on Feb. 11 at Columbus Crew Stadium in the opening game of the final hexagonal round of qualifying for FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa.

A busy 2009 will also include the FIFA Confederations Cup in June, where the U.S. has been drawn into Group B with five-time World Cup winners Brazil, current World Champion Italy, and Egypt, as well as the CONCACAF Gold Cup and additional World Cup qualifying matches.


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Shea likely to return by start of season

FRISCO, Texas -- Brek Shea experienced just about everything in his first season of professional soccer. He was an early draft pick by FC Dallas, worked his way through the reserves and played a number of different positions, made a couple of appearances with the first team -- and now is spending the offseason in rehabilitation after undergoing a pair of knee surgeries late in the year.

"It (my knee) is feeling good," Shea said. "Every morning, I'm meeting with our trainers here. Yeah, I usually never have injuries and now I've had two back-to-back. Hopefully now I'm done with them for a while, knock on wood."

FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman has no concern about Shea's most recent surgery being his second in a matter of just a few months.

"He had that meniscus tear and they sewed it up," Hyndman said. "He's been working like crazy. We were all excited and were going to send him to the (U.S. national) under-20 camp because the doctors were going to release him and then we took him into a few more tests out here and he felt a pop. So, the doctor looked at him again and they did a surgery on him ..."

"This time, they removed the part of the meniscus that did not heal. It didn't connect well, so they thought the best thing to do was to go ahead and remove it. This is going to be a quick recovery, three to four weeks. So, I'm not concerned about the number. I'm more concerned that the first time, it didn't take, so the second time we're going to make it better."

Shea's rookie season began in January when the 6-foot-3 native Texan was taken second overall in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft by FCD. The rangy 18-year-old showed his versatility for the Hoops' reserves, making starts at forward, left midfield and finally at center back.

Shea also played in two contests with the FCD first team. He played the final four minutes of a 2-0 win at Chivas USA on April 20 and then the final 13 minutes of a 2-1 loss at Colorado on June 1.

For the FCD reserves, Shea made eight starts and performed solidly. He also earned call-ups from the full, under-20 and under-23 national teams.

"It was a good learning experience," Shea said. "I learned a lot of things and hopefully next year, I can do a lot more than what I did this year."

Shea credits one recently retired FCD veteran for helping ease his transition into MLS.

"Bobby Rhine, he helped a lot," he said. "When things were going bad or whatever, he would pull me aside and tell me stuff. I guess he thought that (to retire) was the best decision, so I support it."

In early December, Shea was one of a number of FCD players taking in the NCAA Men's College Cup at Pizza Hut Park. That experience brought mixed feelings for Shea -- who could have been a freshman competing for the national championship had things gone differently.

"I had committed to Wake Forest and when I was watching (the College Cup), I thought that I could have been there (playing with them)," he said. "But I never really wanted to go to college. It was never my first option. That was more my parents' thing."

FCD is set to begin preseason in mid-January. But before then, Shea plans to head to his old stomping grounds for some training, where FCD teammate Anthony Wallace, who lives in the area, could join him.

"I'm going to head to Bradenton for the U-17 program, train there for two weeks," he said. "Then I will have a couple of U-20 camps before we start preseason. I think I'm going to Bradenton on the 7th of January. (Wallace) lives 40 minutes away and will probably come up and train with us but I haven't really talked to him about it since November."

Shea should be ready to train at the start of preseason and that means he could also be getting called in for camps with the U-20s.

"The first one that I know about is on the 18th (of January) when we go to Trinidad," he said. "Then, I think we're having a camp all of February. I have talked to them but haven't gotten an e-mail or anything. They just said that they're bringing me in but I don't know if it's official or anything."


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Crew fans get late present as Marshall re-signs

COLUMBUS -- Columbus Crew management gave their fans a late Christmas present when it announced Friday that 2008 MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall had agreed to a new contract.

Marshall, 24, was out of contract and had been on a trial with Mainz of the German second division as negotiations continued.

"The base salary we offered was probably comparable to over there," Crew technical director Brian Bliss said. "I'm sure their bonuses were significantly higher, especially if the team is promoted, but he felt comfortable here with our offer and where he's at in this point of his career."

With the signing of Marshall, the Crew is assured of having 10 of 11 starters under contract from the 3-1 win over New York on Nov. 23 in MLS Cup 2008. The lone absentee is central midfielder Brad Evans, who was claimed by Seattle Sounders FC in the expansion draft.

"We as a club went out on a limb, committed significant resources, in order to get Chad done. It shows the level of commitment we have as a team to try and take another run at it," Bliss said. "We knew we were going to lose somebody but the goal was to retain, within the salary cap obviously, as many guys as we could. We were able to retain 10 of 11 and a few others that were vital parts."

The Crew also forged new deals in the offseason with league and MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto and defender Danny O'Rourke.

"Chad was an anchor of our defense. I am a believer, although we scored a lot of goals this year, that defense wins championship and we were very good defensively in large part due to Chad," Crew president and general manager Mark McCullers said. "It's great we're going to keep our backline together. We're going to keep the spine of our team together with the exception of Evans. I feel awfully good about it in terms of keeping this team together and giving us the best chance to repeat."

Of course, the other big transaction in the offseason was 2008 MLS Coach of the Year Sigi Schmid leaving the team for Seattle.

Marshall had a breakout year after missing the final two months of the 2007 season due to a series of concussions that put his career in jeopardy. Rather than risk further injury it was decided that he needed the extra rest if he were to have a chance to return to the Crew.

The time off did wonders, as did goading from Schmid to become a more vocal and active leader on the field. Marshall became a force in the middle of the defense despite having to break in a pair of partners in central defense -- rookie Andy Iro and O'Rourke, a converted midfielder.

Marshall played all but one regular season match and scored four goals, matching his total from the previous four seasons combined. All four scores came on headers off set pieces -- three from Schelotto and another off a service from Robbie Rogers. "Air" Marshall continued his dominance in the box with two critical goals in the playoffs to help the Crew to its first league championship.

His header via a free kick by Schelotto tied the Eastern Conference Championship against Chicago at 1-1 early in the second half and the Crew went onto a 2-1 victory.

In the title game, Marshall's run down the middle and header off Schelotto's corner kick in the 53rd minute proved to be the winner and nullified a score two minutes earlier by John Wolyniec that tied the match at 1-1.

With a new deal in hand, Marshall's next goal is getting back on the U.S. national team. He had a goal in his first career cap on March 9, 2005, vs. Colombia. He made three other appearances but the last was Oct. 12, 2005.

The Riverside, Calif., native played two seasons for Stanford before being the second overall pick (behind Freddy Adu) in the 2004 SuperDraft.

While McCullers is pleased to have Marshall back, he doesn't expect him to be in a Crew uniform down the road.

"He's expressed a desire to go to Europe and at the right time and right situation he will go," said McCullers. "Chad has the ability to continue to develop in this league and probably will have a better offer in a year or two years than he was offered right now."


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Defender of the Year Marshall to return to Crew

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Crew on Friday announced that 2008 MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall has signed a new contract with the club.

The 24-year-old center back was out of contract and had been on a trial with Mainz of the German second division as negotiations continued with Crew.

"We have made a significant commitment to ensure that Chad remains a member of the Crew and we are very pleased to have gotten that priority accomplished," said Crew technical director Brian Bliss. "It goes without saying that he played a vital role in our championship season and re-signing him allows us to retain our core group of key contributors."

Marshall had four goals in the regular season and two more in the playoffs, including the winner against New York on Nov. 23 in the MLS Cup that gave Columbus its first title.

Bliss said last week the team had made a fair offer and the decision was up to Marshall.

"Does he want more money? If that's the case he should go to Europe," Bliss said. "If he wants significant pay and wants to stay at a club he's done well at and won a championship with then he'd stay here. It comes down to his choice."

With Marshall in place, the Crew is assured of having 10 of 11 starters under contract from the 3-1 win against the Red Bulls in the championship match. The lone absentee is central midfielder Brad Evans, who was claimed by Seattle Sounders FC in the expansion draft.

The Crew also forged new deals in the offseason with league and MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto and defender Danny O'Rourke.

In the title game, Marshall's run down the middle and header off Schelotto's corner kick in the 53rd minute proved to be the winner and nullified a score two minutes earlier by John Wolyniec that tied the match at 1-1.

Marshall had a breakout year after missing 17 games last season because of post-concussion syndrome.

With a new deal in hand, Marshall's next goal is getting back on the U.S. national team. He had a goal in his first career cap on March 9, 2005, vs. Colombia. He made three other appearances but the last was Oct. 12, 2005.

The Riverside, Calif., native played two seasons for Stanford before being the second overall pick (behind Freddy Adu) in the 2004 SuperDraft.


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Avila looks to build upon rookie season in 2009

FRISCO, Texas -- As SuperDraft day dawned almost exactly one year ago, Cal-Santa Barbara midfielder Eric Avila was projected by many to be selected in the opening round of the 2008 entry draft. However, as events played out that day in Baltimore, Avila slipped to the second round, where he was taken 19th overall by FC Dallas.

Much of the first half of the rookie campaign for the member of the Generation adidas program was spent on the bench, but on June 26 at Houston, Avila made his full professional debut, coming on for the final five minutes of a 1-1 draw with the Dynamo. His first start came on July 4 against Kansas City and he made it count, delivering a great ball to Abe Thompson for a stoppage-time goal that allowed the Hoops to salvage a draw with the Wizards.

In all, Avila appeared in 14 games, three of those starts and logged a pair of assists. It is an experience he is looking to build upon heading into his second season with FCD.

"I think it was good," the southern California native said about his rookie season. "It was an eye-opener for me, I think. I experienced the way the whole system works. I played a couple of games and know how the games go now and all that. I know what to expect and what not to expect. Coming into this year, I got all those little things out of the way. Now I can go out there, work hard, play and do what I can to help the team."

It has been a somewhat busy offseason for Avila. In early December, he was one of four FCD players who ventured across the pond as part of a Generation adidas tour to London, where they played friendlies against the reserve teams from various Premiership sides.

"I thought it was an experience I will never forget," Avila said of his time abroad. "It was cold but it was really nice. We got to play against top teams and top players. Just going out there, playing against them and seeing where we were at was something that was good for me."

Just after the end of the season, FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman said he would like to see Avila become a better defender heading into 2009. The native of San Diego clearly has taken those words to heart, especially while in London.

"I was playing attacking center mid in all three games and it was really good," he said. "I attacked a lot more and my defense was great because we were playing against great teams and they kept moving the ball. I was trying to defend one of their best players, which I think I did really well. I did think about that while I was over there on that trip."

Making the adjustment from college to the professional ranks can be a tough transition for any player. However, Avila's transition was eased a bit by veteran midfielder Pablo Ricchetti, who several weeks ago expressed his displeasure with his contract situation and rumors have even surfaced about his possible departure, something Avila does not want to see happen.

"I love Pablo (Ricchetti) and would hate to see him go if he does," Avila said. "He taught me a lot of things. For him to leave, I would have to find a lot of things out on my own. I would have to find my credentials out there and motivation to keep myself going. Pablo was always reminding me to keep going and keep going."

Early next year, Avila will be on the move again as he and two FCD teammates will be heading to Brazil for a two-week training stint with Clube Atletico Paranaense, the Hoops' South American partner.

"I think it's something that will be great for me," he said of the trip to Brazil. "We're not doing anything in the off-season and I have no plans to go and play. So when this came up, it was perfect. I will be training with the CAP first team twice a day and getting ready for the season. After that, I think I will be ready to go."

With the 2009 season set to start nearly two weeks earlier than was the case in 2008 that means a compressed winter, something that is fine with Avila, who wants to prove to Hyndman that he can be an effective two-way attacking midfielder.

"I'm excited," he said. "I want it to start now. I'm really hoping that things go well and then we'll see where it takes me with the preseason because you never know. I'm ready to go in there and show him (Hyndman) that I have been working on it (my defense) and hopefully he gives me a chance."


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Unparalleled success for Crew in 2008

"Now we're done."

With that simple phrase from captain Frankie Hejduk, the Columbus Crew put a wrap on the most successful and unlikely season in the team's 13 years of existence.

For weeks, the players had been reminded by the fans and from within the locker room that earning the Supporters' Shield for the best record over a 30-game season was just not good enough. The Crew had already done that once before but a first-round exit in 2004 left a lingering bitterness among the fans and probably helped seal the demise of coach Greg Andrulis the next season.

Enter Sigi Schmid to rebuild the club in 2006. The coach did an extreme makeover over the next three seasons and when the Crew entered the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs -- the team's first appearance in four years -- only starting defenders Frankie Hejduk and Chad Marshall and reserve midfielder Duncan Oughton remained from the previous regime.

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SIGHTS & SOUNDS

Check out the best of 2008

So, when the Crew were presented the Supporters' Shield trophy after they defeated D.C. United in the season finale on Oct. 26, a chant arose from the fanatical Nordecke section in the northeast corner of Crew Stadium.

"We're not done yet! We're not done yet!"

The players heard it. Schmid listened and the Hunt Sports Group ownership led by Clark Hunt joined in the refrain.

"We're not done yet. I thought it was very apropos because we still want more," Schmid said at the time.

The Crew got what they wanted. After surviving a scare against Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series, the Crew had to defeat not only the Chicago Fire to win the Eastern Conference Championship, but a field full of ghosts that haunted the organization.

Columbus had been in position to advance to MLS Cup four previous times but couldn't get over the hurdle. Facing former Crew forward Brian McBride and goalkeeper Jon Busch, two second-half goals forged a 2-1 victory to exorcise the demons.

Getting to the MLS Cup Final and winning it were two different stories. No team since Schmid's 2002 Los Angeles Galaxy had won the Shield and the MLS Cup in the same season.

"We're not done yet."

As had been the case throughout the season, the Crew rode the brilliant play of Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who had an MLS Cup-record three assists as the Crew downed New York 3-1.

"Every goal we set, we accomplished," Hejduk said. "We wanted to make the playoffs. Then we wanted to get win the Eastern Conference and get home field for the playoffs. Then we wanted to not only go far but make the MLS Cup and win it. That's what Sigi said in the locker room before the game: 'This is the only goal we haven't reached. Let's go do it.'"

Said Schmid: "We believed early on in the season, about after six or seven games, we were a team that had a chance to win the MLS championship."

The genesis for his optimism actually was the final two games of the 2007 season when the Crew needed to win at New England and D.C. United to stay in the playoff hunt. Columbus did its part, but still fell three points short.

Prior to the start of this season, Schelotto told the squad that just one more home win last season would have made the difference. The Crew set out to improve on their 37 points and tepid 5-5-5 mark in Crew Stadium.

The turnaround was remarkable. The Crew had 20 more points (17-7-6) and set team records for points, wins and goals (50) in the post-shootout era. They went 7-0-2 over the last nine regular-season home games to finish 11-2-2 and added two more home victories in the playoffs.

Schmid was named coach of the year; Schelotto was the league's season and playoff MVP and Chad Marshall was MLS Defender of the Year. Midfielder Robbie Rogers joined the latter two on the MLS Best XI.

"It was a dream year," Hejduk said.

"Our team knew last year that the way they were playing, had we gotten to the playoffs, we would have scared some people," Schmid said. "That confidence we had, we talked about that at the beginning of this year, what we accomplished last year and building upon that and we were able to carry it on."

The season started on a good note when Adam Moffat and Alejandro Moreno scored and Will Hesmer stopped a penalty kick during a 2-0 win against visiting Toronto.

As a sidelight, the match was the first with the new concert stage that displaced the supporters from the north end zone. The front office made an effort to get all the fan groups into one area. It would take several months to percolate but the three main factions came together to form the Nordecke (German for northeast corner or deck) and a massive following was created.

After a 2-0 loss at New York, the Crew reeled off four wins in a row, including a wild 4-3 triumph over Chivas USA.

Rogers scored his fourth and fifth goals in a 3-2 win at San Jose in the fourth game of the streak that was a foreshadowing of the Crew's ability to overcome any deficit. On 11 occasions the Crew rallied from down 1-0 or 2-0 to garner points. Against the Earthquakes, the Crew scored three times in a 12-minute stretch of the second half.

While a 0-0 tie at Toronto gave the Crew a 6-1-1 record, it also started a string of four consecutive games without goals. Included was 2-0 loss to San Jose on June 7 that proved to be the last home loss of the season.

Despite the drought, the Crew exhibited a calmness and belief in themselves that would become the trademark for the club.

"It's not like we're not getting shots or chances," forward Jason Garey said before the June 14 game at Kansas City. "We're getting shots on goal, hitting the crossbar, having shots blocked. It's a matter of keep playing well and the goals will come. A little more concentration in the final third is all it takes."

The team-record shutout streak reached 370 minutes before Marshall headed home a corner kick by Schelotto in the third minute against the Wizards. The Crew won 3-0 and were shutout only twice the remainder of the season.

A 3-3 tie followed at Los Angeles with the help of rookie forward Steven Lenhart. It would be the first of three times he would come off the bench to get the equalizer from the 87th minute on.

"What I'm most proud of is the way we were able to win," Schmid said. "We won, it seems to me, in every possible scheme. We had a game at Colorado where we were down a man and yet won. We had the shootout against Chivas early in the season. We had games where we led early and kept the lead and we're able to get a positive result even in games we didn't play well."

It was truly a team effort. Moreno had a team-high nine goals in the regular season but 14 players scored in all; 10 had at least two and six netted four or more goals. Then there's the incomparable Schelotto, whose 19 assists in only 27 games tied for the second-highest number in league history.

"He makes everybody around him better," Rogers said.

The Crew returned from L.A. to beat Colorado 2-1 then rallied from a two-goal disadvantage to tie Chicago 2-2 in Crew Stadium on July 5. Columbus reached the midpoint with an 8-4-3 record, good for 27 points and a real possibility of making the playoffs.

A loss at Real Salt Lake started the second half on a downer and then the Crew fell behind 2-0 to K.C. in the opening 24 minutes but managed a 3-3 tie at home heading into the All-Star Game.

Columbus returned from the brief break to win 2-0 at Colorado despite losing Lenhart to a red card just before the half and played well at Houston but dropped a 2-0 decision on Aug. 2 before having a bye week.

Two significant things happened in the two weeks before the next game: defender Gino Padula returned from injury and the Crew obtained the rights to forward Pat Noonan from New England. While Noonan was not in the best of shape after playing sparingly in Norway before deciding to return to MLS, he provided the Crew with a veteran player with playoff experience who could play multiple positions.

Just as importantly, it was a psychological boost to the Crew and their fans after McBride decided to finish his career with Chicago following a long and successful stint with Fulham of the English Premier League.

Signing Noonan showed that the Crew was serious about a long playoff run. Getting Padula back in the lineup helped as well. The Argentinean solidified the left back spot that had seen four others start there after he was injured in the third game.

Injuries dominated the Crew the first three months with Moffat's the most serious when he underwent season-ending knee surgery in early May.

In mid-June the Crew had eight of its first 20 players sidelined but when August rolled around the team was getting healthy. Padula's return was the final piece that helped mesh a defensive unit that was third-best in the league.

Including the playoffs, the Crew were 14-1-3 when he played, with the lone loss a meaningless game at New York on Oct. 18. After the bye week the Crew went 11-1-3, including the playoffs.

"We grew as a team," midfielder Brian Carroll said. "We thought and believe we could do this at the beginning of the year when we set out to reach this goal but it really picked up steam and started to take shape as the season went on. We built on each performance and each win. It became a reality as the season went along."

It was an ominous start, though, when FC Dallas led 1-0 at the half in Columbus on Aug. 16. Goals by Carroll and Brad Evans three minutes apart gave the Crew a 2-1 win and started a stretch of four consecutive wins.

During that period, Schelotto contributed to 10 straight scores with two goals and eight assists.

The Crew followed the Dallas win with a 3-0 thrashing of visiting Real Salt Lake. The next week at Dallas, the Crew spotted the Hoops a 1-0 lead again but got the win on goals by Moreno and Eddie Gaven.

Columbus moved into first in the conference and overall going into a home showdown with New England. The Revolution were tired and hurting from a busy summer schedule but the Crew showed no mercy in a 4-0 thumping.

A hamstring injury to Schelotto could have derailed the Crew Express but they went 2-0-1 without him. Noonan scored his first goal in a 1-1 draw at Toronto FC. New York was a 3-1 victim at Crew Stadium and Marshall scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win at New England.

After beating David Beckham and LA 1-0 before a sellout crowd at Crew Stadium, the team clinched the Supporters' Shield following a 2-2 tie at Chicago. In the second-to-last game the Crew rested six starters and saw their nine-game (7-0-2) unbeaten streak end in a 3-1 loss at New York.

There were whispers that the Crew had peaked and they grew louder when D.C. hit the post three times in the regular-season finale but could not score as the Crew celebrated their Supporters' Shield with a 1-0 win for William Hesmer's 10th shutout of the season.

Columbus opened the playoffs at Kansas City and had trouble getting good flank play on the narrow baseball field. It took a stoppage-time goal by Lenhart to tie the game and the aggregate at 1-1.

"We still had all the confidence in the world," Hejduk said. "We knew we were playing at home and we had the support behind us. If we played our game we had no doubt we would win.

Evans scored on a nifty set-up by Carroll in the seventh minute and the Crew never looked back in a 2-0 victory to win the series 3-1 on aggregate.

Next up was heated rival Chicago. The teams had tied twice and the Fire had also knocked the Crew out of the U.S. Open Cup in June.

It looked ominous for the Crew after McBride scored in the 29th minute but Schelotto connected with Marshall for another header off a restart in the 49th and Gaven scored six minutes with assists going to Moreno and Schelotto on the winner.

The years of doom and gloom had been lifted and the Crew were on their way to California and a date with history.

Moreno gave the Crew the lead over the Red Bulls after being fed by Schelotto. After New York's John Wolyniec tied the game in the 51st minute the Schelotto-to-Marshall connection went at it again off a corner kick two minutes later. Then in the 82nd minute Schelotto flipped the ball to a breaking Hejduk and the captain headed the ball into the goal to complete a stunning season.

"It was a really special year, an incredible journey. We're sad it has to end," Carroll said. "A lot of us we're talking we wish it didn't have to end yet."

But it did with the hoisting of the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy and the celebrations that followed.

Cup run gives Red Bulls new vision

On Oct. 23, few in Major League Soccer thought the New York Red Bulls would advance to their first-ever MLS Cup appearance. Heck, most thought the club would miss the playoffs altogether.

And yet, exactly a month later, the Red Bulls were at The Home Depot Center as one of the final two teams standing. Sure they lost to the Columbus Crew 3-1, but their Cinderella run through the postseason, which included thrilling victories at Houston and Real Salt Lake, will be remembered for some time.

"I'm really proud of what we achieved this year considering all the circumstances," Juan Pablo Angel said at The Home Depot Center following the final. "It doesn't necessarily mean I'm happy because we lost, but I think we went to a stage we weren't expected to reach."

To get to their first-ever final, the Red Bulls faced every obstacle imaginable, from the early retirement of a designated player to the substance abuse suspension of two starters late in the regular season. The run even surprised their head coach.

"As a coach and a human being that sees the glass half-full, I went into the season thinking we're going to make the playoffs and we're going to go probably to the final of the conference," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "But with all the adversity and all the problems and issues we were confronted throughout the season at some point I had doubts, reservations and concerns."

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SIGHTS & SOUNDS

Check out the best of 2008

The season started with the appointment of Osorio, who was named head coach of the Red Bulls on Dec. 18, 2007, becoming the club's 11th coach in 13 years. The former MetroStars assistant stresses stiff defense and that was evident early in the season when the Red Bulls conceded six goals in the first seven games.

However a 5-1 blowout by the Chicago Fire, who earned a measure of revenge against their former coach, followed on May 25. It would be the first of several lopsided losses for the Red Bulls.

Two weeks later, star striker Jozy Altidore was sold to Villarreal of Spain's La Liga, leaving Juan Pablo Angel without a partner up front.

Following two injury-plagued seasons, Claudio Reyna announced his retirement from soccer on July 16, leaving the Red Bulls without one of their two designated players and without their playmaker in the midfield.

Osorio was forced to go on a shopping spree, bringing in three South Americans in the midseason. Venezuelan internationals Gabriel Cichero and Jorge Rojas and Argentinean defensive midfielder Juan Pietravallo were all inserted into the starting lineup, but it was met with mixed results. After initial success, all three were benched for the stunning playoff run. Cichero was waived at season's end.

Osorio also added attacking players Matthew Mbuta and Mac Kandji from United Soccer League clubs at the roster freeze deadline for a Red Bulls club that seemed a lock to make the postseason after an undefeated August -- not counting, of course, a 6-2 exhibition loss to FC Barcelona at Giants Stadium on Aug. 6.

However, the Red Bulls won just one of their next seven matches and worse adversity was still yet to come.

The Red Bulls were dealt what at the time seemed to be a crushing blow when starting goalkeeper Jon Conway and central defender Jeff Parke became the first two players in Major League Soccer history to be suspended for testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance on Oct. 16.

The 10-game suspensions came days before a critical home game against the Columbus Crew as the Red Bulls were battling for their playoff lives.

Untested rookie Danny Cepero was named the starting goalkeeper after Conway played every minute of every game. Not only did Cepero get a key win in his MLS debut, he also scored the goal that killed the game on an 80-yard free kick that bounced at the top of the 18-yard box and over the head of Columbus Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum, in the process becoming the first goalkeeper to score a goal in an MLS game.

A win at Toyota Park on Oct. 23 against Chicago would clinch the 10th playoff berth in club history. Instead, the Fire thrashed the Red Bulls 5-2, meaning New York would have to wait three more days to find out their fate.

On the final day of the regular season, the Red Bulls made the playoffs when the Columbus Crew defeated D.C. United at Crew Stadium. New York earned the final of two wild card berths and was sent out West where they were set to face the mighty Houston Dynamo, the league's two-time defending champion.

The task of beating the Dynamo became even more daunting when versatile Seth Stammler had knee surgery just before the start of the postseason. Instead of playing Rojas and Pietravallo, Osorio rolled the dice and went with Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who has been a reserve for much of his two seasons, and rookie Luke Sassano, in the midfield.

The gamble paid off. Both players took the opportunity and ran with it during the postseason, especially keeping Houston's combination of Dwayne De Rosario and Ricardo Clark quiet during the Western Conference Semifinal Series.

Dane Richards was dominant in a remarkable 3-0 victory in the second leg of that series. The Red Bulls then jumped ahead early in the Western Conference Championship and withstood a wave of pressure the rest of the way to pull off a 1-0 victory against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium to book their MLS Cup ticket.

Also by doing so, the Red Bulls qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.

"It's an incredible achievement by the club. I think we've taken some big steps this year and we've raised the bar," Red Bulls sporting director Jeff Agoos said. "This is certainly a very big step for the New York franchise, for the Red Bulls to be playing against some of the top clubs in this region and we hope to make the most of it."

While the Red Bulls might have stunned the MLS world by advancing to the MLS Cup, Osorio said the formula to get there was actually quite simple.

"At the end it was just a matter of playing organized football, effective football," Osorio said. "I think we did that and that's why we went far."


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Warzycha a logical fit for Columbus

COLUMBUS -- The good news for Robert Warzycha is he's taking over a team that won the MLS Cup last month. The bad news is he's taking over a team that won the MLS Cup last month.

Warzycha, named the Columbus Crew's fifth head coach on Monday, knows the pressure will be on him to replicate the magical run of 2008 when the Crew went from a non-playoff team to winning their first MLS title by defeating the New York Red Bulls 3-1 on Nov. 23 under Sigi Schmid, who was named head coach of Seattle Sounders FC last week.

With most of the major players returning, anything less than another MLS Cup title would be viewed as Warzycha's fault.

"It's a unique situation coming off a championship season but I'm proud to have been a part of this building process in earning our first MLS Cup," he said. "I believe we are in position to defend the championship and be a strong contender next year.

"One of biggest things is whether I can make the players play up to their ability, whether I can get the best from them on the field. I think I can do that. Motivation is going to be very, very important."

Warzycha, who becomes the organization's fifth head coach, is no stranger to leading the Crew. He was the interim head coach after replacing Greg Andrulis in mid-2005. He took a team that was 4-10-2 to a 7-6-3 record the rest of the way.

"He was given serious consideration for the permanent post at that time," Crew president/general manager Mark McCullers said.

Instead, the Crew went outside the organization for the first time when they hired Schmid for the top spot. Warzycha remained as the No. 1 assistant, as he was under Andrulis.

"Robert has been part of building teams that have collectively won two MLS Supporters' Shield (2004 and '08), one Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2002) and most recently an MLS Cup championship," McCullers said.

Warzycha just completed his seventh season as on the coaching staff and sixth as a full-time assistant. Warzycha retired from the Crew in 2002 and still holds the team record for career assists (61).

"Robert bleeds black and gold. There's nobody who cares more about this organization than Robert," said McCullers.

Warzycha joined the Crew in June 1996 after making 47 appearances for the Polish national team as a well as a three-year stint (1991-94) in the English Premier League with Everton. He quickly earned the nickname "Bob the Free Kick Specialist."

"As a player he was literally a coach on the field. He has a player's perspective, which is invaluable. He has the respect of our entire organization," McCullers said.

The Crew expect to retain most of their starters, although MLS 2008 Defender of the Year Chad Marshall is contemplating a deal to play in Germany. He has been offered a contract by the Crew as well. Also, the Crew lost midfielder Brad Evans to Seattle in the expansion draft.

"It's going to be a different voice but one we're very familiar with and one that the players respect," Crew forward Alejandro Moreno said of Warzycha. "I am sure Robert is going to have his own style and certain way of doing things but overall he knows what the players are all about. He knows the players that perform on the field and do the things that need to be done in order to get results and he respects us as well.

"It's a logical choice, one that makes a lot of sense to all of us. We hope can respond and perform on the field for him. We respected him as the assistant coach and now he'll be the guy making some of the tougher decisions. Perhaps when tough decisions are made some people are happy, some people aren't happy. That's the challenge of being a head coach. It's something he can handle very well."

McCullers said Warzycha's background brings a new dynamic to the head coaching job.

"Our players know he has been a player at the highest level, which is something new for this position in our organization," he said. "We have a guy who's been in their shoes and has an understanding what's needed to be successful. They respect that."

Warzycha is of the same ilk as the German-born Schmid. Both have a hard-nosed Eastern European perspective that puts honesty, sometimes brutally, at the forefront and has accountability high on the agenda, too.

When Warzycha was interim coach he once benched veteran defender Frankie Hejduk for what he considered conduct detrimental to the team and the rumbling was that if Warzycha had become head coach instead of Schmid that Hejduk would have been traded.

However, time heals all and there is no rift between the two. Hejduk has since gotten married and settled down (for him) while becoming the Crew's captain and a respected leader on the field and in the locker room.

"One of the things Robert has learned over his six years as an assistant is how to deal with different personalities to get what you want out of them. It's an important skill for a coach to have," McCullers said.

Warzycha said his time alongside Schmid has been invaluable in that regard.

"You have to find the same language with different players. There's a lot of different personalities you have to talk to," he said. "As years go by you get maturity and you learn every day. I had a mentor in Sigi who is a very successful coach. I learned a lot from him."

The Crew will hire an assistant coach to replace Warzycha. Second assistant and former Crew player Mike Lapper will likely be a candidate although McCullers said the search is on outside the organization as well. Lapper was offered a spot on the Seattle staff but turned it down. If he were to become the No. 1 assistant the Crew would fill his spot.

"We're developing a short list of potential candidates but we haven't reached out to any candidates yet," Crew technical director Brian Bliss said.

The ex-Crew player and former interim head coach at Kansas City has taken himself out of the running to be an assistant.

"I'm not on that short list but that's not to say that may not happen in the future. The timing is not right," Bliss said. "If I leave that position (technical director) to go to that position then you've got to fill this one. Right now the key buzzword is 'continuity' and less change will be beneficial to the club. At some point I want to get back on the field."

Goalkeeper coach Vadim Kirillov and the support staff from the 2008 season is expected to remain with the Crew.

McCullers said he interviewed three candidates for the head coaching position, but it was really Warzycha's to lose. He used three criteria:

"Are there any coaches with MLS experience out there that are available to us? Are there any current MLS assistants we'd be interested in? Are there any college coaches that we would rate higher than Robert? The answer to all those is no," McCullers said.

"Equally important to his technical expertise, Robert Warzycha embraces the club's culture by having the utmost in character, integrity and values."

Warzycha received a standard two-year, guaranteed contract with the third year at the option of the team. His salary was not disclosed.

It was important for Warzycha to remain with the Crew and in the community. He his wife, Eliza, raised their three children in the Columbus suburb of Dublin and the oldest, Konrad, is a sophomore on the Ohio State soccer team.

Bartosz is a freshman soccer player at Marshall University in West Virginia while Olivia is finishing high school. Bartosz was discovered to have cancer late in 1998 and the outpouring of support from Crew fans plus the medical care available were major reasons the Warzychas decided to stay in Columbus rather than return to their native Poland. Bartosz' cancer is now cancer-free.

"My family and I spent the last 12-1/2 years in Central Ohio with the Columbus Crew and I'm looking forward to the next chapter in leading the club," Warzycha said. "I've been through a lot with this organization. I've experienced highs and some lows but this organization is dear to my heart since it's the only one I have been part of since the beginning of the league.

"I have grown as a coach over the past six years both as an assistant and as interim head coach in 2005. I am confident I am ready for this next challenge. I've always worked very hard and I'm bringing this attitude to maintain the level of accomplishment of this organization."


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Crew name Warzycha new head coach

Crew name Warzycha new head coach

COLUMBUS - To surprise of no one, Robert Warzycha was introduced as the new head coach of the Columbus Crew on Monday afternoon.

Warzycha had been had been an assistant to Sigi Schmid the past three seasons and had been in the organization since early in the inaugural 1996 season as a player or coach.

"This organization is dear to my heart," Warzycha said. "I have grown as an assistant coach and now I'm ready to be head coach."

Schmid said two weeks ago he would not return to the Crew after his contract had expired and last week was named head coach of expansion Seattle Sounders FC.

"Robert is the right person for the job," Crew forward Alejandro Moreno said.

Warzycha, 45, has big shoes to fill. After failing four times as a player to advance to the MLS Cup from 1997-2002, Warzycha was on the bench when the Crew defeated Chicago for the Eastern Conference Championship before beating New York 3-1 on Nov. 23 in the MLS Cup in Carson, Calif., for the team's first league title.

Crew president/general manager Mark McCullers had said all along that Warzycha was the frontrunner to replace Schmid because of his ties to the team and the community. Warzycha and his wife, Eliza, raised their three children in the Columbus suburb of Dublin and the oldest, Konrad, is a sophomore on the Ohio State soccer team.

Bartosz is a freshman soccer player at Marshall University in West Virginia while Olivia is finishing high school. Bartosz was discovered to have cancer late in 1998 and the outpouring of support from Crew fans plus the medical care available were major reasons the Warzychas decided to stay in Columbus rather than return to their native Poland. Bartosz is now cancer-free.

"It's very important for me and my family that I can continue working with the Columbus Crew," Warzycha said.

Warzycha, who becomes the organization's fifth head coach, is no stranger to leading the Crew. He became the interim head coach after replacing Greg Andrulis in mid-2005. He took a team that was 4-10-2 to a 7-6-3 record the rest of the way.

He just completed his seventh season as on the coaching staff and sixth as a fulltime assistant. Warzycha retired in 2002 and still holds the team record for career assists (61).

"We looked at several other candidates but it was obvious that Robert was the right fit," McCullers said.

Warzycha signed a two-year deal with a third year as an option. Salary figures were not disclosed although McCullers said, "He's not at the top of the list and he's not at the bottom of the list" among MLS coaches.


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Offseason so far kind to Dello-Russo

FRISCO, Texas -- The last month has been a pretty good one for versatile FC Dallas youngster Michael Dello-Russo. In late November, Dello-Russo, who just finished his third year in MLS, learned that the Hoops had picked up his contract option for 2009.

Then the University of Maryland product was able to celebrate as his alma mater won the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup for the first time since 2005, when Dello-Russo was a senior for the Terrapins.

Dello-Russo was a player who flourished once Schellas Hyndman became FCD head coach in mid-June, playing in eight of the Hoops' final 12 games. In 2007, he appeared in one game with the first team after being selected in the fourth round in the 2006 SuperDraft.

"If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that Schellas was going to come in, I would get all this playing time and I would have my option picked up, I would be a little worried about it," Dello-Russo admitted. "But that's how a year goes. The coach comes in and gives you more confidence. I definitely played with more confidence this year and it's just been great."

Hyndman clearly sees a lot of positives in the former Maryland star.

"Dello-Russo is a warrior," he said. "He fights every day in training. He works extremely hard. He's just a good guy and I think he was given some opportunities by me. He's versatile and can play midfield, wide, center and defense."

One priority is recovering from a hamstring injury suffered late in the season, an ailment that Hyndman didn't become aware of until he started Dello-Russo in FCD's season finale Oct. 26 at Los Angeles.

"It was interesting because I don't think he ever disclosed it with us. If you look at his last game against LA when Eddie Lewis ran by him, he wasn't able to be quick enough to get him," Hyndman said. "I said something to him, 'I thought you should have handled that.' And he said, 'Well, I'm still injured.' I didn't even know he was injured. We need to know anytime he's not 100 percent, because that affects our decision-making. But he's young and he's getting his opportunities. I thought he did well, and he's a player we did pick up his option."

That recovery has been his top priority thus far in the offseason.

"I want to get healthy because my hamstring was bothering me all year," Dello-Russo said. "The first thing is to get healthy and then to stay fit. I want to work on little things that I need to get better at technically and tactically."

Although he spent his first two years on FCD's developmental roster, Dello-Russo is one who is somewhat in favor of the league cutting rosters down to 24 players from 28 and eliminating the reserve league.

"Cutting the roster is not a bad idea because it gets rid of the developmental contracts, which are very tough for anyone to live off of because of the money situation," he said. "I actually enjoyed the reserve league because it gives games for people like me who weren't playing in the first team games and I got other games. Hopefully they will set up other scrimmages and other things like that so that people who don't play in first team games have games to play in."

Like the rest of his teammates, he called the 2008 rollercoaster of a season something that brought the entire squad closer as a group.

"It was definitely a different experience that none of us have probably experienced before," Dello-Russo said. "It was good for us because I thought it made us stronger as a team and individuals. We had to work through that and everybody on the team had to work through it together. That was nice. That's just how sports go. Every coach wanted the best for us. I think it was good for us and for FC Dallas."

However, not even the tumultuous nature of the regular season could have prepared him for how it ended, with FCD out of the playoffs for the first time in four years.

"We were definitely disappointed because you look back on our year and we had plenty of games that could have changed that could have gotten us in the playoffs," Dello-Russo said. "Then you see a team like New York, they barely squeaked in and got to the finals. That could have very easily been us. So, I think it's good for us in a way if we didn't make it. It motivates us in the offseason. I'm definitely working harder because I want to get better. We definitely don't want to miss the playoffs again next year."


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Surgery may cost Ljungberg opener

Seattle Sounders FC officials have their fingers crossed, but it is possible that designated player Freddie Ljungberg could miss the club's inaugural game against the New York Red Bulls on March 19 after undergoing hip surgery on Friday.

The operation was performed by Dr. Marc Philippon in Vail, Colo., and Ljungberg, 31, is expected to be out for 10 to 12 weeks. The Sounders are set to begin preseason on Jan. 21 at Qwest Field.

"Freddie Ljungberg is a player that we value for the long term," Sounders FC general manager Adrian Hanauer said in a statement. "As Freddie increased his training regimen for the upcoming season, we wanted to make sure that he was firing on all cylinders for the next two years and beyond."

Four times in the past two years, both with West Ham United and Arsenal FC, the former Swedish national team captain was sidelined with hamstring injuries. Ljungberg also suffered a calf strain during his one season with West Ham.

"As he increased his training intensity, he suffered a mild re-occurrence of the hamstring problems that have occasionally hampered him over the past two years," Hanauer said. "At that point, Freddie and the club wanted to be proactive and we decided to have him see the best hip and hamstring specialists in the country.

"It was ultimately determined that the best course of action was to repair a slightly torn labrum, and to shave a very small amount of bone where the hip meets the femur," Hanauer added. "The objective of this surgery is to eliminate the nagging injuries and to ensure that Freddie has the explosiveness necessary to be a major contributor for Sounders FC every time he steps on the pitch."

After a successful 10-year career in the English Premier League, Ljungberg announced on Oct. 28 that he would be joining the expansion Sounders in a two-year deal. The midfielder played nine seasons at Arsenal, scoring 46 goals in 216 appearances. He made the move across London to West Ham, where he debuted as the Gunners' captain in a 2-0 loss to Manchester City on Aug. 11, 2007.

His time with West Ham, though, would be sparse. Two months after announcing his retirement from international soccer, Ljungberg's contract with West Ham was terminated one year onto a four-year deal.

"I feel good," Ljungberg said at his introductory press conference in October when asked about his injuries. "Last season I had some injuries in the fall, and after Christmas, someone jumped on my rib cage and I cracked a rib at the end of the season. However, I played in Euro 2008 and I felt great. Since then I've had a break, I've been training quite hard to keep fit and feel good."


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Hoops eye South American talent

FRISCO, Texas -- FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman and top assistant John Ellinger have returned from a nearly two-week trip to South America, where the pair took in games at both River Plate in Argentina and at Clube Atletico Paranaense (CAP), the Hoops' South American partner in Brazil.

"The trip to Argentina was very, very useful," he said. "I think the positives from our trip were identifying players for immediate help and 20 identifying players for future help. There was one very good player that was brought in from the (River Plate under) 17s to the first team that they think will be starting next year. There was also a player from Argentina that was called into the under-20 national team that I was interested in, but they have bigger plans for him."

Last season, FCD was one of the youngest teams in MLS. So Hyndman definitely wasn't looking to make his roster any younger while in South America.

"The thing I tried to stay away from was reserve players," he said. "I don't think we need any more young players. I think this is a double-edged sword for us. We talk about our future because we have got so many good young players, but I don't know if we need any more good young players. I think we need established players, players with experience who can help our young players grow. So I chose not to look at their reserve players very seriously."

Hyndman admitted that a pair of players from FCD's Brazilian partner that caught his eye.

"There are players from Atlйtico Paranaense that we are making offers to," he said. "One's a second striker, another one is a defender."

Those players definitely fit with what needs Hyndman has expressed for his team going forward.

"I think we need a couple positions," he said. "We need a center back who can bring some experience, a little bit of athletic ability, maybe a little bit of hardness, somebody who is aggressive, can win some balls in the air and make you pay a little bit if you come in there.

"I would like to see a left-sided midfielder," Hyndman continued. "We did not pick up (Victor) Sikora's option because we just didn't see enough. Sikora is a player we brought in for Arturo Alvarez, but we never got Victor on the field till the end and it was just one game. Even though he did OK in that game and scored a goal, I just didn't see enough. So I think we need a left-sided midfielder."

But FCD's top need might be an attacking midfielder.

"As badly as Bruno (Guarda) may not want to hear this, I think we may need a true No. 10," Hyndman said. "I think we need a true No. 10 that is a (Guillermo Barros) Schelotto type or a (Dwayne) De Rosario type -- a player that can change the game, a player that can score goals, a player that can make the killer pass. Of course, if we lose Kenny (Cooper), then we need a striker. But right now I think (our most pressing needs are) a strong defender, a flank player on the left side, and a true No. 10."


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Despite changes, Fire find success

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- From the start of the 2008 season, the Chicago Fire had a lot to deal with.

They had a new head coach in Denis Hamlett, who was a familiar face from many years of working as an assistant coach but who still had to install his own system.

They had a new goalkeeper in veteran Jon Busch, who had spent one season as a backup to young Matt Pickens.

Eventually, they found three new defenders on a four-man back line, with Bakary Soumare moving back from holding midfielder to center back and Brandon Prideaux moving in from the waiver wire to a starting job on the right side.

At midseason, they had to readjust their offensive attack with the addition of superstar Brian McBride and the departure of Chad Barrett.

Through it all, they forged a 13-10-7 regular season record and advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship, where they fell to the Columbus Crew 2-1 after being the only team in the league the Crew did not defeat at least once in the regular season.

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SIGHTS & SOUNDS

Check out the best of 2008

"We felt we were very close to getting to the final," Hamlett said in retrospect. "We had a good enough team. We felt we could win it, and we were disappointed not to get there. But I am still very proud of the accomplishments we had this year, getting to the conference final and losing to the best team in terms of consistency over the year. As a group, throughout the year, we were a very competitive team and played entertaining soccer."

That's especially true if you enjoy defensive soccer. The Fire led the league in goals against for much of the season (Until giving up two goals in each of the last three games). It was not until the eighth game of the season that they gave up more than one goal in a game, and they had a stretch in July in which they gave up three goals total in seven games.

"We put some new faces in there, but it came together very quickly, and a lot of times it doesn't happen as quickly as it did for us this year," said Busch, who was a finalist for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year honors. "That is a credit to the coaching staff, and to the players for being able to learn and adapt, and become a cohesive unit as quick as possible."

Offensively, there were struggles, but they were more in identifying the best possible combination of talent. Initially, Hamlett went with winter signing Tomasz Frankowski along with veteran Barrett in attack, but he gave starts to Calen Carr (who was injured before midseason), rookie Patrick Nyarko and Andy Herron. Chris Rolfe also played some at forward before settling into an attacking midfielder role.

The forward spot become cemented once Brian McBride joined the club after a successful stint in the English Premier League. Barrett was sent to Toronto to complete the transaction, and McBride and Cuauhtemoc Blanco ended up being listed at forward for most of the final games on the schedule.

"Brian came over and he is a fantastic guy and a great player, but I don't know what people were expecting, that all of a sudden, boom, he shows up and we are automatic champions," Busch said. "That doesn't happen. But it did make us more dangerous offensively. It gave us an avenue to play long balls up to the target forward, which we hadn't had before. You can hit long balls up to him and he can bring them down or flick them on. It made us more creative going forward, with more options."

The Fire finished with 44 goals in 30 games, the fifth-best total in the league. Rolfe finished with nine goals, Blanco had seven and McBride and midfielder John Thorrington had five each.

But Hamlett admitted his club did have difficulty when asked to come from behind.

"Coming from behind, we didn't have such a good record," Hamlett said. "That is something that was evident throughout the year. That comes with experience and maturity. It is still a process."

There were some remarkable high points, including a 5-1 win at New York on May 25 and a 3-0 record against the hated New England Revolution, including nine goals scored, a pair of wins at Gillette Stadium, and a 4-0 win in the second game of the season that put the league on notice.

The Fire did not lose consecutive games until June, but twice had winless streaks of three games. Pundits complained the Fire lacked consistency, an attack Hamlett has read and totally disagrees with.

The Fire opened the season with six wins in their first nine games, but then won just once over their next eight, a two-month span. Then after a stretch of four wins in six contests following the All-Star break, Chicago limped down the stretch, winning just twice in their final seven games while allowing nearly half of all of the goals they conceded on the season (15 of 33).

"We finished third in the league in points, and if you base it on that, we weren't too far off," Hamlett said. "Overall, I don't think it was an inconsistent year.

"We showed flashes of being a very good team," he said. "I think overall, when you step back and do a self-evaluation, I think there were more positives than negatives."


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Cooper's future remains a hot topic

FRISCO, Texas -- Almost since the moment he took over as head coach of FC Dallas in mid-June, one constant issue for Schellas Hyndman has been whether or not forward Kenny Cooper would be leaving for Europe. First there was the courtship with Danish side Rosenborg around the 2008 MLS All-Star Game. And now with the calendar inching ever closer to the January transfer window, that talk has started again.

Cooper comes off a season where he rebounded nicely from a broken leg that forced him to miss much of the 2007 campaign. The Dallas native scored 18 goals, second in MLS and came away with Comeback Player of the Year honors and also earned a spot on the league's Best XI.

Toward the end of the 2008 campaign, FCD acquired veteran striker Jeff Cunningham, who ended the year with five goals in 11 games for the Hoops. Yet in the end FCD missed the playoffs and Hyndman would like to see both Cooper and Cunningham back for 2009.

However, the FCD coach said they are nearing the point of no return -- where he needs to know what Cooper's decision will be.

"This is one issue that just never seems to ever go away," Hyndman said. "It's tough because you want the best for the player and he's a great kid. He's a young man, a good player and he's got such a great future. I think he'll be in Europe whether it's this year, next year, or two years from now. But I think we are very close to making a decision."

For Hyndman, it all boils down to what's best for the entire team.

"I think what's going to end up happening, my feeling is, it may come to a point where the team comes first and it's, 'Kenny, you're here no matter what. You've had this opportunity, but this has gone on a little too long. We don't want to lose you, but we've given you that chance to find something else and it hasn't worked out,'" Hyndman said. "I mean the Rosenborg situation was a done deal then it fell apart, but in the meantime, we're going right and left not knowing."

But that doesn't mean that the FCD coach also doesn't want to do what's best for his talented young scorer and Dallas native, who has scored 33 goals since being signed after playing in the Manchester United reserve side.

"I would like to also do the best thing for Kenny," Hyndman said. "I like Kenny a lot and I like his family a lot. Sometimes I try to make decisions on how I would want to be treated. If my grandson had an opportunity to go play for Man U, I wouldn't want somebody to say he can't go. I want to do the best thing for Kenny but I cannot hurt this team to do that.

"If I hurt this team to do that, then I'll be watching from the stands or some place else and I won't be here. My responsibility is to myself, and my family, and this program," he continued. "So we are working very hard to compromise and try and work with Kenny. I think we've offered him a very good contract. Now it's just (a question of) what is in his mind."

One thing is for sure: Cooper will not be signed as a designated player.

"If the league were to agree to make Kenny a designated player, Taylor Twellman is going to show up, Shalrie Joseph is going to show up, Landon Donovan is going to show up and Brian Ching is going to show up," Hyndman said. "It's going to be, 'You gave it to Kenny Cooper, why not to me?' We went to the league on this and we want to keep him. We've done everything we possibly can with (investor-operator) Clark (Hunt's) blessing and the league has come back and said no."


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Zusi leads Maryland to College Cup

FRISCO, Texas -- Graham Zusi was the big hero for Maryland in the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup, as his second goal of the College Cup -- the only two scored by the Terrapins -- gave Maryland the national championship with a 1-0 victory against North Carolina at Pizza Hut Park.

In Friday's semifinal, Zusi's goal off a free kick in the 104th minute propelled Maryland past St. John's. Then Sunday afternoon, the senior midfielder and tournament's Most Outstanding Offensive Player delivered yet again, scoring the game's only goal midway through the second half to power Maryland (23-3-0) to the third national title in school history.

"Our goal at the beginning of the year was to be the last team standing," Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski said. "Our motto was from The Home Depot Center to Pizza Hut Park. There was a time in the middle of this year when I wasn't sure we had the fiber of a champion and we challenged out guys right after the Clemson game. A lot of talented players on this squad had not won any championships and we reminded them what it would take to be a champion. They not only bought into it, they exceeded every expectation I had."

NCAA COLLEGE CUPNEWS • Zusi leads Terps to College Cup win
• Terps duo stars in Cup run
• Close wins set up All-ACC Cup final
• College Cup notes: Defenses key
• College Cup semis kick off in Texas
• College Cup notes: Hometown boys
• Top MLS prospects in College Cup
• '09 adidas MLS Combine invitees
• Finalists share impressive pedigree
• ACC shines as Cup takes shape
• College Cup memories for Hoops trio
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Zusi's second goal in three days came after Doug Rodkey sent a cross in from the right flank to start the sequence. Jeremy Hall then attempted to get off a shot but it was deflected by a UNC player. The carom fell to Zusi's feet and he punched it into the left side of the net to give the Terps a 1-0 edge.

After the goal, the first UNC had allowed in 269 minutes, the Tar Heels (15-8-1) made a final push, but in the end UNC lost despite a 14-10 edge in shots.

"It was a hard game for us," UNC head coach Elmar Bolowich said. "I felt like we had a tough time getting into the rhythm, especially in the first half. In the second half with our wind at our back, I thought we would do a little more but Maryland's defense held very strong. So I want to congratulate them for winning the national championship. I want to congratulate our team for an outstanding effort. I think we left everything on the field and I can't ask for anything more."

The final was played in 25 mph winds that swirled around the field. Maryland logged seven shots in the first half, five of which were on goal while UNC had six shots but none of those were on target.

Maryland's best chance of the first half came in the 24th minute. Matt Kassel took a corner kick that Terrapins forward Jason Herrick corralled on the left flank. Herrick attempted to tuck a shot inside the near post but UNC 'keeper Brooks Haggerty made a diving save to send the ball over the endline for another corner.

Three minutes later, Maryland apparently struck first after Jeremy Hall fed Herrick, who then delivered a perfect finish into the back of the Carolina net. However, Herrick was ruled offside by the official on the far sideline and the match remained scoreless.

Seven minutes before the halftime break, Zusi stepped up to take another free kick for Maryland, this one being from 35 yards. The senior struck the ball well but UNC goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty was there to make another great stop.

For Maryland, the win in the national title match was their 16th in a row and third of 2008 at Carolina's expense. It was also their school-record 23rd win and the 15th clean sheet the Terrapins have kept this year, another school standard.

Maryland placed an event-high five players on the All-Tournament Team while UNC had four. Junior Omar Gonzalez, a Dallas native who had a host of friends and family in attendance, earned Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors for his role as the anchor of a Maryland back line that was rock solid throughout the weekend, not allowing a single goal in 194 minutes.


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Zusi, Gonzalez star on Terps' Cup run

FRISCO, Texas -- Graham Zusi scored both Maryland goals, game-winners at that, to lead the Terrapins to the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup title. Omar Gonzalez anchored a backline that kept clean sheets in both of the final four wins. So, it was no big surprise when Zusi was named the event's Most Outstanding Offensive Player and Gonzalez the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player for the new national champs.

Zusi's first bit of heroics came in the second overtime of Friday's national semifinal with St. John's. The sides were scoreless after 104 minutes of play until Zusi stepped up and ended the match with a goal directly off a free kick from 25 yards out to give the Terps a 1-0 victory.

In Sunday's match, Zusi struck paydirt for the Terrapins at the 66-minute mark. His goal came after a Doug Rodkey cross from the right flank was met by Jeremy Hall whose shot was deflected by a UNC player. That carom fell to Zusi, who curled a shot inside the left post for the game's only goal.

NCAA COLLEGE CUPNEWS • Zusi leads Terps to College Cup win
• Terps duo stars in Cup run
• Close wins set up All-ACC Cup final
• College Cup notes: Defenses key
• College Cup semis kick off in Texas
• College Cup notes: Hometown boys
• Top MLS prospects in College Cup
• '09 adidas MLS Combine invitees
• Finalists share impressive pedigree
• ACC shines as Cup takes shape
• College Cup memories for Hoops trio
SIGHTS & SOUNDS

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"Once again, the right player, a senior scores the game-winner," Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski said. "I couldn't be happier for him or our whole team."

It was the second time as a collegian that the Maryland forward had played on a national championship team. Zusi was also on the school's 2005 title squad.

"What more can you ask for, really," he said. "Both teams are special in their own ways. I was extremely happy to be part of this one. Everything about it was incredible."

Zusi, a senior from Longwood, Fla., was the center of the Maryland attack throughout the weekend. His two goals in the final four gave him six on the season, and 28 for his four-year career. Zusi is one of 65 collegians who has been invited to next month's MLS Player Combine in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. in the week leading up to the 2009 SuperDraft.

"When Jeremy (Hall) took the shot initially, it got deflected and I thought the ball was shielded from the goalie between the defender and Jeremy right in front of me," Zusi said. "So I was just trying to curl it around him. I don't really know (what happened). I guess it is a little bit of being in the right place. I try to step up at the right time when my team needs me the most."

Earlier in the year, when Zusi was struggling after a road loss at Clemson, he remembers a pep talk from Cirovski that really built his confidence.

"Sasho told me that I did have it in me," he recalled. "It was just a matter of me buying into it."

Following the win, he was congratulated by UNC midfielder Garry Lewis, who was a high school teammate of Zusi's at Lake Brantley H.S. in Florida.

"He was very congratulatory," Zusi said. "He's a great player and a very strong and solid midfielder. He also told me best of luck in the future."

Sunday was also a big day for Gonzalez and the entire UM back line. The Dallas native and 2007 ACC Defender of the Year helped anchor a unit that logged its school-record 15th shutout in the championship game and won its 16th consecutive match.

Gonzalez, who has previously trained with FC Dallas in the offseason, was not only very pleased to play a prominent role in Maryland's title-clinching win, but he was also happy to do so in front of countless friends and family.

"Every one of them (was here)," Gonzalez said. "I don't know how many but I would say close friends of the family where there, my rec coach and club coach growing up were there. Just seeing all those guys and thanking them for playing the game of soccer and seeing all my friends and family there was incredible. My brother, mom and dad were here but my sisters couldn't make it. My girlfriend came down too from Maryland."

The 6-foot-5 defender, who was a U.S. U-17 international and scored five goals this season to give him seven for his three years at Maryland, was nearly overwhelmed at winning a national title for the first time.

"I don't really know what to say," he said. "Right when that final whistle blew, I stopped didn't go anywhere and took it all in. I just saw everyone running everywhere and I was just looking at my family and all the fans that came down here from Maryland. I appreciated all the support that they have us and I think I might have blacked out."


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Zusi leads Maryland to College Cup
ACC foes to square off in College Cup

Tar Heels, Terrapins meet again

FRISCO, Texas -- On Nov. 12, Maryland beat North Carolina 2-1 at the ACC tournament. That loss was the fifth in a row for the Tar Heels and had many wondering how UNC would fare in the NCAA tournament.

Well, Carolina came alive, beating Jacksonville, Illinois-Chicago and Northwestern to reach the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup, where on Friday night, they dispatched conference rival and reigning national champ Wake Forest 1-0 to reach Sunday afternoon's final, where they will face another league rival in Maryland, who has already beaten UNC twice this year.

Despite their struggles, Carolina never doubted that they would have a shot at playing for their first national title since 2001.

"I had no doubt in my mind," UNC senior midfielder Garry Lewis said. "I felt that we were more than capable. Coming into the season, we got on a roll quick and then we hit a slump. A lot of people wrote us off but we knew that we could turn a lot of heads and play the underdog role. I think we love that and thrive on that."

For UNC head coach Elmar Bolowich, playing such a familiar foe in the final might or might not provide an advantage for either team.

"I felt like it was good to know what Wake Forest was like having been through games with them so that we could prepare for them," he said. "Is it an advantage? We'll see. It's a championship game and you can't only focus on Maryland, you've got to perform because it's a championship game. We want to win that title. Whoever steps on the field against us that day is irrelevant."

Friendly rivalry: Maryland senior Graham Zusi was the big hero for the Terrapins on Friday when he converted a free kick for the game-winner in the 104th minute. On Sunday, he will face one of his former high school teammates from Lake Brantley H.S. in Longwood, Florida in Lewis.

"Defensively, Zusi, I played with him in high school and know him pretty well," Lewis said. "It's going to be good. He's really skilled technically, so I've just got to stay on my feet and hope everything goes for the best."

However, the two haven't just faced each other in the ACC, they also squared off once before while Lewis was at St. John's prior to his transferring to Chapel Hill.

"We played against each other in high school and we also played on the state and regional ODP teams," Lewis said. "He's a competitor. When I played at St. John's my freshman year, we played them in the Sweet 16 at College Park and he played in that game and so did I. They beat us and went on to win the national title. Every year since, Maryland has had the upper hand. Not only do I want to beat their whole team but with he and I playing, I'm friends with him but it's going to be good. It's a good, friendly, competitive relationship between us because we both want to win."

Only the beginning: The Terrapins head into Sunday's title tilt riding a 15-game winning streak. That run of greatness all started after a 5-3 loss at Clemson on Oct. 3. It's a setback that Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski and his players all remember very well.

"I think that bus ride home and that whole week was a challenge to the players on how soccer is won or lost," Cirovski said. "This is game that if you don't pay attention to the process and the little things, it can punish you. That's been our advantage. This is a team that I've had to coach less in the last six weeks than any other team I've ever had because they've bought into the respect for the game and the respect for the principles and process that entitles you to have the ability to succeed. I think that's kind of been our trademark."

Senior defender A.J. Delagarza also uses that loss as motivation.

"We were scored on five times -- the most we've ever been scored on in four years," he said. "Psychologically, the seniors took a step up after that game and took more of a leadership role. We had a leadership role, but we took more of a step forward to make sure something like that doesn't happen again. Since then, we haven't let in more than one goal a game. Collectively, we have all done a better job defensively and I think that's what has helped us."

Mutual admiration society: Not only are Maryland and North Carolina very familiar with one another as fellow members of the ACC, but there is also a high level of respect between the two coaches and their squads.

"Well, there is a reason why they're here -- they're a really strong team," Bolowich said. "They have good balance just like all four teams that were here. They have very few weaknesses and if we can find them, great and I hope we do. They're strong and experienced coming off a national championship in 2005. They have been going very deep in the playoffs in the last 10-12 years too. Sasho (Cirovski) has done a very good job, so they are really well organized. It will be another close game. It will be another of those typical ACC matches that you'll see."

And Cirovski's respect for UNC is apparent.

"I think we know each other very well," he said. "We're on a first name basis with all of their players. If you look at the history of all championship games, it can be one mistake that can make a difference. Precision on set pieces, precision on runs in the box and precision in making a game-saving clearance, a game-saving tackle or a game-saving save, those things will have to be done on both ends at some point in the game tomorrow. I just want us to be in the position to make those plays happen."


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ACC foes to square off in College Cup

ACC foes to square off in College Cup

FRISCO, Texas -- Coming into the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup, considering that three teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference made the national semifinals, it was a good bet that two ACC sides could square off for the national title.

Many thought, however, that one of those teams would be Wake Forest, the defending national titleholder who has been to the College Cup for three consecutive years. On Friday night, ACC rivals North Carolina and Maryland instead punched their tickets for Sunday's afternoon NCAA championship game at Pizza Hut Park.

In Friday night's first semifinal, North Carolina (15-7-1) got an early goal from senior striker Brian Shriver, a tally that proved to be the game-winner and sent the Demon Deacons packing.

NCAA COLLEGE CUPNEWS • Close wins set up All-ACC Cup final
• College Cup notes: Defenses key
• College Cup semis kick off in Texas
• College Cup notes: Hometown boys
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• '09 adidas MLS Combine invitees
• Finalists share impressive pedigree
• ACC shines as Cup takes shape
• College Cup memories for Hoops trio
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In the second game, Maryland and St. John's remained scoreless through 104 minutes. That quickly changed when Terrapins senior Graham Zusi stepped up and took a free kick from about 25 yards out. Zusi struck the ball perfectly, sending it into the left side of the Red Storm's goal to end the game and set up the all-ACC final.

"We are very excited to be playing another day and are looking forward to the opportunity to play for a national title," UNC head coach Elmar Bolowich said. "The fact that it is two ACC teams bodes extremely well for our conference. I'm really proud of our team and the way we performed on Friday. I think we showed that we can play and that we are a very good team. I'm looking forward to the Sunday match against Maryland."

Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski's sentiment was very similar.

"We are honored and delighted to have an opportunity to play on Sunday," he said. "It is a goal that we set at the beginning of the year, to have a chance to play on the biggest stage in college soccer. We know North Carolina well and have a great deal of respect for their coaches and their players."

It will be the third time these sides have met this year. On November 7, UNC fell 2-1 at Maryland and five days later, they met in the ACC tournament with the Terps prevailing once again by a 2-1 margin.

"We have had a couple of highly competitive games with them already and we expect Sunday to be another great, tough battle against a team that is playing its best soccer of the year," Cirovski said. "We're looking forward to that challenge and we're ready."

Maryland's win on Friday was their 15th in a row, a streak that began after the Terrapins lost 5-3 at Clemson on Oct. 3.

"I reminded them of what they invested last winter, last spring and last summer, which is the most of every team I've had. I reminded them that it's time to reap the rewards of that and that we won't reap those rewards if we don't pay attention to details," Cirovski said. "I think we're seeing those rewards now."

For Zusi, who will be playing in his final game with the Terps, the focus is simple.

"Once you get to this stage, every team you play is a great team," he said. "Carolina is a great team and they've proven it in this tournament. We just want to go out and play our game. I think that if we do that, we have a good chance of being successful.

"Yes, I think we definitely have a chip on our shoulder. We know that we're good and that we can compete. We have to prove it now. We have everything, the title is on the line and we've lost to this team twice earlier in the year. It's about pride and showing them that we're the better team tomorrow and we're going to show them."

Carolina, on the other hand, had lost five in a row heading into the NCAA tournament, something that gave the Tar Heels something to prove in the postseason.

"I think we definitely have a chip on our shoulder," UNC senior midfielder Garry Lewis said. "We know that we're good and that we can compete. We have to prove it now. The title is on the line and we've lost to this team twice earlier in the year. It's about pride and showing them that we're the better team tomorrow. We're going to show them."


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FRISCO, Texas -- In Wake Forest's first three games of the 2008 NCAA tournament, the Demon Deacons had scored a total of 13 goals. In Friday's first semifinal, North Carolina held Wake scoreless as the 2007 champions saw the defense of their title ended one game early, just the second time all year WFU has failed to score a goal. The only other time they failed to find the back of the net was in a scoreless draw with Duke on Oct. 18.

Star senior forward Marcus Tracy finished the game with four shots as did sophomore midfielder Corben Bone. But none of Wake's 20 shots delivered positive results.

"We created enough chances to put the game away and we weren't able to finish those chances," Tracy said. "I think the biggest thing about it is that we weren't able to find our rhythm in the first half. We were chasing the game in the entire second half. This shows the heart and desire that we have to create those chances even in the dire moments of the game."

The seeds for that lackluster offensive performance were sown in the first half when the Demon Deacons looked out of sorts from the opening whistle.

"I think that overall, we were out of rhythm and not playing the way we needed to play," Tracy said. "As a result, we weren't able to get the ball up, wide and moved it around like we were used to doing."

Unlikely heroes: Earlier in the year, North Carolina junior goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty wasn't seeing much time between the posts for the Tar Heels because he was recuperating from a concussion suffered prior to the season. However, he entered at halftime of UNC's regular season finale at Maryland on Nov. 7 and has played every minute since.

NCAA COLLEGE CUPNEWS • Close wins set up All-ACC Cup final
• College Cup notes: Defenses key
• College Cup semis kick off in Texas
• College Cup notes: Hometown boys
• Top MLS prospects in College Cup
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• ACC shines as Cup takes shape
• College Cup memories for Hoops trio
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Haggerty had been in goal for a pair of shutouts in the Tar Heels' NCAA tournament run but on Friday, he came up big with seven saves against top-ranked Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons finished the night with 20 shots to UNC's nine but the UNC 'keeper was never rattled.

"They had a lot of attacks there and were packing it in the box and throwing balls in there," Haggerty said. "My ultimate goal was to not let the ball in and I was attacking the ball as hard as I could. I was just determined to get the ball and wasn't going to let anything in there."

Two of those stops came at the expense of a close friend who plays for Wake.

"My best friend since I was four years old is Zack Schilawski and I grew up with all those guys on that team," Haggerty said. "I have a personal grudge against them every time we're on the field with them. But off the field, they're great guys. I'm just working my way back and am trying to do everything possible to help the team be successful."

Brian Shriver's goal about three minutes in, the only one of the match, was the senior forward's first since October 25 in a 3-2 overtime loss at Clemson.

"It's definitely a relief," he said. "I have been working hard the last two games to get into the scoresheet. For me, as long as we're winning, that's all that matters. If I don't score and we win, then that's awesome and I could care less. It's not about stats, it's about the team."

Kitson comes up big: Next month, St. John's goalkeeper Neal Kitson will head to the 2009 MLS Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But if his performance in the Red Storm's 1-0 double overtime loss to Maryland on Friday was any indication, he could well turn some heads.

The senior from Queens, N.Y. made nine big saves to keep the match scoreless until the 104-minute mark when Maryland's Graham Zusi ended the game with a well-placed free kick from about 25 yards out.

"I thought that Neal (Kitson) in particular had a fantastic game in goal," said St. John's head coach Dr. Dave Masur. "He made a lot of great saves to keep us in it."

But for Kitson, the loss was especially gut-wrenching considering how it ended.

"It's very disappointing," he said. "You get to this stage in the year and we worked real hard preparing for this game. I thought we were going to stick it out and get through both overtimes. It was a great free kick. There's not much you can do about those. It was a great free kick."

More of the same: With Friday night's 1-0 shutout of St. John's, Maryland has now extended their school record for shutouts to 14. The Terrapins limited the Red Storm to just three shots the entire game, including just one in the second half and none in either overtime.

For UM junior defender Omar Gonzalez, the 2007 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and 2008 First Team All-ACC, Friday's performance was business as usual for their stifling defense.

"At the beginning, the back four, we talk every single time off the field and tell each other what we want to do and make sure that on the field, we're talking, staying compact and staying focused on the game to not let them get that many chances," he said. "And that's really what we did. We shut them down in the air and we also shut them down on the ground. We did a good job."

Terps head coach Sasho Cirovski didn't just want to give his back line credit for tonight's stellar defensive effort.

"We take a lot of pride in out attack but we're known for our ability to hunt the ball down," he said. "We have saying that says that we hate not having the ball. We try to get the ball back as quickly as we can. Omar talked about the back four but I think our midfielders and forwards did a great job today as well. Our back four right now is the best back four in the country."

Gonzalez, a Dallas native, also commended his teammates for their great focus on limiting the Red Storm's chances.

"The key was to keep them in front of us and to not let them get behind us," he said. "After that, if their forwards were to get the ball, we weren't going to let them turn. We were just going to spin them and make them go backwards. The midfield did a good job of tracking back and making sure that when they were going back that they were covering a lot of ground and that they knew where to go."

Familiar faces: A number of MLS coaches were in attendance for the College Cup matches. Head coaches present were Steve Nicol of New England and Curt Onalfo of Kansas City. Assistant coaches at the first match included Real Salt Lake's Jeff Cassar, Seattle Sounders FC technical director Chris Henderson and New York Red Bulls assistant Richie Williams. Seeing time for UNC was sophomore midfielder Dustin McCarty, younger brother of FC Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty.


ACC foes to square off in College Cup
Espanyol Hold Real Betis
Close wins set up All-ACC Cup final

Close wins set up All-ACC Cup final

FRISCO, Texas -- Sunday's NCAA Men's College Cup final will have an Atlantic Coast Conference feel to it as North Carolina and Maryland will square off for the national championship. UNC dispatched conference rival and defending national champion Wake Forest 1-0 in Friday's first semifinal while Maryland beat St. John's by the same score in double overtime to set up an all-ACC final Sunday afternoon.

No. 13 seed North Carolina (15-7-1) got an early goal from Brian Shriver and held on to defeat top-seeded Wake Forest (21-2-1) 1-0 in the first game.

"I want to give our guys enormous credit for getting this win and pulling this game out," UNC head coach Elmar Bolovich said. "The effort that they put in was outstanding. That was a total team out there. It made me very proud to see that. It made me very proud to see the way our team responded. I give our team an enormous amount of credit."

Carolina launched their attack early. Some 90 seconds into the game, midfielder Zach Loyd got a decent look at the Wake goal but his effort was denied by Demon Deacons goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald.,p> Just two minutes later, Loyd set up the first goal of the match. After a solid run up the right flank, he spotted Shriver open near the far post. Loyd hit a perfect ball across the field and Shriver headed it into the back of the net to make it 1-0.

NCAA COLLEGE CUPNEWS • Close wins set up All-ACC Cup final
• College Cup notes: Defenses key
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That tally was Shriver's first goal since a match at Clemson on Oct. 25. His score also marked the earliest that the Tar Heels had found the back of the net all season.

At the break Wake had six shots to UNC's five. Demon Deacons star forward Marcus Tracy had no shots. However, he came alive in the second half and finished the game with four shots, two of which were on frame. Teammate Corben Bone also had four shots for Wake.

However, the story was the stellar goalkeeping by UNC junior Brooks Hagerty, who finished the night with seven stops. He denied Wake's Zach Schilawski twice at close range and Tracy twice to preserve the clean sheet. It was only the second time this year that WFU had been held scoreless.

"I'm very gutted by the result because we wasted 45 minutes and the value of the first goal was just so evident out there," Wake Forest head coach Jay Vidovich said. "I'm very proud of the effort in the second half. I think we didn't play the way we're capable of playing but we did a tremendous job of adapting our game and finding opportunities. We created enough opportunities but they just didn't fall in today. It was one of those days."

For much of the 104 minutes of play in the second match, Maryland controlled the flow against St. John's. The Terrapins had 18 shots compared to just three by the Red Storm after 104 minutes. But after a foul just outside the penalty area, UM senior Graham Zusi stepped up, took a free kick from about 25 yards out and struck it perfectly for the game's only tally to end the game.

"I'm delighted with the victory," Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski said. "Appropriately, the best player on the field had the game-winner. We knew St. John's would be tough to penetrate and at times, they made it difficult. But I thought we carried the game and carried it very well. At times, it was tough to get a rhythm against St. John's. I thought Neal Kitson was outstanding in goals and made three or four incredible saves. I'm just happy we're playing on Sunday."

Zusi finished the game with a game-best nine shots, with five of those on frame. Jason Herrick had seven shots for the Terps, including five that were on goal.

St. John's senior goalkeeper Neal Kitson helped keep the Red Storm in the game for much of the night. In his final collegiate game, Kitson came up with nine saves, stopping all but Zusi's free kick.

"I thought that Neal in particular had a fantastic game in goal," St. John's head coach Dr. Dave Masur said. "He made a lot of great saves to keep us in it. I thought Rory (Quinn) did a great job of really controlling the defensive midfield and helping out on their two central forwards."

With the loss, the Terrapins have now eliminated the Red Storm from the NCAA tournament in each of their last four trips (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008).

"I'm very proud of our guys," Masur said. "They played really well against a great Maryland team. Maryland is a very explosive, well-coached and dynamic team like they've been all season. We knew we had our hands full."


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De Rosario traded to hometown team

Dwayne De Rosario is going home.

The dynamic Canadian international midfielder was dealt to Toronto FC for defender Julius James and an allocation in a blockbuster deal with the Houston Dynamo on Friday afternoon.

"Dwayne is a player we've admired for quite some time. When the chance came to work with Houston to get this deal, we were obviously very happy," TFC director of soccer Mo Johnston said in a team-released statement. "He's a wonderful talent and I hope all of our supporters are as excited as we are that Dwayne is now a member of Toronto FC."

De Rosario, who hails from nearby Scarborough, Ont., began his professional career with the Toronto Lynx and spent three seasons with the Dynamo, winning back-to-back MLS Cups. He was named the MVP of the 2007 MLS Cup for the second time in his career after scoring the winning goal in the 74th minute.

De Rosario also won MLS Cup titles with the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001, scoring the golden goal, and in 2003.

"2001 was very special to me because it was my first year in the league," De Rosario said. "Frank Yallop gave me the opportunity to be involved in this league and I went on to score the winning goal for San Jose to win the MLS Cup for the first time in their history. That really marked my name in the league and it is a moment I will never forget."

De Rosario, who has scored 15 goals in 49 appearances for the Canadian National Team, has never hidden his admiration for Toronto or his desire to play there - one day. That day has come.

"Being born in Scarborough and growing up in the Toronto area, it is great to have professional soccer here," De Rosario said. "The support that Toronto FC gets is amazing. The fan base is tremendous and they are passionate, knowledgeable fans."

The 30-year-old had that chance in July when the MLS All-Stars took on West Ham United of the English Premier League. De Rosario came on in the second half to score what proved to be the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win for the MLS All-Stars.

"It's definitely a dream come true, scoring in a game of this magnitude," De Rosario said after the game. "This game is huge. People don't realize how big this is because this is an opportunity to showcase our talent throughout the world and show them how good this league is."

While Toronto FC gains a marquee name and one of the best attacking midfielders in MLS, Houston welcomes a solid center back in Julius James, a 24-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago who played 13 games for TFC, scoring one goal this year, and a sizeable allocation.

James is expected to replace Bobby Boswell, who is out of contract and reportedly interested in a European move.

"This move is in the best interest of everybody and now gives the Dynamo real opportunity to address a number of its off-season goals," Dynamo coach Dom Kinnear said. "We are receiving a bright young talent in Julius James, and now have great salary cap flexibility to bring in players that can add to our strong base."


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College Cup semis kick off in Texas

FRISCO, Texas -- On Friday afternoon, the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup will kick off as ACC rivals Wake Forest and North Carolina square off in the early game at 5:30 p.m. ET. Then, in the nightcap, Maryland and St. John's meet in the second national semifinal.

Wake Forest (21-1-1) vs. North Carolina (14-7-1), 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

On Nov. 1, the two teams met in ACC play in Chapel Hill, N.C. North Carolina had a 2-1 lead for much of the game until Wake exploded for three goals in six minutes to prevail 4-2. Both coaches are ready to face such familiar opposition.

"One of the best things about going into NCAA play is getting to play different teams with different looks," Wake Forest head coach Jay Vidovich said. "The other side of it is that when we had the conference call for the tape exchange of each other's games, (UNC head coach) Elmar (Bolowich) and I were like do we even need to? We know each other so well."

Bolowich hopes that Wake, which has scored 13 goals in their first three NCAA tournament games this year, is a little low on ammunition.

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"I hope they've run out of scoring," he said. "I think (Friday) will be an open game with a lot of flow and opportunities both ways."

Wake is seeking to repeat as NCAA champions in this, their third consecutive trip to the College Cup. The last school to accomplish that feat was Indiana, who won the national crown in both 2003 and 2004. The repeat is clearly on the minds of the Demon Deacons.

"I think the first time (at the College Cup), two years ago, it was all new for us," WFU midfielder Sam Cronin said. "We were just soaking it all in and we had an early exit from the tournament. So, our goal last year was to stay in the tournament and play on Sunday. And here our goal is the same thing and we're excited about the opportunity."

The Tar Heels are more than well aware of what it will take to defeat Wake, which UNC has not defeated in the last five meetings.

"We'll have to put in a great effort for 90 minutes," North Carolina midfielder Michael Callahan said. "If we do that, I think we can put ourselves in a good position. They're a great counterattacking team, so we have to stay in position."

St. John's (19-2-3) vs. Maryland (21-3-0), 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Maryland is arguably the hottest team coming into this year's College Cup as the Terrapins have won 14 consecutive games. Their last defeat came Oct. 3 at Clemson, when they fell 5-3 in an ACC conference match. Since then, Maryland has outscored their opposition 27-6. In their three NCAA tournament games, the Terps have allowed just one goal.

However, St. John's has also been playing some good soccer of late. Winners of three in a row, the Red Storm have won 11 of their last 13. As a team, they have allowed an average of just 0.50 goals per game. The Red Storm have struggled in the NCAA tournament against the Terps, having been eliminated by them in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

For St. John's head coach Dr. Dave Masur, this year's Maryland squad bears close resemblance to those teams.

"They are similar because they attack the ball well in the box," he said. "Up front, they have terrific goal scorers. Their two center forwards, (Casey) Townsend and (Jason) Herrick are pretty physical, pretty direct for 90 minutes, so they are a handful for any back four. They have great flank play with the wide guys getting a lot of goals. (Jeremy) Hall is getting in and getting goals."

Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski has nothing but the utmost respect for the man guiding the Red Storm from the sidelines and for his group on the field.

"Dave Masur is a great coach and his team is extremely well-organized," he said. "They have very good balance all over the field. They play until the final whistle. They're a team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes."

Terps senior defender A.J. Delagarza was a freshman on the last UM team that advanced to the College Cup in 2005 and won the NCAA title.

"We have leadership this year," he said. "My freshman year, we had five or six seniors who brought leadership on and off the field. I think this year, our seniors and juniors have stepped into that role."

Even though the Red Storm have had to come from behind to win twice in the NCAA tournament, senior defender Rory Quinn is confident that his team can show the same tenacity against Maryland.

"We never say die," he said. "We really take pride in working the whole time. It is something we have really worked on in the past, in my four years here to make sure we play regardless of the score, regardless of the situation until the ref makes sure the play is dead."


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Warzycha likely to replace Schmid

COLUMBUS -- If he moves into the job vacated this week by head coach Sigi Schmid, one of the first tasks for current Columbus Crew assistant coach Robert Warzycha would be to determine if his former position would be filled.

Warzycha is the favorite to replace Schmid, who decided to seek employment elsewhere -- possibly with the expansion Seattle Sounders FC -- after leading the Crew to their first MLS championship last month.

Schmid is out of contract and the issue of a charge of tampering reportedly brought against Seattle would have to be resolved before he can complete a deal with the Sounders.

"The team is still working on the Sigi situation then will go forward with the hiring of a coach," Warzycha said. "I am one of the candidates but absolutely nothing has been resolved yet.

"I think that (being the head coach) would be best for me. I made it clear a long time ago I needed to spend some time in Columbus coaching. At some point I've said I want to be a head coach. That is a normal progression if you are an assistant. That is the perfect situation for me."

Technical director Brian Bliss feels the Crew can survive without filling the No. 2 position that Warzycha currently holds because of changes in the way MLS will operate in 2009.

Instead of 18 first-team players and 10 on the developmental roster, the new rules will allow clubs to have between 18-20 full-time players -- depending on their salary cap situations -- and up to four developmental players. The net result is a reduction in the roster to 24 from 28 and the elimination of the reserve division.

"I personally wouldn't add an assistant coach under those circumstances but that will be something for the new coach to decide," Bliss said.

Bliss, an assistant at Kansas City for six years before becoming the Wizards' interim head coach midway through the 2006 season, said he would like to be a head coach again but now is not the time, noting he has been in his current position less than a year.

However, he said if his responsibilities as technical director were greatly reduced -- which at this point no one in the organization has considered -- he would be open to being an assistant if, for example, Warzycha wanted to make him his replacement.

"Robert's ready to lead this team. He's put in his time and done all the right things," he said.

Warzycha, the Crew's interim coach for the last three months of the 2005 season after Greg Andrulis was released, has been second-in-command since Schmid was named head coach in October of that year.

The remainder of the staff this past season included goalkeeper coach Vadim Kirillov and Mike Lapper, who like Warzycha is a former Crew player.

Schmid said he does not anticipate taking any of the staff with him if he gets the job in Seattle because most are under contract with the Crew.

"If I decided to do that I'd have to let the Crew know we're considering it," he said. "It's been a great support staff. I wish soccer in this country were at the point where if the head coach moves you take the support staff with you. That's the way it's done in Europe. Unfortunately, with the way finances are with lot of people, they would find it difficult going cross country. It's not feasible."

Crew president/general manager Mark McCullers said Warzycha was a viable candidate in 2005 before Schmid was hired but that the timing then was not right.

Every Crew head coach prior to Schmid had been a promoted assistant since the firing of the original coach Timo Liekoski with 10 games left in the 1996 season. Tom Fitzgerald took over and lasted until early in 2001 season when Andrulis replaced him.

"This is how we envisioned things playing out to a certain extent three years ago when we brought Sigi on," McCullers said. "We needed somebody then with a different perspective, an outside perspective with experience and who could do some fairly drastic things to get us headed in the right direction.

"You look back on it, those were the objectives and as an organization we achieved those things in large part due to Sigi. Moving forward, we're looking to build on the foundation that has been laid. Continuity is an important thing. You look at Robert and what he brings to the table. He knows this team. He's helped make this team successful. He was extremely influential in making this team successful.

"We're in a different situation now. We've accomplished a lot of those things so it would make more sense to make a move that supported continuity than more that it supported change."

Warzycha said he is not taking for granted that the job is his. He has not consulted with Houston coach Dominic Kinnear on how he handled moving from being a Dynamo (at the time the San Jose Earthquakes) assistant to replacing a popular and successful coach. Kinnear took over for Frank Yallop in 2004 after San Jose won two titles in three years and guided Houston to the 2006 and '07 championships.

"No, the first thing before I make a call I have to get the job. I don't want to get ahead of myself and look stupid. First things first," Warzycha said. "If I do get the job I'm going to call Dominic and a few other people and ask for advice but not right now."

If Warzycha becomes head coach he will also use what he learned from watching Schmid firsthand for three seasons.

"He runs the team very well," Warzycha said. "The players have to buy into what you're doing. They have to trust you and believe in you. It's not only better for the team but for the players. They backed him and trusted him.

"If you approach it the right way then you're going to have success. That's what he did. He identified early that the way were we were going was the right way to win a championship and he was right."

The new Crew coach should have an experienced core to work with. The re-signing of league and MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto was massive. Defender Danny O'Rourke got a new deal but central midfielder Brad Evans was lost to Seattle in the expansion draft.

MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall is on a trial with Mainz of the German second division but Bliss is hopeful the out-of-contract player will re-sign.

If he does, Bliss thinks the Crew will have "14 or 15" of its top returnees then try to fill the roster from there to reach the maximum 20 on the senior squad. The team could go with 18 or 19 and pay a few players more but Bliss feels with team's entry in the 2009 CONCACAF Champions League a deeper roster, albeit thinner in the wallet for those in the final roster spots, is the way to go.

Warzycha's knowledge of the roster will be an asset when he likely assumes control. So, too, will be his understanding of how things work within the organization.

Schmid expressed frustration upon his departure that the team was unable to complete plans for a new training center. Ideas have been thrown around for two years but the goal of having a bigger complex by the 2010 season grow dimmer each week and with the sour economy municipalities are unlikely to share in the cost anytime soon.

Also, Crew Stadium celebrates its 10-year anniversary in May but it remains without naming rights attached and most of the parking around the venue, including the team's lot, is unpaved despite the organization's efforts to get the state of Ohio to do something.

McCullers said he is trying to be patient, just as he hopes the fans are with the coaching switch after Schmid led the team to its most successful season.

"I think our fans understand what we've been doing the past three or four years to try and put the best product on the field that we can and trying to be a professional soccer club in every sense of the word," McCullers said. "I think they see it and I think they support it and I think everyone has a positive eye toward the future."


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A season of firsts for Real Salt Lake

SANDY, Utah -- If anything, the 2008 season could truly be defined as a season of firsts for Real Salt Lake.

In the span of a few months, RSL went from the MLS basement to a playoff team for the first time. The Utah side also posted its first winning record and inhabited first place in the Western Conference at different junctures for the first time in club history.

2008 also marked the move from Rice-Eccles Stadium to Rio Tinto Stadium -- a soccer-specific facility that will also serve as host venue to the 2009 MLS All-Star Game.

For the club, nothing signaled 2008 would be a different year than previous ones quite like taking over the top spot in the Western Conference. Real only stayed on top for a few weeks after beating Eastern Conference champion Columbus by a 2-0 margin in mid-July. Still, the impact it made, in terms of building confidence, could not be measured.

It was also during that stretch that RSL posted a record above .500 for the first time in club history.

Real coach Jason Kreis felt like RSL earned what it got through being much more competitive on the field.

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"I still look back at the whole season and say that we were the better team in almost every game we played," Kreis said. "There was very few games where I could say, well, we didn't deserve better than we got there."

Perhaps one of the biggest keys to RSL accomplishing what it did in 2008 was the club's ability to plug in key pieces during the league's international transfer window in the summer.

In that time, RSL added depth and versatility by bringing in forward Clint Mathis, midfielder Will Johnson and utility man Robbie Russell. All three players played key roles in the team's playoff run.

Johnson instantly earned a starting role. Mathis and Russell gradually moved into the first XI as well. Kreis thought all three players possessed a nice degree of versatility and meshed well with the existing core of the team. Such additions to the RSL roster worked out better than anyone could have anticipated.

Kreis credited general manager Garth Lagerway's knack for finding the best players available.

"He does deserve a lot of credit," Kreis said. "He's worked extremely hard and been out scouting and brought in some quality players."

Many of the players themselves hoped for good things when they joined RSL at midseason. What they experienced as the season wound down exceeded even their fondest expectations.

"When I first signed, you never could have told me that this would happen the way it did," Johnson said. "Things have more or less been perfect since the minute I got here."

RSL reached a major landmark in October when it opened up Rio Tinto Stadium -- a state-of-the-art soccer-specific venue seating 20,008 people. Getting to that point was a journey fraught with political infighting as RSL worked to secure a portion of Salt Lake County tax revenues to help finance the cost of building the stadium.

Once the stadium was finished and RSL moved in, the dramatic difference between Rio Tinto and the club's former venue at Rice-Eccles became immediately apparent.

RSL players embraced a natural grass surface that was easier on their bodies than the hard artificial surface at Rice-Eccles. The stadium was also seen as a friendlier venue for the team's fans -- with better views of the field throughout the stadium than what was possible before.

Working to match its brand of soccer with the quality of its new digs became a goal for RSL in 2008 and beyond.

"This stadium is too nice to not have a good product in there," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said.

Perhaps the most memorable moment for RSL in the 2008 season is its first-ever trip to the postseason. Real needed a dramatic finish to get to that point, qualifying in the season finale at Colorado when Yura Movsisyan came up with the equalizer in the 90th minute for the playoff-clinching draw.

While that moment stands out most in the minds of fans and outside observers, for RSL players another moment proved just as big in fueling their run to the playoffs. The moment in question was Real's second road victory of the season at San Jose.

That 3-2 triumph in late September set off an eight-game unbeaten streak that did not come to an end until a 1-0 loss to New York in the Western Conference Championship.

"It was a game we wanted to win," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "We were OK with a tie, but we fought to the end and we got a victory. From then on, we got some results on the road and we picked up some confidence."

Once RSL reached the MLS Cup Playoffs, the team was not content to simply sit back and call it a season. The Utah side upset expansion partner Chivas USA and earned a surprise berth into the Western Conference Championship.

Beckerman said that the team's unexpected success was an appropriate reward to a cadre of loyal fans that have continued to support RSL even in bleaker moments.

"We wanted to give them something to cheer about," Beckerman said. "We wanted the soccer that we play to be attractive -- attacking, creating chances. This is the type of soccer we wanted to play. But, also, that's what we wanted the fans to see. We wanted them to be excited about their team and how we play."

The bitter 1-0 loss at home to the Red Bulls in the West final has left RSL wanting more going into the 2009 season. And while its possible they might rise to even further heights, it will be hard to eclipse what happened this season -- simply because how quickly the team rose after enduring mediocrity for so long.

"We're not the doormat of the league anymore," Beckerman said. "We're players in this league. That definitely takes it up a notch there. Our fans are going to expect that the type of soccer we're playing is good enough to (make us) first or second all year."


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Dynamo to face Atlante in Champions League

HOUSTON -- Thanks to the Houston Dynamo's 1-0 win against Luis Angel Firpo on Nov. 26, the team earned a date in the quarterfinals of the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Wednesday, the Orange found out their first opponent for the knockout stage. The team was placed against Mexican side Atlante FC in the quarterfinal draw held at the CONCACAF headquarters in New York City.

The Dynamo will play Atlante in the first leg of the two-game, total-goals series on either February 24, 25 or 26, 2009. A week later, the teams will play the second leg in Cancun, and the winner of the set will advance to the semifinals of the confederation's club championship, where they will play the survivor of the quarterfinal between Santos Laguna of Mexico and the USL First Division's Montreal Impact.

Atlante finished atop Group C in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage, with 11 points from six matches, tied with Montreal yet winning the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Dynamo finished second in Group B, advancing ahead of Firpo with that final day victory, finishing with nine points from their six games, three behind Mexico's Pumas UNAM.

The other quarterfinals feature an all-Mexican matchup as Pumas UNAM will take on Cruz Azul, and the second of the USL First Division sides in the final eight, the Puerto Rico Islanders, will take on CD Marathon of Honduras.

Should the Dynamo, the only MLS team in the quarterfinal round, win the tournament, they will advance to the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, to be held next December in the United Arab Emirates.

The teams will be playing for the second time in less than a year, as Atlante will be looking to avenge a 4-0 loss at Robertson Stadium last July 12 in the opening match for both teams in SuperLiga 2008.

Dwayne De Rosario opened the scoring just 20 minutes into that match and Stuart Holden added goals in the 21st and 28th minutes to put the match out of reach. Brian Mullan capped the scoring in the 54th minute, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

Goalkeeper Pat Onstad did not face a single shot on goal in that game, as the Orange defense led the way. The only Atlante player to come close was Ernesto Pereyra Gabriel, who broke free for a scoring chance in the eighth minute.


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Schmid leaves Crew after Cup win

COLUMBUS -- The most successful chapter in Columbus Crew history officially closed Wednesday with the announcement that head coach Sigi Schmid would seek employment elsewhere after leading the club to its first MLS championship last month.

General manager Mark McCullers confirmed that assistant coach and former Crew player Robert Warzycha is the frontrunner to be the named the organization's fifth full-time head coach. However, no decision is expected before next week.

"This week would be a fairly aggressive timetable," McCullers said. "Obviously, getting the head coaching position secure is a priority. It's an immediate priority. Because there has been speculation about Sigi not returning I've have people contacting me -- agents and other coaches.

"I want to make sure I do our due diligence working with our ownership and Brian (Bliss, technical director) in the process but my objective is to make the decision as quick as possible."

When asked if Warzycha is the leading candidate, McCullers replied, "At this point in time that's fair to say. Certainly Robert is somebody I respect and seriously considered for the job the last time it was open."

McCullers said no other candidates have been interviewed.

"I need to focus on the candidate pool a little bit. I haven't had a chance to do that. That's part of the due diligence to see if there are any other candidates that warrant consideration," he said.

McCullers made it clear several times that "continuity" was the most important feature of the new head coach, and thus there seems to be little desire to go outside the organization this time.

Warzycha became interim coach on July 12, 2005, after Greg Andrulis was relieved of his duties, and took a team that was 4-10-2 to a 7-6-3 record the remainder of the season.

He joined the Crew in June 1996, two months into the inaugural season, and been a fixture since. He was a player/assistant coach in 2002 before retiring as a player. He stayed on after Schmid was hired in October 2005.

"Robert has all the qualities and all the abilities and he knows the players to be able to continue what we built here in Columbus," Schmid said. "He's been here since day one as a player. He's been an assistant for a long period. He expressed to me he was willing to stay as my assistant for as many years as I was willing to stay here. I really appreciated that.

"He's ready. He's been a tremendous help here for me and I hope I've been a help to him as he's learned and improved. More so than anything, he's got the experience to do the job."

While Warzycha could be on the fast track to take over the Crew, Schmid hopes for a similarly rapid response from expansion Seattle Sounders FC.

"Obviously, everybody knows I had a visit to Seattle last week. Things are on hold there. Hopefully, we'll be able to move that forward in the next few days," Schmid said. "I had come to the decision that I wasn't going to return here and I thought it was fair to let (the Crew) know so they can move forward."

How and why the Crew let go the 2008 MLS Coach of the Year -- the man who led them to the Supporters' Shield title with the best regular season record in the league (17-7-6) -- will be open to debate.

Schmid hinted that if a different offer had been made by Hunt Sports Group during the summer he might have signed then and not let his contract expire after winning the MLS Cup.

"It's like I tell the players all the time when we play: You can't worry about what happened," he said. "Obviously if you go back into August or July and instead of this or that happened we'd be at a different point right here. It didn't happen so we're at this point. We have to accept it."

McCullers said the organization tried to re-sign Schmid.

"I wouldn't classify it as anything going wrong or breaking down for that matter," he said. "Sigi had a decision to make and we respect that decision, and for whatever reasons he made it. He was very clear from the very first conversation we had that it was his intent to explore options that were available to him for professional reasons, for personal reasons and that's what he did.

"We appreciate the fact he was upfront about his intentions all along. We made him a very competitive offer that would have made him one of the highest paid coaches in the league."

Schmid said he decided two days ago that he would not remain with the Crew but said he is taking a gamble by not having an agreement yet with Seattle, or any other organization.

"I was going to try and come to a decision on Monday. As it was related to me, I thought at that point in time the decision would be, 'OK, this or that. OK, I'm going to choose this,'" he said. "What it ended up coming down to was instead of this or that it was, 'Well, you either have this and maybe you'll have that. It's a little uncertain.' I decided I was going to deal with the uncertainty. So I came to that decision on Monday."

There were several reasons given by Schmid for his desire to move on. Among them, his family, including wife Valerie, still live in southern California.

"If things work out as I hope they do and being on the West Coast or that possibility, it's easier on my family. That had a factor in it," he said. "Certainly finances had a factor in it. The negotiations length had a factor in it, definitely.

"Also, looking at everything else and what I mean by everything else is we haven't got an agreement yet here in Columbus on a training site. In this economic climate is that going to happen now? It was definitely hard -- a hard decision. It's not easy."

There could be a hitch to Schmid being on the sideline next season because there reportedly is a non-compete clause that prohibits him from coaching any MLS team in 2009.

"I can't speak to the details of his contract," McCullers said when asked if that was the case. "The short answer to your question is, no, I don't think our intent is to block him from working. In any employment agreement where an employee has access to confidential and proprietary information there's language that protects the organization. I think that's normal."

When asked if he would be coaching in MLS next season, Schmid replied, "I would hope so but I can't really comment on that."

Still, McCullers expressed appreciation for what Schmid has done for the organization. Schmid was 34-33-5 in three seasons and missed the playoffs the first two years as he jettisoned all but three players from the previous regime.

"I have a lot of respect for Sigi and I'm sad to see him go. We've been through some tough times together. We've been through some great times together. Any time you work with somebody that closely and it's time to depart, it's difficult," McCullers said. "As far as I'm concerned we're on good terms. He did what we needed him to do here and brought some hardware to the organization along the way. I'll always look back on my working relationship with him very fondly."

Schmid said the Crew and the Hunt family will always be special because they gave him a chance after being dismissed by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2004. It was an emotional time for Schmid when the Crew won the MLS Cup with a 3-1 win against New York on Nov. 23 in Schmid's former home, The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

"As I've said all along, I thank the Hunt Sports Group and I thank the Crew organization for having the patience with me to allow it to happen," he said. "I do feel that (the Crew) is in much better shape than when I came here. The team is going to play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. We'd never been MLS champion. To win the Supporters' Shield the way we did this year; the young nucleus of players we had this year -- I believe there's a solid foundation.

"Now it's time to turn to another challenge and that's good, too, because challenges keep you motivated and keep you going."

Schmid looks forward to returning to Crew Stadium someday and visiting the Nordecke supporters section that he played such an integral part in developing this season.

"I expect when I come back to Columbus with whatever team I'm with that the fans will respect what I was able to do here but I know they're going to be out to win the game and support the Crew once the game begins," he said. "Fans are supposed to support the home team so I'd be disappointed if the fans here in Columbus didn't support the Columbus team to its full extent.

"The fans -- that's one of the hardest things for me to leave and one of the hardest things in my decision-making process. There was a bond. The scarf I wore was very special to me because it represented for me the bond to the fans and the bond to Lamar (Hunt). That's something that will always be very special to me."


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Finalists share impressive pedigree

Last year's NCAA Men's College Cup featured three clubs who had never played on men's college soccer's biggest stage. However, this year is a different story as the four participants -- Maryland, North Carolina, St. John's and Wake Forest, are no stranger to the event. Of course, three of those sides come from the Atlantic Coast Conference, with St. John's being the lone non-ACC school in attendance as the Red Storm play in the Big East. Wake Forest is the lone holdover from 2007 and the Demon Deacons return looking to repeat as NCAA champions.

Wake and UNC open the event on Friday with first kick set for 4:30 p.m. CT. St. John's and Maryland meet in the nightcap, which is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT kickoff. Here's a closer look at the four national semifinalists:

MARYLAND

Maryland (21-3-0) comes into the College Cup riding a 14-match winning streak. The second-seeded Terrapins clinched a spot in the big event by defeating Creighton 1-0, thanks to a goal by Rodney Wallace off a free kick. Wallace also had his side's first tally of the 2008 season, in a 2-1 win against UCLA at The Home Depot Center back on Aug. 29.

The Terps' top scorer throughout 2008 was junior midfielder Jeremy Hall (14 goals, 6 assists) but freshman striker Casey Townsend (11 goals, 4 assists) is another player to watch. Junior midfielder/forward Doug Rodkey led Maryland in assists with nine, while freshman midfielder Matt Kassel chipped in with seven. As a team, Maryland allowed an average of 0.75 goals per game. In goal, Zac Macmath has been a huge asset with a 17-1-0 record, 10 shutouts and a goals-against-average of 0.49 in 19 games.

This will be Maryland's 11th trip to the national semifinals in program history and fifth College Cup appearance in the last seven years. Their last trip was in 2005 when the Terps came away with the NCAA championship.

"It feels great to be back," said Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski, who has led his team to six College Cups. "I couldn't be more proud of our team right now."

Maryland has beaten St. John's, their Friday opponent, in three consecutive matches, eliminating the Red Storm from the NCAA Tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The College Cup will be a homecoming for two Maryland players who are from the Dallas area. Freshman midfielder Kaoru Forbess, who played in 11 games as a reserve, is from Garland while defender/midfielder Omar Gonzalez (five goals, one assist) is a Dallas native who has trained with FC Dallas in the past.

NORTH CAROLINA

The Tar Heels' last trip to the Men's College Cup was in 2001, when they won the NCAA title. This is their third appearance in the in program history and UNC (14-7-1) heads into the event riding a three-match winning streak. Carolina advanced to Frisco by beating a pesky Northwestern squad 1-0 in the national quarterfinals. Freshman midfielder Kirk Urso had the lone goal of the game for the Heels, who were a No. 13 seed when he scored in the 61st minute.

"It's like a dream right now," Urso said after the win. "We've worked so hard. Our team, we knew we had the potential the whole year. For this to be happening at this time, it's just amazing. It's just a dream."

Offensively, the Heels were led by senior striker Brian Shriver (13 goals, five assists), junior forward Eddie Ababio (seven goals, four assists) and freshman midfielder/forward Billy Schuler (four goals, five assists). UNC allowed 1.27 goals per game and should be set between the posts with senior starter Jacob Wescoe (10-5-1, 3 shutouts, 1.27 goals-against-average) although backup Brooks Hagerty (4-2-0, 2 shutouts, 1.22 goals-against-average in seven games) is also a solid option for UNC.

Carolina, a No. 13 seed, will be facing a familiar foe in Wake Forest. On Nov. 1, the Tar Heels, who at the time were ranked No. 7 in the nation, lost 4-2 to the top-ranked Demon Deacons, but the final score was a bit deceiving. UNC had a 2-1 lead before Wake exploded for three goals in a six-minute span in the second half to break the game open.

Wake has beaten UNC three consecutive times and the Tar Heels haven't defeated the Demon Deacons since a 1-0 win during the 2005 regular season. Carolina has a pair of players with ties to the Dallas area. Sophomore defender David Rodriguez, who has played in 11 games in 2008, is from Big D along with sophomore midfielder Cameron Brown (three goals, five assists), who calls nearby Garland home.

ST. JOHN'S

This will be the Red Storm's fourth trip to the College Cup but first since 2003. With a 19-2-3 record, this year's team has the most wins since the 1996 team won a school-record 22 matches and the NCAA title. St. John's, a No. 3 seed, which punched their ticket with a 2-1 overtime win against Indiana, has won four in a row.

Maryland, their College Cup opponent, has eliminated the Red Storm from the NCAA Tournament three years running. The sides last met on Nov. 15, 2006 with the Terrapins prevailing 2-0.

"(They are) a fantastic team, a great program with unbelievably talented players," said St. John's head coach Dr. Dave Masur. "Collectively, they play very hard and together."

The St. John's offense is led by Big East Midfielder of the Year Nelson Becerra (eight goals, seven assists), who converted the game-winning penalty kick over Indiana. It was the junior's fifth game-winner of the year and he is a perfect 3-for-3 on penalty kicks. Sophomore midfielder Tafadzwa Chiduku (seven goals, one assist) is another threat along with Sverre Wegge Gundhus (four goals, five assists) and Walter Hines (one goal, five assists). In the back, the Red Storm is led by Joel Gustafsson, the Big East Defender of the Year. He is the anchor of a unit that allowed just 0.50 goals per game this year, making St. John's the toughest team in the nation to score on. In goal, redshirt senior Neal Kitson has been a rock, keeping 15 clean sheets in 23 games while amassing a 19-2-2 record and a goals-against-average of just 0.47.

Two players for the Red Storm are from the Dallas area. Redshirt junior defender Ben Clack, who started 24 games this year, hails from Duncanville while sophomore midfielder Ale Ivo, who came off the bench in the win against the Hoosiers, is from Fort Worth. "It's really an awesome feeling to know I can go back and see my host family and friends," Ivo said. "Everyone is going to be there. I went to high school there. I played club there. It's like my second home."

WAKE FOREST

The Demon Deacons (21-1-1) delivered the most decisive win to reach their third consecutive College Cup with a 5-0 blanking of South Florida, where five different players found the back of the net for the defending NCAA champions, who have now won three straight. Wake's only loss of the season came on Nov. 14 when Virginia beat them 3-2 in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, a setback that came in double overtime.

"I'm very excited for my team," Wake Forest head coach Jay Vidovich said after the win against South Florida. "We had a tremendous start to the match. I'm tremendously happy with how we played and defended right from the beginning. Our guys did a fantastic job the entire game."

Top-seeded Wake heads into their national semifinal match with ACC rival North Carolina having allowed just 0.70 goals per game all year. The Demon Deacons are led by junior midfielder Cody Arnoux (17 goals, eight assists) and senior striker Marcus Tracy (13 goals, 10 assists), who is considered a top prospect for next month's MLS SuperDraft.

Other key contributors to the potent WFU attack, which has averaged 3.5 goals per game this year, include sophomore midfielder Corben Bone (seven goals, 17 assists), a Dallas native, junior forward/midfielder Zack Schilanski (11 goals, five assists), senior midfielder Sam Cronin (10 goals, four assists) and senior midfielder Jamie Franks (three goals, 11 assists). In goal, Wake has junior Akira Fitzgerald (20-1-1, 13 shutouts, 0.61 goals-against-average).

WFU and UNC have already faced each other once in 2008. On Nov. 1, the Demon Deacons went into Chapel Hill and found themselves trailing 2-1 before exploding for three goals within a six-minute span to hand the Tar Heels a 4-2 loss. The last team to repeat as NCAA champions was Indiana, who accomplished the back-to-back feat in 2003 and 2004.


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Dynamo defined by perseverance

HOUSTON -- He was only kidding, but veteran defender Craig Waibel said the one thing the 2008 Houston Dynamo will be remembered for is that they were the first Houston team not to win a championship.

Despite the deadpan answer, he was correct.

In their first two seasons after moving to Houston from San Jose, the Dynamo notched second-place regular season finishes in the Western Conference, breezed through the playoffs and won the MLS Cup at Pizza Hut Park (2006) and at RFK Stadium (2007).

But this year, even though the team closed out the year with a 1-0 win against El Salvador's Luis Angel Firpo to advance to the semifinal round of the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, the Dynamo fizzled out during the postseason.

A 3-0 loss to eventual MLS runner-up New York on Nov. 9 was the final, crushing blow for a team that expected to, yet again, be the final MLS club standing at The Home Depot Center in late November.

"We played 48 games this year, which I think is 15 more games than anyone else in MLS," said head coach Dominic Kinnear. "That is almost a good five months' worth of soccer right there, and it's been good for us.

"We have seen the emergence of some young players and we have seen the consistent play of the players that have been here for a long time."

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Check out the best of 2008

Brian Ching once again led the team with 13 goals and five assists. Dwayne De Rosario added seven more goals and four assists, and Nate Jaqua was signed mid-year to provide depth up front.

In his 14 games, including 11 starts, Jaqua chipped in with four big goals, four assists and more scoring chances per game than perhaps anyone else in the league.

Pat Onstad, whose statistics while playing in MLS are better than anyone else to have played goalkeeper, again led the league in goals against average (1.03).

Those kinds of numbers got the Dynamo to the top of the league standings, despite their participation in the preseason Pan-Pacific Championship in Hawaii, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, one match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, SuperLiga, MLS regular season play and, most recently, the CONCACAF Champions League.

Defender Eddie Robinson looked past the playoffs defeat to New York when asked about what the 2008 Orange would be remembered for. Instead, he looked at the entire body of work and at a schedule that would have most professional soccer players quivering at the thought of playing nearly 50 matches in eight months.

"To play as many games as we did all summer long and to still come away with as many points as we did, especially in league play, it's just incredible," said Robinson. "Coming down the stretch, I don't know how many games we went there without losing one. We were good, and I just think our attitude, for the last two and half months that felt like four, is something everyone should be proud of."

From July 29, their first match after the All-Star break, until a 3-0 loss to Pumas UNAM in the CONCACAF Champions League, the Dynamo played 16 games and lost just one time. They went an incredible 9-1-6 that included a stretch where two home matches had to be postponed because of Hurricane Ike's destruction in and around the Houston area in mid-September.

"What was the highlight of our season," Robinson asked. "Our perseverance."

There were many high points for the Dynamo in 2008, but, to be fair, the team had several blemishes that only makes their season story more interesting.

First there was the disappointment of Argentinean signing Franco Caraccio. He might have scored the team's first goal of the year in a 3-3 tie vs. FC Dallas on April 6 and added another goal and assist in 10 games (8 starts). But he struggled to gain the fitness he needed to compete for a full 90 minutes and he was eventually released.

On July 1, the team traveled to Charleston for their first match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. After tying the game late, the Dynamo eventually lost in penalty kicks to their USL First Division rivals.

Then after their most exciting win of the season, a 2-0 win against Pachuca, a team that has quickly become their biggest international rival, the Dynamo traveled to New England and lost on penalty kicks in the SuperLiga final.

"Overall, it is a disappointing season when we don't reach the goals that we set forth as a team," said Onstad. "This team's aim is to win trophies, and unfortunately we did not do that this year."

Ching echoed that sentiment.

"Obviously this team has higher expectations than most, so it is a disappointment when we get close in SuperLiga and lose," he said. "It's even more disappointing when we positioned ourselves well for the playoffs and lose. It is just frustrating."

Waibel has some decisions to make. Despite being one of the go-to veterans for his three seasons in an Orange uniform, he and his wife had a deal that after his 10th professional season, he'd confer with her about returning for more.

Waibel had three assists this year in 14 games after scoring a career-high five goals in 2006. He played nine of his 10 pro years in MLS, and six of those were spent with the Dynamo and the San Jose unit that moved from California in 2005.

Waibel might make a good coach one day, but he's not saying exactly what his plans are just yet. Like many of his long-time teammates, he thinks the team can take more good than bad from this season because of the number of games they played and how much high-profile time many of the reserves got to see on the field.

"You have to look at the number of games we played this year, and to only lose nine of them, that is not bad," Waibel said. "Because of all the games, and all the experience we got off the bench this year, all of that really made us the deepest team in this league. That only happens because of all the games we played. The experience gained by Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron and Corey Ashe, all the time they got on the field made them legitimate contenders for starting positions.

"The greatest thing to take away from this season, on top of the results, is that we are still one of the best teams in this league and we have a bench that is as deep as any."

After their loss to the New York Red Bulls in the Western Conference Semifinal Series, Ching mentioned that he thought there would be some big changes with the team, but failed to elaborate when pushed. Kinnear sidestepped the question and said the team next year would be fine.

Waibel acknowledged the possibility of a shakeup, but didn't dwell on the potential breakup in chemistry the team has relied upon since Day 1.

"If the next best thing comes along, someone is going to move out," Waibel said. "We'll wait and see if the next best thing comes along. That is all you can do. But I don't think anyone on this roster is banging down the door trying to get out of here.

"I think everyone that has been here and left is banging on the door trying to get back in."

As for goals in 2009 for whatever players might don the Orange and White next year, that's easy.

"The season is over," Kinnear said. "But our goal for next year is set already, and that is to win MLS Cup 2009."


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College Cup memories for Hoops trio

FRISCO, Texas -- When Pizza Hut Park plays host to the 2008 NCAA Men's College Cup this weekend, the event will conjure up images of their own experiences on college soccer's biggest stage for three current members of FC Dallas -- midfielder Eric Avila, defender Michael Dello-Russo and defender Drew Moor.

Avila, who is currently with the Generation adidas team on their trip to England, just completed a rookie campaign where he played in 14 games and had two assists. The southern California native played in the 2006 College Cup with California-Santa Barbara, scoring the national championship-winning goal as the Gauchos beat UCLA 2-1 in the NCAA title game.

It's an experience he still remembers well. "I think it was an experience I will never forget," Avila said. "My whole time in my college career, I just wanted to make the Final Four. That's basically what my goal was. The experience of being in there and having all the coaches around you was great."

Dello-Russo played in eight games for FCD this year. But before he was a fourth-round pick of the Hoops in the 2006 SuperDraft, he played at Maryland. He played in the College Cup in each of his four seasons, and was named to the 2005 All-College Cup team as a senior on the last Terrapins team to win a national championship.

"It was awesome," he said. "It was probably the best soccer experience of my life. We were lucky enough to go to three before that but that one was definitely awesome because it was my senior year and everything was on the line. We loved each other and played for each other. It was great to be there."

And the 25-year-old knows how fortunate he was to have been to the event every year.

"Extremely lucky, it's all based on Maryland," Dello-Russo said. "The coaching staff has done an amazing job there. That is probably the most elite program in the country right now. Just to be part of it and of the growing of that program is unbelievable and unforgettable.",p> Just after the conclusion of the 2008 season, Moor was rewarded with a multiple-year contract extension that will keep him in hoops for years to come after a season where he started 27 games, scored two goals and assisted on another. But before he was the sixth overall pick in the 2005 draft, he spent time at Indiana and played for the Hoosiers' championship teams in both 2003 and 2004.

"Obviously it was a great experience," he said. "I was fortunate to go to two College Cups actually and being able to win two national championships was great. The one thing that was really cool about the first one was that it was Coach (Jerry) Yeagley's last year there, which was obviously special. Then the next year was Coach (Mike) Freitag's first year there. It was just a good year to be at Indiana and such a great team. A lot of those players are in MLS now. I bet half that roster is in MLS now, so it was a special time."

Being a Dallas native, even though IU didn't advance to the final four, falling to St. John's in the quarterfinals, he still plans to be in attendance.

"I'm definitely looking forward to it," Moor said. "It's definitely a cool thing that Pizza Hut Park is able to host it. It will be fun to go out and watch the games."

Also worth noting is that FCD defender Aaron Pitchkolan has also experience playing for an NCAA title. When he was a freshman at Tampa in 2001, Pitchkolan was part of a team that won the NCAA Division II national championship. Pitchkolan just completed a solid year where he played in 21 games, 15 of those starts and scored for the first time since 2006.


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Philadelphia stadium breaks ground

CHESTER, Pa. -- The long-awaited stadium groundbreaking finally came to fruition. Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber joined Keystone Sports and Entertainment, LLC CEO and operating partner Nick Sakiewicz along with local and state officials to officially break ground on the 18,500-seat stadium for Philadelphia's MLS club.

The stadium site will be constructed at the foot of the Commodore Barry Bridge, just 13 miles from downtown Philadelphia. The multi-purpose stadium will feature an 11,000-square-foot club, 30 suites, a built-in concert stage for world-class music shows and a special 2,000-seat zone for the Sons of Ben supporters club when the Philadelphia team begins play in 2010. The new structure will also have a waterfront park and plaza used not only stadium entry, but also for city sponsored events such as festivals.

"The groundbreaking of this new, first-class soccer stadium -- the eighth such stadium in Major League Soccer -- is a historic moment for the city of Chester and soccer fans in the United States," Garber said. "Philadelphia is one of the most passionate sports markets in the country and we are excited that they will be joining the league in 2010."

This stadium is the centerpiece of a $500 million entertainment, retail, residential and commercial development covering more than 100 acres along the historic Delaware River waterfront. Because of the addition of the stadium, an estimated 700 jobs will be created. An additional 1,900 jobs will also be created for the entire plan, creating about 2,600 new jobs combined.

"I can't express how truly honored we are to have such passionate and dedicated fans who come out to support us, even before we have a stadium," Sakiewicz said. "But as passionate as they are, we are equally passionate about this game, about this team and about this community. The stadium is the linchpin for this redevelopment project which will serve as an economic stimulus in these uncertain times to revitalize the city of Chester and the region. That is why we already have invested over $10 million into the stadium site in advance of other local and state dollars."

After the groundbreaking, Garber was asked about the significance of this event. It only took him a second to answer.

"This is one of the great historical moments for the sport nationally and locally for the Philadelphia region," Garber said. "This is such a passionate soccer market. They have a terrific ownership and stadium plan in place and we applaud their entire group. It's all good around here."

Officials, team supporters and area residents also attended this monumental announcement. As usual, the Sons of Ben were as passionate as ever.

This passion extends through every party involved with the stadium project.

"This is a great day for the city of Chester, for Delaware County, and for the entire region," said Pennsylvania Sen. Dominic Pileggi. "It marks another step in the transformation of the Delaware River waterfront from an industrial zone to a residential area with entertainment facilities. A lot of work was done by a lot of people to reach this point, and I am proud to play a role in the effort."

Chester Mayor Wendell Butler might have been the proudest person of all.

"I said it before and I'll keep saying it in that you need to pinch me," Butler said. "I need to know it's still real. I know it's real because I'm here, but here in Chester ... whew, I'm just overwhelmed. This is incredible, beyond any of my wildest dreams. To see Chester benefit from all this just makes my heart warm. I'm going to bed tonight so happy. When I wake up in the morning, you'll probably have to pinch me again."

No need to do that. The project is real.

"We've been working on this behind the scenes for so long," Sakiewicz said. "We're ecstatic to get this process going. The city of Chester wanted us and it's great to be wanted. We're so happy to be here for this stadium groundbreaking."


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ACC shines as College Cup takes shape

The debate over which conference is the best in college soccer was resolved on Saturday when the Atlantic Coast Conference flexed its muscles and sent three teams to next weekend's NCAA College Cup.

Top-seeded Wake Forest, second-seeded Maryland and No. 13 North Carolina will join No. 3 St. John's out of the Big East at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.

A week after a 7-0 drubbing of Dartmouth, Wake Forest (21-1-1) again had an awesome offensive outburst, beating fifth-seeded South Florida, 5-0 on Saturday night at Spry Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C. The Demon Deacons put the game away early, leading 4-0 before the half-hour mark.

Wake is the 12th team in history to advance to three consecutive College Cups, the first since Maryland went there four times from 2002-05.

Cody Arnoux set up three goals, including the first by Jamie Franks in the 15th minute. A little more than a minute later, Sam Cronin capitalized on a USF turnover to score his 10th goal of the year.

Lyle Adams finished an Arnoux cross in the 21st minute and eight minutes later Corben Bone picked up his 17th assist of the season when Marcus Tracy knocked in his cross to give Wake a comfortable halftime cushion.

The hosts added a fifth goal in the 61st minute when Zack Schilawski collected an Arnoux cross and put his shot off Bulls goalkeeper Jeff Attinella to cap the dominant performance.

"I'm very excited for my team," Wake Forest coach Jay Vidovich said. "We had a tremendous start to the match. Jamie got us off to a great start with his goal and then Sam had a great response goal a minute later and set the tone for everything. I'm tremendously happy with how we played and defended right from the beginning."

Wake will meet ACC rival North Carolina in the first semifinal Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Tar Heels defeated Northwestern 1-0 at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C. Saturday afternoon to advance to the College Cup for the third time in program history and first time since winning the national championship in 2001.

"It was exactly the game we expected and the opponent we knew we would get, tough defensively and very strong," North Carolina coach Elmar Bolowich said after the game. "They didn't give us anything and didn't make any mistakes. We had a hard time again getting the rhythm going. In the second half we regrouped, our attacking strategy paid off, and we had more looks at the goal. We felt like we needed one goal to break the ice and we got it."

Freshman midfielder Kirk Urso scored the game-winning goal for UNC (14-7-1) in the 61st minute, volleying a loose ball from 15 yards out past Northwestern 'keeper Misha Rosenthal and into the right corner of the net.

"It's always about fighting to find the right spot and being in the right spot at the right time and lucky enough it took a good bounce for me," said Urso, a native of Chicago suburb Lombard, Ill. "(Billy) Schuler, my roommate, let it go, and I was right there and buried it and it went in. It's like a dream right now."

Maryland heads to the College Cup for the fifth time in seven seasons and first time since winning the national title in 2005. The Terps defeated Creighton 1-0 at Ludwig Field in College Park, Md. Saturday afternoon.

"It feels great to be back," said Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski, whose team improved to 21-3-0. "I couldn't be more proud of our team right now. I thought we played a Creighton team that was as competitive as they come. We knew this was going to be a real combative game and a real high energy game."

Rodney Wallace scored the game's lone goal in the 24th minute when the sophomore left back headed in Michael Marchiano's free kick for his third goal of the year. It was only the 10th goal conceded this year by Creighton, which had a 15-match unbeaten streak snapped.

Maryland will meet third-seeded St. John's, which defeated No. 6 Indiana, 3-2 in overtime after erasing a two-goal deficit in the final eight minutes of the second half Saturday night at Belson Stadium in Jamaica, N.Y.

"It's just an unbelievable victory for all the guys on the team," Red Storm coach Dave Masur said. "I'm very proud of them."

Thanks to Nelson Becerra's penalty kick five minutes into overtime, St. John's (19-2-3) advanced to the College Cup for the fourth time in program history and first time since losing in the 2003 national championship game to the Hoosiers. The Red Storm won the title in 1996.

Becerra's penalty kick came after a sequence that saw Ryan Soroka's shot stopped by Indiana goalkeeper Chay Cain, who made an acrobatic save. The rebound bounced to freshman Walter Hines, who shot at the open net only to have Indiana defender Ofari Sarkodie desperately handle the ball on the line.

Referee Alex Prus pointed to the spot and sent off Sarkodie, who had put Indiana (14-7-3) in front with his first goal of the season in the 36th minute.

Becerra pushed his left-footed spot kick to the right of Cain, sparking a wild celebration and capping a remarkable comeback.

"Before I scored I was real nervous, but it goes away right before you hit it," said Becerra, who struck for his team-leading eighth goal of the year. "It goes away and like Coach said, I always like to step up and take the PK. I feel like I was ready to take it. I feel like I'm always ready. That's why I practice every day."

Eric Alexander gave the visitors a two-goal lead in the 72nd minute and it looked like Indiana would advance to the College Cup for the 18th time in program history. But Swedish defender Joel Gustafsson, who was pushed up front in the final 10 minutes of the second half, knocked in a Becerra cross in the 82nd minute.

With 2:03 remaining in the second half, the Red Storm equalized when Norwegian forward Sverre Wegge Gundhus tapped in Hines' deflected cross and scored his third NCAA tournament goal and fourth of the season.

"I'm proud of my guys. I feel sorry for them, I'm saddened for them, but that's the way it goes," Indiana coach Mike Freitag said. "(St. John's) obviously showed they have the character of a champion the way they came back tonight."


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Aguirre Comfortable Despite Criticism
Fire have few regrets in wake of loss
Rolfe leads inspired Fire effort

Lewis: Right team emerged with Cup

CARSON, Calif. -- It's not much of a secret of what makes the Columbus Crew the best team in Major League Soccer.

Take a crafty veteran coach in Sigi Schmid. Add a clever playmaker in Guillermo Barros Scheletto and mix it with an up-and-coming defender in Chad Marshall, a wise right fullback and team captain Frankie Hejduk and a talented supporting cast that can do a little damage itself.

Sometimes the best teams don't win. For example, the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo could not get out of the first round of the playoffs against the New York Red Bulls.

On Sunday, the best and deserving team held the Philip F. Anschutz trophy high at The Home Depot Center as the MLS champions. After 12 long seasons of getting disappointed in the Eastern Conference semifinals and most recently as a non-playoff side, the Crew finally took a victory lap for the last game of the MLS season. Actually, it was a partial lap, as they took the new 43-lb. trophy to celebrate in front of their faithful.

NEWSMLS Cup recap
• Crew capture first MLS Cup
• MLS Cup Notes: Crew win Cup
• Schelotto named MLS Cup MVP
• Hejduk adjusts style in MLS Cup
• Lewis: Right team took Cup
• Davis: Tactics trumped by talent
• Wolyniec rewards Osorio's faith
• Red Bulls waste strong first half
• Cup win sweet for Crew's Moreno
• Red Bulls can't dodge final dagger
• Crew win Cup with team effort
• Crew notebook: Trio hope to return
• Red Bulls notebook: Still proud
MLS Cup Sights & Sounds

Highlights: CLB 3, NY 1

ExtraTime: MLS Cup Final

Crew top Red Bulls, 3-1

Crew celebrate MLS Cup win

Crew locker room celebration

MLS Cup trophy ceremony

Schelotto postgame interview

Crew players react

Crew press conference

Red Bulls press conference

One-Touch spotlight: Angel

One-Touch spotlight: Schelotto

Hejduk's late clincher

Marshall's game-winner

Wolyniec's equalizer

Moreno puts Crew on top
Nov. 22 headlines
• Tactical surprises unlikely
• NY native Gaven still growing
• Sidelined Stammler supportive
Nov. 21 headlines
• Carroll is Crew's unsung hero
• Goldthwaite stabilizes Red Bulls
• Crew expect strong support
Nov. 20 headlines
• Backline is Crew's backbone
• Angel key to Red Bulls' success
• LA weather sweet as Crew train
SIGHTS & SOUNDS

State of the League Address

Extra Time: Red Bulls preview

Extra Time: Crew preview

Crew arrive in Los Angeles

Crew practice Thursday

Red Bulls talk Cup

Crew talk beards, MLS Cup

The Crew led the way from start to finish over an eight-month span, kicking off the season with a 2-0 win against Toronto FC on March 29 and completing it with the best way possible -- a victory in the MLS Cup Final, a solid 3-1 triumph against the Red Bulls.

Columbus became the first Supporters' Shield winner to win the MLS Cup since the 2002 Los Angeles Galaxy accomplished the feat. The coach of that Galaxy side? One Sigi Schmid.

It certainly was no coincidence that the Crew did as well as they did this season.

"We found different ways to win at various times throughout the season, individual play through this guy next to me," said Schmid, referring to Schelotto. "Guillermo Barros Schelotto was tremendous. And other individuals stepping up at times was excellent as well."

On Friday, Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Angel said the game would decided by mistakes.

As it turned out, he was right. The Crew made a minimal amount.

Schelotto, who plays somewhere between midfield and forward and sometimes in a league of his own, made the Red Bulls pay dearly for theirs.

In fact, each of his assists came through a different way.

His first, which set up Alejandro Moreno's goal in the 31st minute, picking up a loose ball that Red Bulls midfielder Dave van den Bergh thought was out of bounds. Schelotto fed Moreno down the right side.

"He does what needs to do," Schmid said. "And he has great instincts. He stole a ball that was going out of bounds. He's got the presence and vision to know where Alejandro was and to react and play very quickly. And it's those decisive moments that turn games and decide games."

The second goal came off a corner kick as Marshall, the defender of the year, nailed it from six yards past goalkeeper Danny Cepero in the 53rd minute, only two minutes after John Wolyniec equalized. It turned into a boost for the Crew and a backbreaker for the Red Bulls.

"Give credit to Schelotto," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "I believe he is the most effective player in the league on set plays."

"That kind of put a dagger into us for about 15-20 minutes," Red Bulls midfielder Dave Van den Bergh of the quick goal.

To top off a magnificent afternoon, Schelotto demonstrated that sometimes you don't have to put too much mustard on the ball by chipping it to Hejduk, who headed home the insurance goal in the 82nd minute.

Quite fittingly, he added the MLS Cup MVP award to his burgeoning award collection, which also includes the regular season MVP.

As for the Red Bulls, it was a great run while it lasted. They played hard, especially in the first half. They dominated play, but Columbus walked into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.

"I'm really proud of what we achieved this year," team captain and striker Juan Pablo Angel said. "If anyone told us at the end of the season, after the problems that we had, that we would be in the final, I would sign right away. That doesn't mean I'm happy because we lost the final. I'm devastated because although we were playing against the best team this year we felt could get a better result today."

Winning the cup in the stadium where he had guided the Galaxy certainly was vindication for Schmid, whom many felt he was unjustly dismissed as coach even with the team in first place in the Western Conference in August 2004.

"It's a very emotional moment for me winning the game here in L.A. in front of family and friends," Schmid said. "And to be honest, in a town that I was fired in. So it meant an awful lot."

Schmid proved that you can go home again in triumph -- and with the best professional soccer team in the United States. There's no doubt about that.


Real Madrid To Sign Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Agoos, Williams lend Red Bulls perspective

Injuries derail Chivas USA's Cup quest

CARSON, Calif. -- After polishing off their finest season in club history with the 2007 Western Conference regular season title, Chivas USA had high hopes entering 2008.

Even before the preseason started, however, ominous signs that foreshadowed the season to follow began to surface. Injuries, player movement and international duty proved rough challenges for Chivas USA in the months leading up to the start of the Red-and-White's fourth season, and things only grew from bad to worse.

Statistically, Chivas USA had a solid campaign. The club finished in second place in the Western Conference standings on the strength of an impressive late summer/early fall surge. Chivas USA reeled off six wins in a span of seven games and seemed to have positioned themselves well despite all the prior adversity.

But ultimately, the injury situation was far too much to overcome.

"It was just a tough year for us," Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch said. "You always felt like your backs against the wall and couldn't ever really get yourself into the rhythm where now you felt like you were making a real push to be one of the better teams in the league. It's unfortunate."

COLORADO RAPIDS • Rapids face long wait 'til next year
• Five big questions for Colorado
• Rapids '08 tix

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• Five big questions for D.C. United
• United '09 tix

| • United gear

FC DALLAS • Talented Hoops hope to mature in '09
• Five big questions for FC Dallas
• FC Dallas '09 tix

| • FCD gear

KANSAS CITY WIZARDS • Once down, Wizards rose to task
• Five big questions for the Wizards
• Wizards '09 tix

| • KC gear

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION • Revs' 2008 a tale of two halves
• Five big questions for New England
• Buy Revolution gear

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES • Strong '08 provides a foundation
• Five big questions for San Jose
• SJ '09 tix

| • SJ gear

TORONTO FC • Positive 2008 lends TFC bright future
• Five big questions for Toronto FC
• Buy Toronto FC gear

SIGHTS & SOUNDS

Check out the best of 2008

The club could have equipped the sidelines with turnstiles to accommodate the mass number of bodies coach Preki threw into the starting lineup. In 32 MLS games -- including two playoff contests -- Chivas USA used 30 different lineups. All told, 31 different players earned starts for the club this season and only four players logged more than 2,000 minutes.

The only stable thing about Chivas USA's 2008 season was its instability and penchant for receiving key injuries at inopportune times. Among the many injuries, though, some stood out:

• Maykel Galindo led Chivas USA with 13 goals in 2007 and added pace to the attack, an element that was missing during 2008. Galindo was limited to one goal in five starts and 10 total appearances for the season. By his account, he was never at 100 percent.

• Raphael Wicky had spent his entire career in Europe and was a key player for the Swiss national team as well. A World Cup and European Championship veteran, Wicky made all of one start and played just five games.

• Lawson Vaughn enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2007 when he started 22 of 24 games, became a fixture on the right side and earned an invite to a U.S. national team training camp. Ankle surgery prevented Vaughn from accepting the invitation but limited him in the preseason as well. All told, facial, knee and ankle injuries limited Vaughn to seven games.

• Alecko Eskandarian was supposed to boost the offense but a groin injury kept the former MLS Cup Most Valuable Player from participating much for the first five months of the season. Eskandarian showed his value with four goals down the stretch but succumbed to injury late in the campaign and was able to play just one half of the club's playoff series.

"We felt like we were going uphill this year, just pushing," forward Ante Razov said. "Whenever it seemed like we had some momentum, a couple guys would break down and then all of a sudden you're fighting it and you fight it all year."

Injuries also reared their ugly head in the postseason. Late-season acquisition Sasha Victorine proved a vital player in his limited time but went down with a sprained knee in the penultimate match of the regular season. Along with Victorine, defender Claudio Suarez, midfielder Atiba Harris and Eskandarian were among the players who saw limited or no time during the postseason. All four players played key roles at one point or another in the club's late-season surge.

Still, injuries can strike any club at any time, and the club had been prepared to expect the unexpected all season long.

"What are you going to do? You can't sit and cry. It happened all year and happened in the postseason," Preki said. "But the guys who played really gave everything. We gave everything we had."

The club went out in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive season, but unlike their 2007 exit, Chivas USA scored a pair of goals in their home leg against Real Salt Lake. And while it was not enough, it was a reflection of their effort and determination.

"We went down swinging. We threw it all out there and gave us their best shot," Razov said. "We should still be proud of what we accomplished in an unbelievably difficult year."


Marchena Set For First Start Of The Season
Agoos, Williams lend Red Bulls perspective
Jiménez: Players Gave Their All
Goldthwaite gives Red Bulls stability

Red Bulls bring Petke back into fold

The New York Red Bulls replaced one beloved longtime central defender with another on Wednesday, signing Mike Petke hours after losing Jeff Parke in the Seattle Sounders FC expansion draft.

Petke, 32, was picked up by the Red Bulls after he was waived by the Colorado Rapids. Petke played in 143 games for the MetroStars from 1998-2002, earning MLS All-Star honors in 2000 and 2002. Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio was an assistant coach under Octavio Zambrano in 2000 and 2001.

The Bohemia, N.Y. native, who was originally picked eighth overall by New York in the 1998 College Draft, was dealt to D.C. United in a blockbuster deal that brought U.S. international Eddie Pope, Jaime Moreno and Richie Williams to New York.

Petke spent three seasons with D.C. United and was a starter on the 2004 MLS Cup championship squad. He moved to Colorado midway through the 2005 season and spent parts of four seasons there.

Petke started 10 of 11 games this year after early-season foot surgery, scoring two goals, including one against the Red Bulls in a 5-4 Rapids win on Sept. 27 at Giants Stadium.

Parke was one of 10 players selected by the Sounders on Wednesday. He was one of 19 players left unprotected by the Red Bulls.

"It's obviously a sad day for the New York Red Bulls in losing Jeff Parke," Red Bulls sporting director Jeff Parke said. "At the end of the day we just weren't able to protect every player we would have liked to protect. Unfortunately Jeff was selected, but we thank Jeff for his contributions to the club and his long history here in New York. We will obviously miss him both personally and professionally."

Along with Dave van den Bergh, Parke was arguably the most consistent Red Bulls player this year. He anchored the backline, starting 23 of 24 games, playing 2,025 minutes. The 26-year-old spent five years with the Red Bulls, starting 126 of the 132 games he's played in and was second behind Petke on the team's all-time list of games played.

The last pick of the 2004 MLS SuperDraft, Parke's Red Bulls career ended with the first-ever performance-enhanced drug suspension in league history. Along with goalkeeper Jon Conway, Parke still has four games remaining on 10-game suspensions handed down by the league.

"It just came down to a numbers game," Agoos said. "We were only able to protect 11 players, I think three of which had to be international players, and we just didn't have the room to protect every player we wanted to."

Continuing with the defensive restructuring, the Red Bulls waived Venezuelan international Gabriel Cichero, who struggled mightily down the stretch of the regular season, as well as midfielder Gordon Kljestan and forward Sainey Touray.


Red Bulls turn page quickly after Cup loss
Jiménez: Players Gave Their All
Deportivo Boss Lotina: We Were Too Soft
Sounders bolster defense through draft

Red Bulls look to break franchise 'curse'

CARSON, Calif. -- As time was running out in the MetroStars' first-ever match, in front of 46,826 curious souls at Giants Stadium against the New England Revolution on April 20, 1996, the visitors tried one more foray toward the opposing goal.

World Cup and U.S. international goalkeeper Tony Meola saved a shot. A MetroStars defender, Italian Nicola Caricola, facing the net and Meola, tried to clear the ball out of harm's way. Instead, he placed the shot past a stunned Meola with 11 seconds remaining.

NEWSMLS Cup recap
• Crew capture first MLS Cup
• MLS Cup Notes: Crew win Cup
• Schelotto named MLS Cup MVP
• Hejduk adjusts style in MLS Cup
• Lewis: Right team took Cup
• Davis: Tactics trumped by talent
• Wolyniec rewards Osorio's faith
• Red Bulls waste strong first half
• Cup win sweet for Crew's Moreno
• Red Bulls can't dodge final dagger
• Crew win Cup with team effort
• Crew notebook: Trio hope to return
• Red Bulls notebook: Still proud
MLS Cup Sights & Sounds

Highlights: CLB 3, NY 1

ExtraTime: MLS Cup Final

Crew top Red Bulls, 3-1

Crew celebrate MLS Cup win

Crew locker room celebration

MLS Cup trophy ceremony

Schelotto postgame interview

Crew players react

Crew press conference

Red Bulls press conference

One-Touch spotlight: Angel

One-Touch spotlight: Schelotto

Hejduk's late clincher

Marshall's game-winner

Wolyniec's equalizer

Moreno puts Crew on top
Nov. 22 headlines
• Tactical surprises unlikely
• NY native Gaven still growing
• Sidelined Stammler supportive
Nov. 21 headlines
• Carroll is Crew's unsung hero
• Goldthwaite stabilizes Red Bulls
• Crew expect strong support
Nov. 20 headlines
• Backline is Crew's backbone
• Angel key to Red Bulls' success
• LA weather sweet as Crew train
SIGHTS & SOUNDS

State of the League Address

Extra Time: Red Bulls preview

Extra Time: Crew preview

Crew arrive in Los Angeles

Crew practice Thursday

Red Bulls talk Cup

Crew talk beards, MLS Cup

With this new league, Major League Soccer, using a running clock and no injury or stoppage time, the 11 seconds quickly counted down. The Revs had won and the MetroStars had lost.

And so it began.

Thirteen regular-season seasons of frustration. 13 seasons of futility. 13 seasons of angst.

Some supporters, former and present call it the curse of Nicola Caricola.

Some fans claim the club was just plain cursed.

Some people have just cursed at the bad luck and performances.

But like the miracle New York Mets of 1969, that can be erased with one more victory. The Columbus Crew, the best team during the regular season -- just take a look at the Supporters' Shield the club won -- stands in the club's way of MLS glory, history and mythology at MLS Cup 2008.

If the team, now called the Red Bulls, defeats the Crew and takes a rather improbable victory lap around the Home Depot Center at around 6 p.m. ET, it certainly won't erase all that history. But a win certainly would make more than a dozen years of misery and waiting all worthwhile.

Curse or not, the club was on the wrong track in 1996. By Memorial Day, the coach, Eddie Firmani, yes, the same Eddie Firmani who directed the legendary New York Cosmos to a few North American Soccer League titles during the heyday of Pele, Giorgio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer, was gone, starting an unwanted trend and tradition.

Carlos Queiroz, the former Portuguese national coach, was brought in to salvage the season. He did well. But after D.C. United, the eventual champion, eliminated the MetroStars from the quarterfinals of the playoffs, Queiroz left after being lured by the millions of Nagoya Grampus Eight in the J-League (Japan).

And so it went.

Like it or not, the Red Bulls became the laughingstock of the league. The so-called flagship of the league woefully underachieved and became a non-factor for many seasons.

Oh, they had their moments. The 2000 team guided by Octavio Zambrano was one of the most entertaining sides in league history with the likes of a lethal Clint Mathis in his prime (a record five goals against the Dallas Burn), former Colombian World Cup Adolfo Valencia, a U.S. standout such as Tab Ramos and a defense that rarely took prisoners.

But more often than not, there was underachieving and frustration under the direction of some of the most famous coaches in the United States (U.S. national team coaches Bob Bradley and Bruce Arena) and the world (Carlos Alberto Parreira, who guided Brazil to the 1994 World Cup crown and Bora Milutinovic, who coached five countries in the World Cup, including the U.S. national team).

In 1999, the team hit rock bottom, prompting one national soccer magazine to call the MetroStars in a headline, "The worst soccer team money can buy."

It took 11 coaches in 13 seasons and some 203 players -- both MLS records -- before the team got to MLS Cup.

The man responsible for the success is coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who was being blamed for the team's near failure of nearly missing the playoffs. They have endured more than their share of headaches (the retirement of captain Claudio Reyna and the sale of teenage prodigy Jozy Altidore to Spanish club Villarreal, among others).

The Red Bulls managed to get an invitation to the desk as the eighth and final seed -- in the Western Conference -- on the very last day of the season, as D.C. United lost to the Crew 1-0, about 10 days after goalkeeper Jon Conway and defender Jeff Parke were suspended by the league for using performance-enhancing substances.

Using an untested 23-year-old in the nets, the Red Bulls caught lightning in a bottle. They eliminated the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo in the conference semifinals, climaxed by a stunning and amazing 3-0 road win. They then went to Salt Lake City to withstand an incredible second-half assault on their goal (Real Salt Lake hit the post three times in the match) en route to a 1-0 win.

Danny Cepero has been far from a one-man hero show. Just about every player has stood out at one time or another. Dave van den Bergh. Chris Leitch. Luke Sassano. Sinisa Ubiparipovic. John Wolyniec. Diego Jimenez. Dane Richards. Kevin Goldthwaite. Carlos Mendes. Jorge Rojas. Andrew Boyens. And of course, team captain Juan Pablo Angel.

Will the team become destiny's darlings as the first MLS team to finish below .500 during the regular season to win the title (the 2005 and fourth-place Los Angeles Galaxy finished at 13-13-6).

Or will the supporters suffer even more angst getting so close, not unlike Boston Red Sox fans did for nearly a century before becoming world champions in 2004.

It is not fair to compare or measure what MetroStars/Red Bulls fans have endured compared to the generations of disappointment and frustration in which the Red Sox fans were forced to live and die with. But the New York/New Jersey club became U.S. professional soccer's version of the poster child of futility.

A win, an ugly one in regulation, a dramatic one in extra time or surviving the dreaded penalty kicks after 120 minutes of soccer, Red Bulls/MetroStars fans don't care.

They'll take a championship any way they it can be packaged.

After all, they've waited -- patiently and impatiently -- for more than a dozen years to open the present.


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Kepa Looks For Winter Escape
Red Bulls notebook: Much to be proud of

Cunningham hungry for success

FRISCO, Texas -- When FC Dallas traded for Jeff Cunningham late in the year, there was some question whether the swap with Toronto FC would work out. But in 11 games with his new club, the veteran striker had five goals and two assists, and by the end of the year he and Kenny Cooper had evolved into a formidable strike tandem.

While the possibility of Cooper going to Europe after the first of the year is still a point of continual speculation, adding to the situation is that Cunningham is now out of contract. FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman has said that he would like to bring the veteran back. But in what promises to be an offseason filled with change for the Hoops, truly anything can happen.

Cunningham does want to return to the club. But when asked to rate his performance during his time at FCD, he minced few words.

"Well, my thing is the team brought me in to try and help make a difference in the last few games, to help them make the playoffs and that didn't happen," he said. "So, as a result, I feel like I failed and we failed. We didn't meet our goals and that's it. I'm really disappointed and frustrated. That's it."

The 32-year-old forward has no illusions about what he has to do to return to the top level he showed in 2006 when he won the Budweiser Golden Boot while with Real Salt Lake. But he is far from saying his career is on the downward slope.

"I've got to get better," Cunningham said. "I've got to improve. The last few years, I haven't been in a stable environment. Every year there have been rumors of change and uncertainty about where I was going to be. I think as of right now, I think I'm going to be part of FC Dallas unless things change after this interview. I know now that I'm going to be part of this team, so I just want to improve and in all areas.

"I feel like I can have another season like '06. I feel good and feel more motivated now because I have some young players that are pushing me," Cunningham added. "I see Kenny almost winning the Golden Boot and know I can be one of the top players in the league, goal scorers. I just want to come out and prove that I can have my best year next year."

The seasoned scorer has changed teams three times since coming to MLS and knows that there are no guarantees in this league or any other.

"My experience in the league is that there are no certainties," he said. "You never know. I don't know what the future holds but as of right now, I'm hoping to be part of the team next year but that's it."

Cunningham's offseason program could include relocating his wife and infant daughter from Toronto to north Texas so he could take advantage of warmer weather to prepare for the coming season.

"This offseason is extremely important for me to have a steady workout program. I think with the weather here, it would be better for me to be here," he said. "I'm sure they're going to join me wherever, here. Hopefully we can agree on a contract and make that move to be more settled, get a house and have some stability for a while, at least while I'm here."

He calls the facilities at Pizza Hut Park some of the best he has seen since he has been playing the world's game. "That's one of the best facilities I've seen in a while," Cunningham said. "I've seen the IMG Workout Center in Bradenton (Florida) that a lot of other athletes are using. It's great with the weather. You have 10 fields to come out and train at and the resources are all here. It's really up to you to make that commitment to improve. The club has provided every resource for us to improve as players."

For Cunningham, the digs in Frisco are a big step up from the offseason situation with one of his former employers.

"It's not like one of my former teams where I had to pay $2,000 to get a club membership," he said. "That's kind of ridiculous. Here you have access to good trainers and good fields, the weather is good to train and you have young players that are eager to improve. We don't have time to build into the season. We have to come in at 100 percent. That's going to put a lot of importance on our offseason training."

Before FCD wrapped up their training until 2008, Cunningham could be seen working after practice with some of the younger players.

"I don't really think it's a mentor role," he said of his extra work. "I look at all the young players and every single one of them is eager to improve and be in the first team. I don't like it but it's a matter of survival. You see a guy like Kenny that nearly won the Golden Boot and is probably one of the hardest workers on the team. You don't have a choice but to match that."

In his eyes, it's all part of soccer being a yearlong job.

"There is no offseason any more," Cunningham said. "You're forced to keep up. You've got guys that are in the national team who are going to be at a good level and joining the team in the preseason. They're going to bring in players, college players that are going to be finishing up their season. So, it's important to stay after, work with the young boys and keep up with them.

"It's a matter of survival nowadays," he continued. "It's not like a former club where you had 20 old guys that didn't want to do any workouts. Here you have 20 young guys that are pushing you to improve. I feel like I have a lot to prove next year and I'm looking forward to it. I know I can play. I see all the players they have brought into the league and the players all year and know that I can still contribute. I'm going to let this frustration (of not making the playoffs) go and look forward to next year."


I Did Not Just Come Here To Win - Emery
Cooper caps special season at Gala
Emery: Copa Clash No Waste Of Time

Red Bulls notebook: Higher education

CARSON, Calif. -- Juan Carlos Osorio considers himself a student of the game. And that was literally the case in 1998 when Osorio attended John Moores University in Liverpool, England where he received his master's degree in "Higher Education in Football."

"It was difficult for me, the computer, the statistics, but as far as physiology and anatomy, I could have done it in Southern Connecticut (State)," Osorio said. "It was easier and it allowed me more time to go and see teams training, which was the one of the main reasons I went."

NEWSMLS Cup recap
• Crew capture first MLS Cup
• MLS Cup Notes: Crew win Cup
• Schelotto named MLS Cup MVP
• Hejduk adjusts style in MLS Cup
• Lewis: Right team took Cup
• Davis: Tactics trumped by talent
• Wolyniec rewards Osorio's faith
• Red Bulls waste strong first half
• Cup win sweet for Crew's Moreno
• Red Bulls can't dodge final dagger
• Crew win Cup with team effort
• Crew notebook: Trio hope to return
• Red Bulls notebook: Still proud
MLS Cup Sights & Sounds

Highlights: CLB 3, NY 1

ExtraTime: MLS Cup Final

Crew top Red Bulls, 3-1

Crew celebrate MLS Cup win

Crew locker room celebration

MLS Cup trophy ceremony

Schelotto postgame interview

Crew players react

Crew press conference

Red Bulls press conference

One-Touch spotlight: Angel

One-Touch spotlight: Schelotto

Hejduk's late clincher

Marshall's game-winner

Wolyniec's equalizer

Moreno puts Crew on top
Nov. 22 headlines
• Tactical surprises unlikely
• NY native Gaven still growing
• Sidelined Stammler supportive
Nov. 21 headlines
• Carroll is Crew's unsung hero
• Goldthwaite stabilizes Red Bulls
• Crew expect strong support
Nov. 20 headlines
• Backline is Crew's backbone
• Angel key to Red Bulls' success
• LA weather sweet as Crew train
SIGHTS & SOUNDS

State of the League Address

Extra Time: Red Bulls preview

Extra Time: Crew preview

Crew arrive in Los Angeles

Crew practice Thursday

Red Bulls talk Cup

Crew talk beards, MLS Cup

He thought he'd put his studies to work by attending a Liverpool training session, but Osorio was asked to leave the club's Melwood training ground. Undeterred, Osorio looked for another way. He found a small opening in some bricks, but could only see the first team warm up because he had an obstructed view of the rest of the club's training session.

Still, Osorio soldiered on. He walked along the street adjacent to the training ground and found a house at the end of the street. He knocked on the door at 11 Crown Road and talked his way into watching Liverpool train from a tiny room that overlooked Melwood -- for educational purposes, of course.

Three days later, Osorio asked to rent the room and, after persuading the couple, it became his home for the next year and a half. It was there that Osorio started taking notes, observing then-Liverpool managers Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier at every Liverpool training session.

"I watched countless numbers of sessions," Osorio said.

Osorio continues to take notes today, although it's usually about what he is going to tell his team at halftime of a game. Tucked inside a little black pouch that includes pictures of his family are small pieces of paper.

"When I pray this is what I see, my family," he said. "It never gets lost."

A rare look at the notes from the Real Salt Lake game shows specific instances in the first half, some scribbles and a few key phrases, like "blue-collar mentality," he plans on sharing with his team.

"I need to talk to my team at halftime and I need to be very specific as to what we have been doing well and what we're not doing well," Osorio said. "I tell them exactly the time, the action and the situation."

Osorio said he is open and honest with his players, except, of course, when it comes to his notes.

"I think that's the million-dollar question the whole team is asking," Gordon Kljestan said. "I think we'll all pay a lot of money to see what is in there. But whatever it is, it works and got us where we are."

Stammler gives Sassano high marks: Red Bulls midfielder Seth Stammler has spent most of his career filling the holding midfielder role Luke Sassano plays right now.

Stammler has missed the entire playoffs with a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee after spending most of the last three seasons on the field for the Red Bulls.

When asked to review the rookie midfielder's attempts to fill his shoes in defensive midfielder, Stammler gave Sassano passing marks and pointed out how head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made it easier for Sassano to adjust to the spotlight.

"I think he's done really well," Stammler said. "Coach lets you know what he expects of you. With Luke, he's less concerned about creating stuff offensively. It's more about sitting in that holding spot and breaking up plays."

You betcha: What's a championship game without the obligatory wager between mayors. Well, that is the case in the first MLS Cup Final for both the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and Columbus mayor Michael Coleman placed a friendly bet on Sunday's MLS Cup Final. If the Red Bulls win, Coleman will send a package of Ohio State Buckeye candies and a case of Columbus's finest ale from the Columbus Brewing Co.

"Winning the Major League Soccer title would be a fantastic and fitting end to the Red Bulls' come-from-behind season," Bloomberg said in a statement. "Soccer fans from Riverdale to Rockaway will tune in tomorrow to see the team from the country's premier soccer-loving city bring home its first MLS Cup."

If the Crew wins, Bloomberg will send a large John's Special pizza pie in honor of Staten Island's own John Wolyniec, from Basille's Restaurant on Staten Island, a large Italian hero from Leo's Latticini and Mama's of Corona and a case of Brooklyn Lager from Brooklyn Brewery.

"The Crew is the hardest working team in America and the team's excellent players worked harder than ever this season," Coleman said. "Along with all Crew fans, I can taste victory. I look forward to tasting Mayor Bloomberg's Staten Island pizza as well."


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Ching leads Dynamo past Firpo

HOUSTON -- It doesn't exactly make up for a loss in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs, but the Houston Dynamo's 1-0 win against CD Luis Angel Firpo Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium will help ease the pain of what is sure to be a long winter.

Brian Ching scored the only goal of the game in the 13th minute and goalkeeper Pat Onstad made five saves, leading the Dynamo to the quarterfinal round of the CONCACAF Champions League.

With their second win of group play, the Dynamo leapfrogged El Salvador's Firpo in Group B and became the only MLS team to advance out of group play. Although their opponent will not be known until Dec. 10, the Dynamo will host the first match on Feb. 23, 24 or 25.

Thanks to Hurricane Ike postponing the match in September, the Dynamo had a chance to exorcise the proverbial demons more than two weeks after a 3-0 home loss to MLS runner-up New York, ending their bid for a third consecutive league title.

It was a sloppy, hard-fought match that featured eight yellow cards and two red cards.

Wednesday was the Dynamo's 48th competitive match of the season, the most ever in one year for an MLS club, and the team finished the 2008 slate with 19 wins, nine losses and 20 ties in all competitions.

In the opening quarter of the match, the Dynamo controlled play and had several fruitless corner kicks before Ching got the team on the board.

Dwayne De Rosario sent a bending corner kick toward the net, and Ching timed it perfectly, heading a shot toward the top of the goal.

Firpo goalkeeper Juan Jose Gomez was playing a bit too deep and he got a piece of the shot as leapt up. But instead of knocking it away for a save, Gomez just pushed Ching's shot into the net behind the crossbar.

With defender Wade Barrett out of the starting lineup, Ching wore the captain's band Wednesday for the second time this season. The last time he wore it, on May 31 in MLS play against New York, Ching scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 Dynamo win.

Nate Jaqua, who was selected earlier in the day by Seattle Sounders FC in the 2008 MLS expansion draft, had a good chance in the 35th minute to give Houston a 2-0 lead, but he could not pull the trigger when he had possession at the top of the box.

In the 37th minute, Firpo had their first legitimate scoring chance of the match when Patricio Gomez had a great look from eight yards out against Onstad. Patricio waited on a perfect cross from Christian Sanchez, but Onstad read the play and made the save.

Corey Ashe nearly gave Houston a 2-0 lead in the 40th minute when a tough-angle shot on the far side edge of the box, and De Rosario had a good look in stoppage time, but his laser from 25 feet out was easily swallowed by Gomez.

In their first meeting in San Salvador, the Dynamo struck first and saw Firpo come back in the second half. It was more of the save in Houston, as Onstad was at his best early in the second half when he quashed two quick Firpo scoring chances.

First, in the 54th minute, Fernando Leguizamon fired a quick shot in the middle of the box, but Onstad made the stop.

Two minutes later, it was Leguizamon again. This time, flying down the far side, the Argentinean forward bounced a shot toward the net that Onstad had to dive to his left to stop.

Jaqua's Houston career officially came to an end in the 68th minute when he was replaced by Kei Kamara. Jaqua had four goals and four assists in 14 games with the Dynamo in 2008 after returning to the club from Austria.

Houston had to play most of the last 14 minutes a man down, when defender Eddie Robinson was sent off with a straight red card.

But substitute Carlos Calderon saw a second yellow card of the match in the 91st minute, evening things up, and Firpo was not able to muster another scoring chance in the closing minutes.


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Davis: Who was left on the cutting-room floor?

We know a ton more today than we did yesterday about Seattle Sounders FC, Major League Soccer's newbie from the Pacific Northwest.

We already knew that Kasey Keller would be the BMOC in the back, as Seattle had previously signed one of the country's most decorated goalkeepers. And we knew who would be steering the attack, as general manager Adrian Hanauer and technical director Chris Henderson had been fast to scoop up fast Freddie Ljungberg.

Now know a little more about the rest of the roster, following Wednesday's expansion draft for the league's 15th team, set to rock the house at Qwest Field starting in about four months.

Everyone will have the weeks and months ahead to debate the selections, as fans watch the squad come together in training camp and then in games around mid-March. But what if, just for a day, we consider the players who weren't selected, the talent left on the table following Wednesday's important process?

These are weighty decisions, to be sure. If you don't think the expansion draft can be a critical building block in expansion team fortunes, then you weren't paying attention to what San Jose did in 2008. Manager Frank Yallop's shrewd use of the November 2007 expansion draft process was a key element in the quick build of a respectable side, one that never seemed to be fighting out of its weight class in 2008 -- and one that very nearly crashed the old-timers' playoff party.

Names selected a year ago, like Ryan Cochrane, James Riley, Ned Grabavoy and Jason Hernandez, became part-time starters for Yallop, at least. And others, like Ivan Guerrero and Brian Carroll, became important chips to play on the trade table.

So, suffice to say, this was a big day for young Seattle. To a lesser extent, every other club knows a little more about its roster setup for 2009. Four clubs didn't lose a player: D.C. United in the East, and Chivas USA, Colorado and Dallas in the West. (You might recognize three of those clubs from the list that didn't make the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs; only Chivas was a postseason participant.)

There were some interesting goalkeepers among Wednesday's list of available players, including at least six that could be considered starters. Pat Onstad, for instance, was available just one year removed from setting an MLS record for best goals-against average in a season.

And Louis Crayton, who shined in the D.C. United net and was the catalyst behind the RFK outfit's late postseason charge, was also left unprotected. Ditto for veteran Kansas City starter Kevin Hartman, Toronto starter Greg Sutton and others.

But most teams could feel relatively safe leaving their goalkeeper exposed, since the Sounders are well-armed at backstopper. With the longtime U.S. international in charge, the Seattle braintrust did, indeed, pass on all available goalkeepers.

But it was not exactly a slam-dunk. Even when the odds seem stacked against taking Player X or Y, clubs do risk something by leaving valuable starters exposed. Dangle too pretty a carrot before the expansion teams, and the new guy on the block might just grab X or Y and set him out as trade bait. Real Salt Lake once made that mistake, leaving Jason Kreis unprotected back when he was a high-scoring sniper, before he became the league's youngest manager. Toronto took Kreis in the expansion draft, and then immediately traded him back to reeling Real, effectively gaining something for absolutely nothing.

Houston's list of exposed talent was surely a GM's delight. The Dynamo have built the league's deepest roster, never mind that surprise first-round playoff exit of early November. No matter whom he protected, Dynamo manager Dominic Kinnear was going to leave some enticing talent there for the taking. Seattle got a good one in Nate Jaqua, who appeared to return from a short stint in Austria last summer as a more polished product.

In taking Jaqua, the Sounders left quick midfielder Corey Ashe, who would have been a fantastic midfield depth provider behind Ljungberg. Dynamo left back Wade Barrett might have been exposed a bit recently by Red Bulls blazer Dane Richards. But the Houston captain is a rock-solid locker room presence and is a left back that probably would have started anywhere in MLS in 2008 except perhaps Chicago or New England.

Jaqua always appeared to the logical choice, as he has roots in the Northwest (Eugene, Ore.). But there were plenty of intriguing choices out of Robertson Stadium, even beyond Jaqua, Ashe and Barrett. Craig Waibel, Richard Mulrooney and U.S. Olympian Patrick Ianni were other potential starters left unselected from Houston's roster. Barrett, Ianni and Waibel made a combined 57 starts on the league's top defense in 2008. Waibel, in fact, has started in three MLS Cup matches (all wins). At 33, his best years might be behind him, but that's still a heaping helping of veteran guidance to have on what could be a young team past Keller and Ljungberg.

New England was another team to dangle some interesting options. Seattle went with the long legs and big left foot of Khano Smith, but feisty midfielder Wells Thompson could have been a good choice, too. He has less experience than Smith, but also makes a little less in salary.

Salary is always a major component in these matters, especially as Seattle already has two big compensation packages on the books in Keller and Ljungberg.

Cap management probably helps explain the day's big surprise among the "passes." The Sounders elected to not to scoop up Columbus midfielder Eddie Gaven. The Sounders took a good player off the newly crowned league champs in attacking midfielder Brad Evans.

But in Gaven the league's newest club had access to a potential game-breaker. Here's a guy who just scored the game-winner in the Eastern Conference semifinal, a well-regarded midfielder who, at age 22, still has his best years ahead. He was a critical element in the Crew's historic season, which included the 2008 Supporters Shield and the club's first MLS Cup. Gaven's salary, commensurate with a six-year veteran, compared to that of Evans, after just two years in the league, surely made the difference.

Salary considerations might similarly help explain why experienced fellows like Duilio Davino, Chris Klein, Terry Cooke, Viktor Sikora, Mulrooney, Hartman and a few others were available but weren't selected. All that experience comes at a price -- which is exactly why clubs feel OK about leaving some of those guys exposed. They know Seattle is already in a position where they need to pinch the pennies, so they leave their more pricey vets off the protected list, fairly confident those guys would still be in their familiar colors once Seattle had made its selections.

In other cases, the word might have been put out through proper channels that certain players would be uncomfortable playing home matches on an artificial surface. (The Sounders will play on a synthetic field at Qwest.) That might help explain why a terrific talent like Ronnie O'Brien, the Earthquakes energetic right-sided midfielder, could be left unprotected without much concern of being lost.

Then again, Seattle did take Galaxy midfielder Peter Vagenas, who will soon move into his ninth MLS season, and who certainly carries a vet's salary. Which just goes to show you: All of this is more art than science.


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Patient Pablo Waiting For Opportunities

Crew capture first-ever MLS Cup title

CARSON, Calif. -- The best team during the regular season claimed Major League Soccer's ultimate prize on Sunday, and the league's best player, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, turned in a performance for the ages, as the Columbus Crew earned their first-ever MLS Cup with a 3-1 win against a game New York Red Bulls side in MLS Cup 2008 at The Home Depot Center.

Crew forward Alejandro Moreno opened the scoring in the 31st minute, slotting a tight-angled shot past Red Bulls goalkeeper Danny Cepero. New York equalized early in the second half through John Wolyniec, but Chad Marshall's header from a Schelotto corner kick restored the Crew's lead 87 seconds later. Schelotto then earned his MLS Cup record third assist in the 82nd minute, with his pass allowing Frankie Hejduk to cap the scoring.

Schelotto was named the MLS Cup Most Valuable Player for his record-setting performance, becoming the third player in league history to win league MVP honors as well as in the MLS Cup Final, joining Tony Meola (2000) and Carlos Ruiz (2002).

The match started with New York inviting Columbus to camp out in their half, and the Crew were only too happy to oblige. An attempt to isolate attacker Robbie Rogers on the left wing saw him taken down by Chris Leitch after just four minutes, earning the Red Bulls defender a yellow card.

NEWSMLS Cup recap
• Crew capture first MLS Cup
• MLS Cup Notes: Crew win Cup
• Schelotto named MLS Cup MVP
• Hejduk adjusts style in MLS Cup
• Lewis: Right team took Cup
• Davis: Tactics trumped by talent
• Wolyniec rewards Osorio's faith
• Red Bulls waste strong first half
• Cup win sweet for Crew's Moreno
• Red Bulls can't dodge final dagger
• Crew win Cup with team effort
• Crew notebook: Trio hope to return
• Red Bulls notebook: Still proud
MLS Cup Sights & Sounds

Highlights: CLB 3, NY 1

ExtraTime: MLS Cup Final

Crew top Red Bulls, 3-1

Crew celebrate MLS Cup win

Crew locker room celebration

MLS Cup trophy ceremony

Schelotto postgame interview

Crew players react

Crew press conference

Red Bulls press conference

One-Touch spotlight: Angel

One-Touch spotlight: Schelotto

Hejduk's late clincher

Marshall's game-winner

Wolyniec's equalizer

Moreno puts Crew on top
Nov. 22 headlines
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• NY native Gaven still growing
• Sidelined Stammler supportive
Nov. 21 headlines
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• Goldthwaite stabilizes Red Bulls
• Crew expect strong support
Nov. 20 headlines
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• Angel key to Red Bulls' success
• LA weather sweet as Crew train
SIGHTS & SOUNDS

State of the League Address

Extra Time: Red Bulls preview

Extra Time: Crew preview

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Crew practice Thursday

Red Bulls talk Cup

Crew talk beards, MLS Cup

Shortly thereafter, Rogers had the Crew supporters on their feet when he slotted home a Schelotto free kick. But Rogers was correctly adjudged to have been offside, nullifying the tally.

The Red Bulls then showed their ability to strike quickly on the counter two minutes later when a flowing move involving Wolyniec and Dave van den Bergh resulted in the Dutchman's cross being headed out for a corner by Crew defender Gino Padula.

Van den Bergh's involvement increased from there. Twice in a three-minute span his crosses found Wolyniec in the box, but on neither occasion was the Red Bulls forward able to get a clean shot off. Wolyniec did manage to get his feet set after being set up by Dane Richards, but his shot was well over the bar.

More of New York's play then started to go through Richards. The Jamaican shook loose down the right wing in the 23rd minute, only to see his cross miss everyone. Richards then duplicated his effort the right flank six minutes later, leaving three Crew defenders in his wake. His centering feed found Angel wide open in the box, but the Colombian volleyed just over the bar.

With New York seemingly gaining the upper hand, the Crew gave the Red Bulls a taste of their own counterattacking medicine to break on top in the 31st minute. Schelotto picked van den Bergh's pocket on the right touchline, and his quick pass forward found Moreno isolated against Diego Jimenez.

With seemingly little angle after running at the New York defender, Moreno unleashed a shot from the right side of the area that appeared to catch Cepero a bit out of position, and it just snuck inside the far post, giving the Crew a 1-0 lead.

It marked the first time during this postseason that the Red Bulls had trailed as they allowed their first goal in 206 playoff minutes, and while the half ended with the same score, it wasn't much longer before they pulled level.

A mazy run from Richards in the 51st minute, cutting inside from the right after receiving a ball in space, saw him evade four Columbus defenders, and his clever through ball to Wolyniec allowed the Red Bulls forward to nudge the ball past Hesmer for the equalizer.

But the Red Bulls were barely done celebrating when they found themselves trailing again. Schelotto's inch-perfect corner kick was headed with authority by Marshall, leaving Cepero with no chance. It was the second goal in as many games for the MLS Defender of the Year, both coming off Schelotto services on set pieces, and the 87-second gap between goals was the third shortest in MLS Cup history.

Richards continued to be a menace on the right wing, playing almost as a third forward. In the 63rd minute, his point-blank shot from Kevin Goldthwaite's long throw was well-saved by Hesmer. Six minutes later the New York midfielder drew a foul from Padula that earned the Crew defender a yellow card.

Schelotto then came within inches of making the game safe in the 77th minute. A centering pass from Moreno found the Argentinean playmaker in acres of space at the top of the box, but his curling shot struck the crossbar, and the Red Bulls were still alive.

With 12 minutes remaining, New York head coach Juan Carlos Osorio tried to turn the match around, bringing in Jorge Rojas for Luke Sassano. But it was Columbus who stepped up their game, and once again it was Schelotto at the heart of the action.

With the reigning MVP apparently bottled up at the top of the box, his deft chip over the top of the New York defense found Hejduk in stride, and his looping header over the onrushing Cepero made the score 3-1, clinching matters for the Crew.

All that was left was to give Schelotto his due, and that came in stoppage time when his substitution was met with rapturous applause by the Crew faithful. That roar was exceeded only at the final whistle, when the yellow-clad Columbus fans massed at the north end of the stadium could officially celebrate their first league championship.


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Pitchkolan reflects on past, future

FRISCO, Texas -- Although Aaron Pitchkolan was left unprotected by FC Dallas in the expansion draft to stock Seattle Sounders FC, the fact that he went unselected was greeted with pleasure by head coach Schellas Hyndman.

Since the end of the season, Hyndman has expressed a desire to keep Pitchkolan in Frisco. Pitchkolan played in 21 games for FCD, 15 of those starts. He played some left back early in the year but really showed his value when Davino missed seven games with a toe injury in late summer. Pitchkolan filled in admirably, helping to solidify the FCD backline and even scored his first goal since 2006.

"It's always good to score and to get your name on the scoreboard," Pitchkolan said about his tally. "It helps give you confidence. It was good."

But like the rest of his teammates, he looks back on a season where he had three different head coaches and FCD missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

"Obviously (it was) a strange year and definitely not what you expect coming into the season," he said. "But you've got to roll with it and I think we made a decent push at the end. It obviously wasn't enough but we had a lot of turnover. It's difficult."

However, Pitchkolan did feel like the team got on the same page once Hyndman arrived in mid-June and started implementing his version of the 4-4-2.

"Having a set system and having players in that system will help you," he said. "But that wasn't what it was like this year and you got to adjust as best you can. Having stability definitely helps, knowing who is going to play where, what formation and who your coach is. That definitely helps."

No matter whether it was Steve Morrow, who started the year as FCD's coach, Marco Ferruzzi, who replaced Morrow on an interim basis after his dismissal, or Hyndman, his current coach, Pitchkolan's approach has never wavered in the least.

"I just go in and try to do my best no matter who is the coach," he said. "I just try to help the team improve and to improve individually."

Even with all that happened, Pitchkolan admits he and his fellow Hoops never thought that missing the playoffs was a possibility. That definitely made watching other teams continue their seasons on TV a little strange.

"Yeah, I kept tabs but it's definitely from a different viewpoint than in years past," he admitted. "If a game was on, I'd watch it. But it was kind of weird. I'm always watching MLS games throughout the year but (missing the) playoffs, it was a weird situation to be in."

Should Pitchkolan remain with FCD, along with fellow defender Drew Moor, who signed a multiple-year extension just after the end of the regular season, he would be one of the longest-tenured players with the club, in the fold since 2005.

"Yes, that's definitely weird," he said. "There's been a lot of turnover. I see Oscar Pareja out here (coaching the FC Dallas Juniors) and remember my rookie year, me, him and Drew (Moor) were playing together. It's definitely weird to be one of the elder statesmen of the team. Hopefully next year we can get a good core together and will know our roles better. Hopefully it will work out."

One thing he didn't want to get into was his possible future in north Texas.

"I really don't have too much to say about that," Pitchkolan said. "I've just got to wait and see what options come up. I'm not really sure and will play it by ear."

No matter where he ends up, his focus in the offseason will remain where it's always been.

"I'm just going to stay in shape, play when I can and lift weights to keep up my strength," Pitchkolan said. "I don't want to get too out of shape or do anything too crazy in the offseason like ride a moped (and get hurt doing that)."


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Revolution's 2008 a tale of two halves

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- As New England Revolution captain Steve Ralston lifted the SuperLiga trophy on Aug. 5, observers couldn't help but wonder if Ralston would finally lift that elusive MLS Cup to end the season.

Prior to that moment, the Revolution had sailed through everything in their path. Waging war on three fronts, the Revs excelled in all of them by topping the MLS table, reaching the U.S. Open Cup semifinals in their title defense and lifting the SuperLiga crown.

The performance showed all the underpinnings of previous Revolution squads: a rock-solid defense, quick and tidy play through midfield and rotating contributions up front. When that formula failed, the Revs just ground out results. It didn't matter that Ralston and Taylor Twellman had both missed significant time through injury -- the Revs didn't lose back-to-back games until August.

"We came out of the gate so strong and played so well," Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst said. "We were just cruising. We had our youthful energy at that point."

Neither Parkhurst nor his teammates knew the team would descend into an injury-plagued and fatigue-induced abyss in the months that followed. The Revs went 2-10-4 in all competitions after the SuperLiga crown, including two separate winless streaks of five and six games.

"It's real straightforward for us," Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said. "The first part of the season was great. The second part of the season wasn't so great."

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SIGHTS & SOUNDS

Check out the best of 2008

The line of demarcation fell on that early August night. Winning SuperLiga might have proved the culmination of a month's worth of arduous games, but it also saw the Revs take a break from league play for most of that stretch.

Playing those extra fixtures in August and September -- in addition to an abortive stint in the CONCACAF Champions League and an unsuccessful U.S. Open Cup semifinal -- strained a roster that was deeper than in previous seasons, but not deep enough to handle 23 games between June 6 and Sept. 11.

"It hurt us big-time," Nicol said. "Our bread and butter is league play. It was a fantastic tournament to win, but we ultimately paid the price for it."

Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis said his team had to cope with the euphoria of winning the title and its residual effects during the second half of that hectic stretch.

"Teams go through highs and lows during the season," Reis said. "After SuperLiga, we got hit with an injury bug. After you win a championship, there's usually a sag in form. We went through both of those things at the same time."

As the games piled up, Nicol rotated his squad more frequently. The striking corps looked threadbare as Twellman, Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally and Adam Cristman all struggled with injuries at various points. Parkhurst missed time after being selected for the U.S. Olympic team. Even the seemingly injury-proof Reis missed a few games.

Nicol brought multiple younger players into the lineup -- Dube, Mansally, Sainey Nyassi and Chris Tierney all saw significant playing time -- but the absences meant increased playing time for players who might not have been ready to cope with those demands.

"Ideally with young players and rookies, you want to give them time," Nicol said. "You want to put them in and then take them out. When you're asking them to play 90 minutes week after week and have the consistency of a Ralston or a [Shalrie] Joseph, it's difficult."

That consistency never came as Nicol had to chop and change from week to week depending on availability. The hallmark of previous Revolution sides -- a regular starting XI -- faded away.

"It was a long, crazy season," Parkhurst said. "The good thing was that so many guys got some experience and some guys got minutes that probably wouldn't have if the starters had stayed healthy throughout the year."

Even those younger players hit the wall as the season continued and the results never improved. Nicol said the controversy surrounding his team's struggle to adapt to a 4-4-2 formation mandated by the options available didn't matter as much as the team's inability to get its legs back.

"It all boils down to fatigue and the extra physical toll," Nicol said. "It catches up with you at the end when you're trying to go for that extra yard. All of these things add up. During the important part of the season, we were playing with half a team. I dread to think what would have happened if we had advanced in the Champions League."

A dismal home record -- two wins from eight games in all competitions -- during that stretch didn't help as the previously fortress-like Gillette Stadium turned more hospitable.

"We didn't find a way to win games, especially at home," Ralston said. "In previous seasons, we had established a great home record. We fell behind a lot early in games and had to play catch up. We probably played a lot better on the road than we did at home."

The performances improved as the legs returned. A resounding home win against Chivas USA and a rare away draw in Colorado in mid-September seemed to indicate a return to form was soon around the corner. A narrow loss in Columbus did little to dissuade that feeling.

"As we got healthy, we got hit for a bit more," Reis said.

A Herculez Gomez tackle broke Ralston's fibula in Kansas City with two regular season games to play. As Ralston limped off the pitch at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, most of the Revolution's hopes to generate offense went with him.

"We got our legs back under us and then we lose Ralston," Nicol said. "We don't have another guy in that position."

The offense sputtered in Ralston's absence. Losing Twellman to lingering concussion symptoms prior to the start of the MLS Cup Playoffs and watching Joseph limp through the two games with Chicago in the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series didn't help either.

"You can't just blame the injuries," Ralston said. "We think we're a good enough team where we can deal with one or two players going out."

A 0-0 draw in the first leg proved a false dawn as Chicago ran out comprehensive winners at home to end the Revolution's streak of three consecutive MLS Cup appearances.

The early playoff demise raises questions about the future of the current squad. Substantive changes could come to the team's core this offseason with Parkhurst out of contract and Twellman's off-again, on-again interest in a European move.

If the Revs are to lift that elusive first MLS Cup everyone thought beckoned after that SuperLiga trophy, those changes might end up being more than cosmetic.

"I don't know where we go from here," Ralston said. "That's for [club president] Sunil [Gulati], Mike [Burns, Revs vice president of player personnel] and the coaching staff to decide. I imagine we'll make some moves, but you never know who may come in or out. I'm interested to see what happens."


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MLS Philadelphia adds partners

CHESTER, Pa. -- Before the official groundbreaking ceremony for the 18,500-seat soccer-specific stadium for the Major League Soccer club coming to the Philadelphia area in 2010, another big accomplishment needed to be announced on Monday afternoon.

Keystone Sports and Entertainment, LLC, the MLS Philadelphia 2010 ownership group, named Panasonic as the "Official Technology Partner" of its new stadium and waterfront complex. Panasonic is the team's second "Keystone Founding Partner" and supports the organization's goal to give fans a world-class guest experience.

Panasonic follows Crozer-Keystone Health Systems and Premier Orthopaedics, which will exclusively encompass all areas of team and stadium healthcare, including physical therapy, team-doctor relationships, and on-site medical services.

"Panasonic is a name respected around the globe, recognized for their innovation in consumer electronics and business technology products," said Nick Sakiewicz, CEO and operating partner of Keystone Sports and Entertainment. "Our fans will be treated to a unique in-stadium experience, 'Powered by Panasonic.' But more than that, this partnership also will extend throughout the entire waterfront redevelopment project."

Through this partnership, Panasonic will receive rights to stadium marks and logos, branding on the main scoreboard, LED signage, as well as space on the stadium grounds to create "The Panasonic Experience," an area that highlights their technology and allows customers to experience it firsthand. Panasonic will also be the exclusive provider of broadcast and television production systems, large screen LED displays, security systems and point-of-sale systems.

"Panasonic is very excited to join with Keystone Sports and Entertainment to build a state-of-the-art stadium for the benefit of all soccer fans," said J.M. Allain, president of Panasonic System Solutions Company. "We are also proud to extend our partnership to the entire waterfront mixed-use development to provide a broad range of technology solutions to help create a world class experience for all.

"Our investment in this partnership is indicative of Panasonic's interest in revitalizing local communities and offering consumers the opportunity to experience technology in everyday life. For Panasonic, the initiative also plays a large role in our global 'eco ideas' initiative, which aims to improve the efficiency of products, increase environmental performance and engage with local communities around the world."

Panasonic's consumer electronics and technology products range from high definition televisions, security systems, digital cameras, laptop computers, home appliances, personal care products, components and in-flight entertainment and information systems.

"Our first partnership with Crozer-Keystone Health Systems and Premier Orthopaedics is emblematic of our local commitment," Sakiewicz said. "With the addition of Panasonic, we're demonstrating that the international business community is looking to Major League Soccer and Greater Philadelphia as a smart place to invest. These partnerships substantiate the power of our brand and the connection that it makes to suburban soccer families and powerful ethic audiences."

After the announcement, the club officially broke ground on the stadium that will be constructed at the foot of the Commodore Barry Bridge, just 13 miles from downtown Philadelphia. The multi-purpose stadium will feature an 11,000 square-foot club, 30 suites, a built-in concert stage for world-class music shows and a special 2,000-seat area for the Sons of Ben supporters club. The new structure will also have a waterfront park and plaza used not only stadium entry, but also for city sponsored events such as festivals.

The new stadium is the centerpiece of a $500 million entertainment, retail, residential and commercial development covering more than 100 acres along the historic Delaware River waterfront.


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Red Bulls, Crew build toward Cup differently

CARSON, Calif. -- When it comes to building a championship side, looking at the Columbus Crew and the New York Red Bulls is akin to comparing a tortoise to a Tasmanian devil.

Columbus manager Sigi Schmid has spent the last three years methodically constructing his side. By comparison, New York counterpart Juan Carlos Osorio has taken a much less settled approach, as if his weekly paycheck depended on the number of lineup changes he makes. Yet both teams find themselves one game away from winning their first MLS Cup title.

NEWSMLS Cup recap
• Crew capture first MLS Cup
• MLS Cup Notes: Crew win Cup
• Schelotto named MLS Cup MVP
• Hejduk adjusts style in MLS Cup
• Lewis: Right team took Cup
• Davis: Tactics trumped by talent
• Wolyniec rewards Osorio's faith
• Red Bulls waste strong first half
• Cup win sweet for Crew's Moreno
• Red Bulls can't dodge final dagger
• Crew win Cup with team effort
• Crew notebook: Trio hope to return
• Red Bulls notebook: Still proud
MLS Cup Sights & Sounds

Highlights: CLB 3, NY 1

ExtraTime: MLS Cup Final

Crew top Red Bulls, 3-1

Crew celebrate MLS Cup win

Crew locker room celebration

MLS Cup trophy ceremony

Schelotto postgame interview

Crew players react

Crew press conference

Red Bulls press conference

One-Touch spotlight: Angel

One-Touch spotlight: Schelotto

Hejduk's late clincher

Marshall's game-winner

Wolyniec's equalizer

Moreno puts Crew on top
Nov. 22 headlines
• Tactical surprises unlikely
• NY native Gaven still growing
• Sidelined Stammler supportive
Nov. 21 headlines
• Carroll is Crew's unsung hero
• Goldthwaite stabilizes Red Bulls
• Crew expect strong support
Nov. 20 headlines
• Backline is Crew's backbone
• Angel key to Red Bulls' success
• LA weather sweet as Crew train
SIGHTS & SOUNDS

State of the League Address

Extra Time: Red Bulls preview

Extra Time: Crew preview

Crew arrive in Los Angeles

Crew practice Thursday

Red Bulls talk Cup

Crew talk beards, MLS Cup

Schmid's methodology is one that has forgone the hoopla of a Designated Player in favor of a more blue-collar mindset, and the result has seen the Crew become the league's most consistent team, easing their way to the Supporters' Shield with several games to spare. Yet now his team finds itself in a position where none of that matters; not their league-best record, not their Eastern Conference title, and certainly not the legion of postseason awards the team has won.

But such consistency does breed confidence, and it's safe to say that the Crew have bags of it heading into Sunday's title decider. Columbus have proven to be unbeatable when scoring first, going 14-0-0 in league and Cup play, yet they've also been adept at coming from behind, winning or tying 10 of the 17 matches when they've conceded the first goal.

"What we can draw on is that we've been pretty even-keeled all season," said Schmid. "We haven't let many things derail us, whether we're down in the game, whether we have to win a game defensively or we win a game in a shootout. Our guys have stayed focused throughout it all and that's certainly what we're trying to bank on."

That belief is not only rooted in the familiarity possessed by the team's players, but in the flexibility of the Crew's personnel, with players like Emmanuel Ekpo and Steven Lenhart providing able cover for starters Eddie Gaven and Alejandro Moreno.

"It's not only about keeping a similar lineup on the field, but we can play a similar style no matter who we bring into the game," said Schmid.

Given the unpredictable movements of attacker Guillermo Barros Schelotto, gaining an understanding in the final third has taken some doing, but after scoring the second-most goals in the league, it's safe to say that the offensive telepathy is there for the Crew.

"It's time on the field that improves that cohesive effort," said Schmid of his attack. "We've been fortunate now that Robbie Rogers, Alejandro Moreno, Schelotto, or Gaven ... last year at this point they had maybe 20 games together. Now they have 50 games together. There is a huge growth factor that takes place between those two sets of games."

Some members of New York's roster are only now edging beyond the getting-to-know-you stage, although this isn't necessarily the fault of Osorio. Designated Player Claudio Reyna retired in midseason, while young stud forward Jozy Altidore was sold to Spanish side Villarreal during the summer transfer window. Add in the suspensions to goalkeeper Jon Conway and defender Jeff Parke and the season-ending injury to Seth Stammler, and it's clear that not all of Osorio's changes were the product of overzealous tinkering.

Yet injuries aren't the only explanation for Osorio's lineup tweaking, something for which he makes no apologies.

"Some people say that [the changes] don't show consistency. I disagree," said Osorio. "In my humble opinion, you have to see what other teams bring to the table, and decide what is your best system, what is the best way to play, and who your best players are in that particular position.

"As for my players, they all know that the rules go for everybody, and that they all have a chance."

Osorio's mad scientist approach has kept his players on a healthy edge, and the Red Bulls' manager pointed to the fact that all of Sunday's potential starters have played at least 10 games.

But what has really inoculated the Red Bulls from playoff elimination has been the jolt of confidence the team has received. And it came not from the team's stunning 3-0 triumph against Houston in the second leg of their semifinal playoff series, but in the 1-1 draw that preceded it.

"Although we didn't win that game, we felt like we did some things that we hadn't been doing lately," said forward Juan Pablo Angel. "We played with a desire and a commitment that we didn't have in the previous game [against Chicago] and we felt going to Houston that if we did the same that we did at home, we had a fairly good chance of getting a good result."


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Once down, Wizards rose to task

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Left for dead. That is what the Kansas City Wizards were on June 14, 11 games into their 2008 Major League Soccer season.

In front of a sellout crowd, the Wizards had just suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss to the eventual MLS champion Columbus Crew in what was a long-awaited homecoming -- their first home match after six games and more than two months away from CommunityAmerica Ballpark. A scoreless tie the game before had dropped them to last place in the Eastern Conference. They would stay there until July 10.

On life support, Kansas City would rise like the famed phoenix by season's end. And now, the club is pulsing, and the vital signs are good for the future.

"We made the playoffs, had a very good run at the end of the season, which bodes well for next year, and in the process we played a lot of young players," said head coach Curt Onalfo, who has guided the Wizards to the playoffs in both seasons since taking over the club that had missed the postseason party the previous two seasons. "Those are all good signs."

In many ways, the 2008 season was one of adjustment for Kansas City. The signs of transformation at their new home in Kansas City, Kan., throughout the offseason were symbolic of a team that had left its 12-year Arrowhead Stadium home: changing to a 3-5-2 formation in preseason, and adding Argentinean Claudio Lopez, their first designated player to the roster.

Things began well with a 2-0 victorious christening of what would affectionately be called the "CAB" against D.C. United. The atmosphere and the win signaled good times. A stay atop the conference through April 25 followed. Then the strong palpitations faded in a seven-game winless streak, the sixth game being the 3-0 thrashing courtesy of the Crew.

COLORADO RAPIDS • Rapids face long wait 'til next year
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• Five big questions for D.C. United
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• Five big questions for FC Dallas
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KANSAS CITY WIZARDS • Once down, Wizards rose to task
• Five big questions for the Wizards
• Wizards '09 tix

| • KC gear

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION • Revs' 2008 a tale of two halves
• Five big questions for New England
• Buy Revolution gear

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES • Strong '08 provides a foundation
• Five big questions for San Jose
• SJ '09 tix

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TORONTO FC • Positive 2008 lends TFC bright future
• Five big questions for Toronto FC
• Buy Toronto FC gear

SIGHTS & SOUNDS

Check out the best of 2008

Along the way, Lopez contributed well, but overall the attack (having quickly returned back to a 4-4-2 system) sputtered. From their third game through their 14th, Kansas City failed to score more than one goal in a game, being shut out five times in that span. Their leading scorer for much of the season was center back Jimmy Conrad, who ended up with six goals to his credit on the season, most off headers from set pieces.

"Anytime I'm the second-leading goal scorer it's cause for concern," Conrad said.

Young players like wide midfielder Roger Espinoza, center backs Aaron Hohlbein and Tyson Wahl and fullback Jonathan Leathers showed potential and, with the vets at times, made costly mistakes. But a six-game undefeated streak followed the Columbus loss to keep the Wizards afloat. August began with a 2-0 loss at D.C. United, and the Wizards would fall again, earning only one victory in the next five contests. Inconsistency was a maddening consistency.

"The latter stages of the season we were consistent; that's when we played our best soccer. Going into next year, we just have to realize that to be one of the teams that is going to get home-field advantage, you really have to be more consistent throughout the year," said Jack Jewsbury whose switching from right back to right midfield to center midfield was symptomatic of the Wizards' lack of a true identity.

Striker Josh Wolff returned to Kansas City after departing for two seasons in Germany with 1860 Munich. But his addition was only the beginning of a late-season fine-tuning orchestrated by Onalfo and technical director Peter Vermes. Veterans Scott Sealy and Sasha Victorine were dealt to San Jose and Chivas USA respectively and forwards Herculez Gomez and Abe Thompson were acquired from Colorado and FC Dallas.

The Wizards were three games under .500 and in sixth place in the conference, but a resurrection commenced with Onalfo's lineup chosen for a Sept. 13 home match against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Davy Arnaud joined Jewsbury in center midfield to provide endless energy and their variety of attacking abilities were accented by the speedy and relentless Gomez taking up at right midfield and the physical Thompson pairing with Wolff up front.

The result was a complete 2-0 victory against the powerful Galaxy. With Lopez stepping in to provide a further jolt, four wins and a tie were gained in the next six matches, including a dramatic 3-2 win at home against San Jose in stoppage time that proved to be the eventual playoff clincher.

"It took us 22 or 23 games to really find that lineup that we had consistent success in," said Conrad. "Heading into next season, we already know what is going to be in place -- this is how we're going to make it work -- [we already know] what CommunityAmerica Ballpark is all about, not having to ease into that for a couple of months. That should make us a lot better knowing all that stuff is in place."

The Wizards were strong at home (nine wins and two losses) during the regular season; however, they were not strong enough in their only playoff game at the CAB. Their old Columbus friends drew level at 1-1 in the dying minutes of the first leg of the conference semifinal series after the Wizards held on for 15 minutes a man after a red card, and Kansas City fell victim at Crew Stadium 2-0 a week later to end their season with a 3-1 loss on aggregate.

"Our team has an awful lot to be proud of this year. Obviously you always want to be the team that's holding up the cup at the end of the year. But we dealt with an awful lot this year, and we put together a really impressive run at a crucial time of the year," said Onalfo. "We established a very good home record, and we're building something that's really special for the future."

Wahl, rookies Espinoza and Leathers, and a late-blooming Kevin Souter (an open tryout discovery) played crucial roles down the stretch and will help keep the Wizards moving forward. And although the retirement of long-time leader and midfield force Kerry Zavagnin will leave a gap, a solid veteran presence from players such as Conrad, Jewsbury, Arnaud, Wolff, Gomez and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, among others, remains.

Offseason interest will likely center around strengthening the Wizards' punch in front of goal and adding more quality depth all around -- something that started with the acquisition of Adam Cristman from New England the day after MLS Cup 2008. If an increase is team speed comes with those two, all the better.

"We almost have the whole lineup in place, we just have to add a few parts and maybe upgrade in a few areas if that's possible ...," said Conrad. "I'm actually very, very excited about next year. As much as I'm disappointed about this year, when I reflect upon it, it could potentially be a huge stepping stone for our future success."


Hejduk adjusts style in MLS Cup win
La Liga Preview: Barcelona - Valladolid
Agoos, Williams lend Red Bulls perspective

Crew notebook: Ekpo continues big year

CARSON, Calif. -- Ho-hum. Another final for Emmanuel Ekpo.

Actually, it's been quite a year for the Columbus Crew midfielder as he's at a championship match for the second time in three months.

Ekpo, 20, played for the Nigerian Olympic team that earned the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics. He was on the field for the last 20 minutes of the 1-0 loss in the final to Argentina on Aug. 23.

He will be a reserve Sunday when the Crew face New York for the MLS Cup.

NEWSMLS Cup recap
• Crew capture first MLS Cup
• MLS Cup Notes: Crew win Cup
• Schelotto named MLS Cup MVP
• Hejduk adjusts style in MLS Cup
• Lewis: Right team took Cup
• Davis: Tactics trumped by talent
• Wolyniec rewards Osorio's faith
• Red Bulls waste strong first half
• Cup win sweet for Crew's Moreno
• Red Bulls can't dodge final dagger
• Crew win Cup with team effort
• Crew notebook: Trio hope to return
• Red Bulls notebook: Still proud
MLS Cup Sights & Sounds

Highlights: CLB 3, NY 1

ExtraTime: MLS Cup Final

Crew top Red Bulls, 3-1

Crew celebrate MLS Cup win

Crew locker room celebration

MLS Cup trophy ceremony

Schelotto postgame interview

Crew players react

Crew press conference

Red Bulls press conference

One-Touch spotlight: Angel

One-Touch spotlight: Schelotto

Hejduk's late clincher

Marshall's game-winner

Wolyniec's equalizer

Moreno puts Crew on top
Nov. 22 headlines
• Tactical surprises unlikely
• NY native Gaven still growing
• Sidelined Stammler supportive
Nov. 21 headlines
• Carroll is Crew's unsung hero
• Goldthwaite stabilizes Red Bulls
• Crew expect strong support
Nov. 20 headlines
• Backline is Crew's backbone
• Angel key to Red Bulls' success
• LA weather sweet as Crew train
SIGHTS & SOUNDS

State of the League Address

Extra Time: Red Bulls preview

Extra Time: Crew preview

Crew arrive in Los Angeles

Crew practice Thursday

Red Bulls talk Cup

Crew talk beards, MLS Cup

"The crowd will be different but it is the same type of game playing in the finals of the Olympics and now I'm playing in the finals in the MLS," Ekpo said. "I don't think I'll have nerves. At the Olympics I was a little bit nervous in front of the crowd but I'm OK with that."

Crew teammate Robbie Rogers was also at the Olympics but the United States was eliminated in a loss to Nigeria in the last match of the opening round.

He said the MLS Cup has a different feel than what he experienced in China.

"You can't really compare it to the Olympics. There's 60,000-plus in the stands there. Just putting on your national team jersey means a lot," said Rogers, who expects to start in the midfield for the Crew. "I think at the beginning, maybe during warmups, I'll have some nervousness. You get used to it and it doesn't really affect you."

New heights for Hejduk: Crew captain Frankie Hejduk has been there and done that for both club and country. With all of his experience in MLS, the Bundesliga and the World Cup, Hejduk has never reached the pinnacle of domestic play.

That will all change when he leads Columbus out onto the field on Sunday afternoon.

"Definitely in MLS, this is my biggest game ever," Hejduk said. "This rates up there with some of the World Cup games I've played in. I've given nine years of my career to MLS and this is the first time I've had this chance in an MLS Cup. Whenever you give a bit of your life to something, it means a lot to you."

It means so much to Hejduk that he compared it to his roles in two World Cup finals with the United States.

"It rates up there with me in terms of being in a World Cup because you're together all year long just for one major goal," Hejduk. "It's finally here and we're taking hold of that and grasping that. We know what it's like now. We have that buzz and we have that itch. We're like bucking horses. We can't wait for tomorrow."

Last man standing: No one among the players, coaching staff or support team has been around as many Crew games as assistant coach Robert Warzycha.

The former Polish international joined the Crew in June of their inaugural 1996 season and has seen the club come close before, but never qualify for the MLS Cup Final until beating Chicago on Nov. 13 in the Eastern Conference Championship.

"It finally happened. I've been waiting 13 years for this to happen. We have a team this year that obviously can go all the way," he said Saturday after the team's final practice. "Tomorrow I don't want to be overly excited."

He's been to MLS Cups before as spectator and as part of his duties as an assistant but it was nothing like this.

"There's so much distraction on the field and off the field for the guys to go through," he said. "I'm very excited for them but the other stuff that comes with it, you have to put aside and think about the game but it's a great feeling. It's different than if you came here to watch the game. You're actually involved."

In attendance: On hand to watch their team practice Saturday at The Home Depot Center were brothers Clark and Dan Hunt, sons of the late Crew founder Lamar Hunt, and Hunt Sports Group president John Wagner.

The Hunts owned Kansas City when it won the 2000 MLS Cup in Washington's RFK Stadium and lost to D.C. United in 2004 at The Home Depot Center.

Blowing out the candles: Defender Danny O'Rourke answered a lot of questions this week so he had one for the reporters Saturday: "Can we play already?"

He also said he would be thrilled to celebrate goalkeeper William Hesmer's 27th birthday Sunday if the Crew take the title.

"I'll buy whatever he wants if we win. No, don't quote that," O'Rourke said.

Ready to entertain: Columbus and the Crew received some encouraging news Saturday when the draw for the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying was announced.

The U.S. will open by playing host to Mexico on Feb. 11. That has fueled speculation that the U.S. Soccer Federation will hope to replicate the frosty reception its archrival received on Feb. 28, 2001, when Crew Stadium was the site that night for a 2-0 USA victory. Officials wanted a pro-U.S. crowd and wintry weather to disarm the Mexicans and they got it. A standing room only crowd of 24,624 braved freezing temperatures.

Crew president Mark McCullers had preliminary talks with U.S. Soccer in September and planned to broach the subject again Saturday night. He was thrilled by the February date, although noting the U.S. also won 2-0 vs. Mexico on Sept. 3, 2003, in Columbus in another qualifier.

"The things that applied in 2001 would apply in this situation," he said. "Also, people remember how great that crowd was. There's a lot of reasons why those two things marry up in our favor. We proved to be a great home-field advantage.

"It's our desire to get (a contract) wrapped up as quickly as possible if they're agreeable."


Patient Pablo Waiting For Opportunities
Red Bulls notebook: Much to be proud of
Agoos, Williams lend Red Bulls perspective

First XI: Thanks again

A week late, but fully recovered from the feast, First XI looks back at the 2008 season and ahead to 2009 by offering up its annual list of things MLS fans can be thankful for:

11. Double winners. Let's give it up one more time for the 2008 Crew. Seriously, who predicted Columbus would emerge as the best team in the league this year? And the word "team" is key here. As great a playmaker as MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto is, and as great defender as MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall is, the key thing with the Crew is the way the pieces all fit together. Give credit to Sigi Schmid for that, and to Columbus management as well, for allowing Schmid's plan to develop. Also, it was pretty evident in the final that Frankie Hejduk is a great by-example leader. When a team can win a Supporters' Shield and an MLS Cup without a single 10-goal scorer, that shows how balanced they are.

10. Expansion teams. With Seattle's first 10 in place following the expansion draft (OK, 14, really), we can look forward to a 15-team MLS in 2009. And with the groundbreaking that took place outside of Philadelphia yesterday, we can look forward to a 16-team MLS in 2010. The Philly team is particularly exciting for me as it will set up a fantastic three-way feud with Philadelphia, the Red Bulls and D.C. United. I also have a feeling the state of New Jersey (my home state) is going to be split down the middle between Philly and Red Bull. And the line of demarcation figures to be very close to my home on the Jersey Shore.

9. The remaining '96ers. I hope I've got the count right, but the last remaining MLS players who have been in the league essentially in every season since the inaugural campaign are: Jaime Moreno, Steve Ralston, Jesse Marsch, Zach Thornton, Ante Razov and Diego Gutierrez. In addition, there are five players who were around then who have returned after jaunts abroad: Ramiro Corrales, Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis, Brian McBride and Greg Vanney. We know Gutierrez and Vanney have called it quits already, but will it be the end of the road for any more of them? I guess we'll see, but with 13 seasons now in the books, that's quite an accomplishment for this group of players.

8. The Red Bull run. If it had been any other sub .500, fifth-place in their own conference team -- any other team that entered the playoffs backwards -- well, I'd probably look at it differently. But because it was the Red Bulls, the team that used to be called the MetroStars, I have to say it was fun. I've also got to tip my hat to all those involved, because the Red Bulls were not only battling teams on the field, they were battling ghosts of teams past. This is a team that had been past the first round of the playoffs once in its entire existence. A team that, from its first year in the league, always seemed to be defined by the bad bounce, the unlucky break. So, the Red Bulls and their fans deserved everything that came their way on the road to MLS Cup. What was ironic (to me, at least) was that I felt the Red Bulls might have played their best postseason game in the final. For the record, I'll feel the same way if FC Dallas makes it to the final some day.

7. Players staying in the game. When MLS was launched in 1996 behind a great cast of U.S. players, I'd have to say, the ideal scenario for the future was for many of those players to move from the field to the management side. And this is exactly what we're seeing. From Brian Bliss in Columbus and Peter Vermes in Kansas City, to Frankie Klopas in Chicago, Jason Kreis and Garth Lagerwey in Salt Lake, Chris Henderson in Seattle, Jeff Agoos in New York, Mike Burns in New England, Preki with Chivas USA, Dom Kinnear in Houston and Frank Yallop in San Jose, it's been awesome to see.

6. MLSLive.tv. The single greatest invention in the history of MLS. I do not know where I'd be without it. On the road in hotels, in my house, wherever I need it, I've got my MLS games and highlights. And a tip of the hat to the guys who get the highlights up so fast.

5. The new stadia. I go by Red Bull Arena at least once a week and it's starting to look like a stadium. I watch the games from the soccer stadiums on television and, well, there's just no comparison to the way those games look when compared to the games from places like Giants Stadium. Having both conference championship games in soccer stadiums was a landmark occasion in MLS and both cities delivered with atmosphere.

4. Will Johnson's golazo. From the guy who seems to complain every year about the Goal of the Year, I must say the voters got it right this year. I was watching Will's blast live with my sons on television and all three of us said simultaneously, "That's the Goal of the Year." We didn't even realize until we saw the replay that it kissed the post.

3. The hex. What else to say about the final stage of World Cup qualifying but it's always fun and always interesting. Which MLS players will step to the fore for the U.S. and other CONCACAF nations? It's almost like MLS will start in February this year.

2. Intrigue. MLS Cup wasn't over for five minutes and there was already speculation about where players would be playing and coaches would be coaching in 2009. Throw in an expansion draft and you've already got the hot stove burning. Keep it warm!

1. MLS supporters. Seems like just yesterday I was writing a piece for ESPN The Magazine about Sam Pierron and his idea to create the Supporters' Shield and award it to the regular season points leader every year. Watching the final and seeing the supporters of both the Crew and the Red Bulls singing their lungs out, knowing how far they had to travel, and the sacrifices they had to make to get to Los Angeles, reminded me how passionate MLS supporters are. Year to year, it only gets stronger.


Red Bulls turn page quickly after Cup loss
Del Nido Calls On Sevilla Fans For Support
Red Bulls unable to avert final dagger

Generation adidas team announced

A group of 16 young Major League Soccer players will go on an eight-day trip to London, which will include three matches against English Premier League reserve teams, training at Chelsea Academy and tickets to an EPL match and a UEFA Champions League match, as well.

Leading the way with four players scheduled to make the trip are both FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake. FCD will be represented by goalkeeper Josh Lambo, rookie midfielders Eric Avila and Bruno Guarda and second-year midfielder Anthony Wallace while Real Salt Lake is sending the quartet of fullback Tony Beltran, goalkeeper Chris Seitz, midfielder Alex Nimo and striker Yura Movsisyan.

A pair of teams are sending two players each: the New England Revolution represented by rookie defenders Amaechi Igwe and Rob Valentino and Toronto FC included with defender Marvell Wynne and forward Abdus Ibrahim. Rounding out the players will be Kansas City Wizards rookie midfielder Roger Espinoza, Colorado Rapids midfielder Ciaran O'Brien and Chicago Fire defender Bakary Soumare, while a 16th player in the squad will be announced shortly.

Coaching the squad will be San Jose's Frank Yallop, who will be assisted by Ian Russell.

The players, all part of Generation adidas, will arrive in London on Dec. 6 and are scheduled to return to the United States on Dec. 14. After attending an EPL match that afternoon, the team have a pair of training sessions at Chelsea Academy on Dec. 7 before playing the West Ham reserves on Dec. 8.

The team returns to training on Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. and will get a tour of the Stamford Bridge Stadium and museum in the afternoon.

The next morning, the Generation adidas team will face the Chelsea reserves and later that night are scheduled to attend the UEFA Champions League match between Chelsea and CFR Cluj Napoca.

The next morning the team boards a coach and will face the Aston Villa reserves that afternoon.

On Dec. 12, the players will get to watch the Chelsea first team train at Chelsea Academy and will enjoy and afternoon of sightseeing around London.

It is some more sightseeing on Dec. 13 before returning to the United States the following morning.


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Osorio’s midfield gamble pays off
Dynamo embrace shot at redemption

Dynamo embrace shot at redemption

HOUSTON -- Perhaps Houston Dynamo midfielder Craig Waibel said it best. Asked about the Orange's opportunity to play another competitive match after losing out in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs to league runner-up New York, Waibel just shook his head and smiled.

"It's just a rare, odd, awkward and awesome opportunity," said Waibel after leaving a lengthy training session last Thursday. "The one thing -- and this has been proven time, and time, and time, and time again, is that ... we have been put in situations that are unfavorable, and every time, this team has shown up to play."

And the Dynamo will have that opportunity Tuesday night, at 7 p.m. local time when they play host to El Salvador's CD Luis Angel Firpo at Robertson Stadium.

Wednesday's tilt will be the team's 48th competitive match of the season, the most of its MLS brethren, and the most ever for an MLS team in a single year. To date, the Dynamo have won 18 of those matches, tied another 20 and lost just nine.

Even though the sting of their 3-0 loss to New York more than two weeks ago still lingers, the team is ready to officially close out a year that saw the team win a regular season Western Conference championship for the first time in team history.

A win Wednesday would qualify the Dynamo for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Should they advance, the Dynamo will play host to the first leg Feb. 24-26, with the second leg scheduled for March 3-5. Possible quarterfinal opponents are Atlante and Santos Laguna from Mexico and Marathon from Honduras.

Goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who was left off the Dynamo's protected list for the upcoming MLS expansion draft, said the team is ready to thrill the fans one more time.

"It's certainly not the game we wanted to be preparing for, but it's still an important game," said Onstad. "I think the week off that (head coach) Dom (Kinnear) gave us helped the team time to refocus.

"This is an important game because we want to go forward, not only to represent the MLS and the city of Houston, but to end the season on a high note."

Wednesday's game was originally scheduled for Sept. 17, but Hurricane Ike thrashed the Houston community, making it impossible to host the game at that time.

Now, more than two months later, and after the team's hopes for a third consecutive MLS title have faded away, the team hopes to avenge a 1-1 draw from the last time the Dynamo played Firpo.

In that match, a game that featured mostly Dynamo reserves, Stuart Holden (who is suspended Wednesday for yellow card accumulation) gave the Orange a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.

But Fernando Leguizamon took a pass from Ramon Avila and Carlos Monteagudo in the 87th minute and scored to earn a point in the standings for the Salvadoran side.

Defender Eddie Robinson hopes the team's preparation for the match will be rewarded with a win Wednesday night in Houston.

"If you were to come out and watch us train since then, you wouldn't know that we weren't playing for anything less than the MLS championship," Robinson said. "That is the thing about this team; whether or not we are playing a game or practicing, we are just as competitive either way.

"The attitude never changes for us and that is what has kept us so good for so long. I think you are going to see a lot of that when we take the field."

One thing the players talked about after the 3-0 loss to New York in the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinal Series was how many scoring opportunities the team failed to convert in the match. Some players said they outplayed the Red Bulls.

Still, others said, destiny had other plans for the two-time defending champions, and it would not have mattered how many times they would have scored.

Robinson said the match against Firpo could be a therapy of sorts for he and his mates.

"It's a chance for us to actually put some balls in the back of the net and just say 'Thank you' to our fans that have supported us from start to finish," said Robinson. "I think you are certainly going to see a lot of intensity and fire from this team when we take the field in front of what we think is the greatest home-field advantage in this league.

"We know what this game means for next season and we are really excited about it."


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Sounders bolster defense through draft

SEATTLE -- Seattle Sounders FC expanded their roster from four players to 14 with the completion of Wednesday's MLS expansion draft, adding to the squad with a group of veteran players as well as some young talent.

"The goal for the draft was to come out with a team that was extremely balanced, with a combination of experienced veterans and young guys with an enormous upside," said Sounders FC general manager Adrian Hanauer.

And as the team already had attacking players Sebastien LeToux, Freddie Ljungberg and Sanna Nyassi on their books, balance would involve building up the defense around goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

That meant Sounders selected four defenders, starting with defender Jeff Parke, who started 23 games for the MLS Cup runner-up New York Red Bulls. He's the odd man out in the draft, being the only free agent chosen by the Sounders. Parke will also spend the beginning of 2008 completing his 10-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy, but thanks to the Red Bulls' long playoff run, he would miss just the first four games of 2009.

"I spoke to him, and we had a previous relationship," said Sounders FC technical director Chris Henderson. "We're talking about the opportunity of staying in MLS and coming to Seattle. It'll take some time, but we'll see."

In addition to Parke, the Sounders also picked James Riley from the San Jose Earthquakes, who started 23 games in 2008; Nathan Sturgis from Real Salt Lake, who started three games; and Tyson Wahl from the Kansas City Wizards, who started 16 games in 2008.

"These are all guys who can play," said Henderson. "They're giving the team a balance that is very good. They're versatile, and we're looking forward to working with them."

Sturgis had been an injury concern, but according to Henderson, he is now in good shape. He was originally named to last summer's U.S. team to play in the Beijing Olympics, but not only was unable to play in China, he also played just one minute of first-team soccer for RSL after April.

"Nathan was a great youth national team player," said Henderson. "He's great at moving it from one side to the other. He's versatile and can play in the back. Barring injuries he would have been competing for an Olympic spot.

"He has great upside. His injuries have been largely muscular, and I had similar problems when I played," Henderson continued. "Having gotten through it, I never had a problem again. I'm happy and we're confident in our staff and trainers being able to work with him, and think he's a great pickup."

In the midfield, the Sounders also selected four players, including Brad Evans from the Columbus Crew, who played in 26 games (18 starts) for the MLS champions in his second season in MLS.

"We took him because he's an exciting central player, a big part of Columbus' season," said Henderson. "He's a great competitor and has a desire to improve. This was an important key for us."

Young midfielder Stephen King, who was a third-round selection of the Chicago Fire in the 2008 SuperDraft, was also taken. He played 20 games, starting eight, in his rookie season.

"He's one of those players that is a consistent player that you can rely on every day," said Henderson. "He's a good pro, great in the center of midfield and very composed in front of goal. We're really happy to have him and think that he is going to be very reliable."

Khano Smith of the New England Revolution and Peter Vagenas of the Los Angeles Galaxy round out the midfield picks. With Smith, a Bermuda international, comes power and pace in a wide position, and with Vagenas comes experience in a central role, having been in the league since 2000.

"He's a champion," said Henderson of Vagenas. "He's a great leader, a competitor who has been a winner at every level. Another veteran to help the younger players along is a great asset."

A strong midfield needs a good frontline to provide for, and the Sounders went for power and skill, choosing Nate Jaqua from the Houston Dynamo. Jaqua, arguably the biggest name player taken, played the second half of the season for the Dynamo after returning from a season spent in Austria. He scored four goals and tallied four assists in 15 games. He provides a towering 6-foot-3 target up front for the Sounders.

The other striker chosen, Jarrod Smith from Toronto FC, was perhaps more of a surprise. Having started only six games for Toronto in 2008, scoring once, he might not have been the first name to jump to many people's lips. Henderson, though, called him an "excellent forward candidate who is looking to move up with his national side" of New Zealand.

Balance was certainly the key to the draft, as Sounders FC mixed youth with experience, defense with attack -- not to mention being able to pick players that give them plenty of room under the salary cap.

"This is just one of the steps in building our team," said Hanauer. "We're also in discussions with USL and international players. We wanted to bring in players that would allow us to fit everyone under the salary cap and use our allocation budget wisely. We came into the draft prepared, picking players with skill, experience, youth and more. Ultimately it was an enjoyable and rewarding experience."

The Sounders have further opportunities to expand the squad with the MLS SuperDraft in January, and have the rights to USL players. More players will be added before training camp opens in late January, and the club hopes to name its coach before the end of the year.


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Cristman comes early for Wizards

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The Kansas City Wizards on Monday acquired 23-year-old forward Adam Cristman from the New England Revolution for allocation money and Kansas City's natural third-round selection in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. The trade was consummated within the day's three-hour trading window ahead of the deadline to submit their 11-man protected lists for Wednesday's expansion draft, in which Seattle Sounders FC will choose 10 players from the league's 14 other teams to continue stocking its roster.

It's a case of the holiday season coming early for the Wizards, who can now check one item off their offseason needs list.

"[The Revolution] came right out to us. This was a quick one. I wasn't expecting this to happen today by any means," said Kansas City technical director Peter Vermes. "We've been after [Cristman] definitely this season but even part of last season as well."

Cristman was an impact player from the start of the 2007 season after being drafted out of the University of Virginia in the fourth round in that year's MLS SuperDraft. One of three finalists for the 2007 MLS Rookie of the Year award, Cristman was in the mix for a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team after scoring four goals and assisting on four others in 28 league appearances during 2007. The trade was a surprise as well for the Glen Allen, Va. native.

"It was definitely a big surprise. I had done the math in my head, and I wasn't sure where I stood on the [expansion draft] protected/unprotected line. I think that played a little part in [the trade]," Cristman said. "It's nice to know that Kansas City has been after me for awhile. It's nice to be appreciated and wanted, and I'm really looking forward to get out there and work hard for a team that wants me."

"What we really like about him is that he's an American target forward. He's a very big kid," said Vermes of the 6-foot, 180-lb. Cristman. "He's made a very good jump into MLS. He has a certain amount of ability, and he combines that with a tremendous work ethic."

Cristman compiled six goals (third-most with the Revs) and one assist in 18 appearances this season, one shortened by three months due to a turf toe-like injury called hallux rigidus -- accelerated cartilage wear and arthritis of the big toe metatarophalangeal (MTP) joint. Recent surgery seems to have been successful.

"The toe is doing very well. I've started jogging here and there, really trying not to do too much too fast," said Cristman, who feels he has 80-90 percent of the movement back already. "[There is] no pain. I feel really positive that the surgery was a success, and I'm looking forward to making a full recovery and getting back to it."

Having seen Cristman throughout his college days and, for Vermes, with the U-20 U.S. national team, the Wizards really like Cristman's off-the-ball defensive work, along with his offensive abilities.

"He's been a pretty good goal scorer so far. He's a very courageous guy -- he'll put his head on the end of anything. ... He's a young guy; we're pretty happy about this," Vermes said.

Cristman joins Abe Thompson, acquired from FC Dallas in September, and Colombian Ivan Trujillo on the Wizards' target forward depth chart. Trujillo seems like the odd man out as his playing time fell off dramatically in the last third of the season. But more acquisitions are being looked at to add to the squad's depth and improve its talent base.

"We still have quite a bit of allocation money," said Vermes. "We have a couple of other players we're looking to get. But [Cristman] fills a hole that we were looking at."


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Crew honored at Ohio Statehouse

COLUMBUS -- Two days after the Columbus Crew captured their first MLS Cup with a 3-1 win against the New York Red Bulls in Carson, Calif., the team was greeted with its second rowdy rally.

The first came Monday at 11 p.m. when Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman led hundreds of fans in greeting their returning heroes to Port Columbus International Airport.

The second came Tuesday afternoon at the Ohio statehouse, under what would be described as "hockey weather."

"It was crazy. We were all really, really tired but they had their drums out," midfielder Eddie Gaven said. "There were like 400, 500 fans there. Signing autographs, you could see how much it meant to them. It makes you feel really proud."

As did the turnout just before dusk Tuesday when several hundred chanting fans braved a 25-degree wind chill, a light mist and whipping winds to gather on the west plaza of the Statehouse to hear Gov. Ted Strickland honor the Crew when he said, "Our Columbus Crew earned this championship. Today is a great day for the Crew and the soccer fans across the great state of Ohio."

Strickland led an 18-minute ceremony that started shortly after 5 p.m. The fans huddled together and offered loud applause, although a bit muffled by their gloves. They implored Crew owner Clark Hunt to re-sign out-of-contract coach Sigi Schmid (who stayed in California after a death in the family) and reserved their biggest cheers for league and MLS Cup Most Valuable Player Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

As is the tradition during games in the Nordecke -- the supporters' section in the northeast corner of Crew Stadium -- they bowed to him and chanted his name. Schelotto waved to the crowd but did not speak.

"Doing something like this, it's all about the fans," said Nick Rittenhouse of Columbus, who was at the game Sunday and returned Monday. "They know what it's about and wanted to share it with us."

For Gaven it could be his last hurrah. He was left unprotected in the expansion draft and could be claimed Wednesday by Seattle Sounders FC.

"Right now I'm looking at it as anything can happen and if it's meant to happen it's going to happen," he said. "I'm really hoping I'll be back next year. Right now I'm not sure because it's not fully up to me. If it was I'd definitely be back here."

Midfielder Brian Carroll, a member of D.C. United's MLS Cup winners in 2004, understands that change is inevitable even for a title team.

"Hopefully, we can keep most of the guys around but it's not going to be the exact same. Every team changes every year," he said. "It was a really special year, an incredible journey. We're sad it has to end. A lot of us we're talking that we wish it didn't have to end yet. We won it. It was a great way to end the season on a high note."

It was a time to celebrate and not look too far ahead.

Hunt spoke to the crowd of his father, Lamar Hunt, one of the driving forces in soccer in this country for more than 40 years and the founder of the Crew in 1996. Lamar Hunt died in December 2006.

"His dream became a reality, winning the MLS Cup for his beloved Crew," Clark Hunt said. "In my over 20 years in sports the chemistry in the locker room was the most incredible I've seen."

After the ceremony, the Crew players took the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy into the crowd briefly before going to Gov. Strickland's office for a tour and pictures. Fans milled around the rotunda until the players reemerged.

"I'm getting autographs then I'm going to get it framed and give it to my husband for Christmas," said Columbus resident Elizabeth Trupp as she held the front page of Monday's The Columbus Dispatch with the headline "Champs at last."

She wanted to be at the game but had a good excuse."I'm in my third my third trimester of pregnancy so no fly. Otherwise, I would have gone but I had to be here today.

"We watched it at a bar downtown. It's beyond words. I've been a fan since season one so this is pretty incredible. The whole season was magical from the first game the way they came out against Toronto and built on that. It's been an incredible season."

Gaven had a similar feeling. "It almost felt ... magical a little bit. There was such a special bond between all the players, between the players and coaches; between the players, coaches and fans; between everybody in this whole city. That special bond you felt, hopefully, we can bring that back next year and years to come."

The Columbus City Council is expected to honor the Crew on Dec. 8 and the Ohio state legislature is also expected to pass a resolution of congratulations. Also, a trip to visit the White House is a possibility next year.

"It's been awesome," captain Frankie Hejduk said. "The fans have been our supporting cast. They have so much pride in us and vice versa, us in them. It all came together in Sunday's game. It's not only the players, the staff and the organization who deserve the trophy but these fans who came to support us over the years and especially this year. They deserve it more than ever."


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