On Fire: Chicago back in USOC final

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — The Chicago Fire are finally back in a US Open Cup final. The so-called "Kings of the Cup" beat the USL-Pro Richmond Kickers 2-1 in Tuesday night’s Open Cup semifinal at Toyota Park, advancing to their sixth USOC title game and their first since 2006. Here are three other storylines from the match: Oduro on fire Forward Dominic Oduro has scored some good goals in his recent hot streak, but none have been anywhere near as pretty as his beautiful strike Tuesday night. Oduro put the Fire up 2-0 in the 61st minute, running onto forward Patrick Nyarko’s through ball on the left wing before cutting in on his right foot and curling a gorgeously shaped shot into the right upper 90 from 20 yards out. It was his third goal in as many games. "I don’t even know who passed me the ball," Oduro said with a laugh. "But it was a great ball on the sideline. I took the defender on and he just committed himself on one side I took it to the other side, saw the net and tried to whip the ball in and it went in." The goal also made quite the impression on Chicago interim head coach Frank Klopas, who has been working with Oduro on finishing all season long.    "It was a fantastic goal," Klopas said. "I thought it was a world class goal. He just bent it upper 90, it was just fantastic. He’s been really super for us and I know that he’s going to continue to develop and get better and score more goals. He’s been fantastic."   Grazzini injured, expects to be back for San Jose Midfielder Sebastián Grazzini came off at halftime of Tuesday’s game with an injured hamstring. The Argentine playmaker, who set up and scored the Fire’s first half penalty kick, told reporters after the match that he should be back in plenty of time for Chicago’s next game, a Sept. 10 league clash at San Jose. "I had a little bit of a knock on my ankle from the last match so tonight I overcompensated with my other leg and the last play of the first half I felt it tighten up a little," Grazzini said through a translator. "But I have 10 days to recuperate so I think I will be okay." Grazzini has been great since signing with the Fire in mid-July, scoring three goals and providing two assists in seven games across all competitions. Confidence at a new high Tuesday’s win was the third in a row across all competitions for the surging Fire, who find themselves believing a little bit more with every victory. Chicago are now unbeaten in their last five games, a stretch that’s put them in the Open Cup final and just five points out of the playoffs. "I think our confidence is high," Nyarko said. "After the first win, we rode that confidence to the second one, then we rode that confidence to the third one. Now we know we can win games however close or not close they are. Every guy, no matter who is hurt and who replaces them, has the same form of confidence to jump right in and help the team progress.  I think we need to feed off of this and carry it into the remainder of the games."

DC United's trust in Willis' big-game mentality pays off

WASHINGTON — On August 13, with Bill Hamid serving a red-card suspension, D.C. United's third-string ‘keeper Joe Willis recorded a shutout in a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps in his MLS debut. Eight days later, Willis took a hard-luck 1-0 loss on Aug. 21 against Sporting Kansas City. The performances proved that Willis can hack it in MLS. But if it weren’t for ties to DC assistant coach Chad Ashton, Willis may have never made his way to the nation’s capital at all. Willis’ collegiate playing career began at the University of Denver in 2006 — Ashton’s last season in charge of the program before taking an assistant job with DC in early 2007. It was that year as a freshman that the coach first caught a glimpse of Willis’ game-day mentality. SAVE: Willis parries Zusi blast "There are certain guys who rise to the occasion when the big lights come on and he’s that guy, and you have to see it happen to really trust it," Ashton said. Ashton’s inside information on Willis meant that the young goalkeeper was going to be watched closely by DC. The two kept in touch sporadically after Ashton left the Pioneers, and briefly spoke in January at the MLS Combine. "I talked to [Ashton] before the draft started and he just said, ‘All the best,’" Willis said. "Towards the end of the draft, I saw that he was calling and I was confused at first. ... I talked to him and he said, 'We just traded for the pick.'" In the third round, United swapped a few picks with the LA Galaxy to add the 23-year-old in order to add depth to their stable of ‘keepers. "Going into the draft, we knew that he could be a guy that most people weren’t aware of, and the opportunity came where we could make a little move to move up and pick him up," Ashton said. Willis then arrived in DC, earned a roster spot in the preseason, and after spending more than half a season at third on the depth chart, made his first start against Vancouver. According to Ashton, fellow coaches Ben Olsen and Pat Onstad were slightly nervous going into Willis’ debut. The former Pioneers coach, however, was confident in his former player. And Willis delivered. "I’m not surprised by either performance," Ashton said of Willis’ two starts. "In both games, I thought he did a fantastic job." Following Willis’ performances, Olsen paid credit to Ashton for locating the late-round addition. "Joe’s all Chad," Olsen said last week. "I can’t take any credit for him." With Hamid healthy and no longer facing suspension, Willis will return to the bench for the time being — although he did start Monday morning’s reserve match in Toronto. But in two league games, he’s showed potential to be a reliable backup, and certainly proved the ability to rise to the occasion.

Full list of MLS players called for September FIFA dates

Call-ups for Sept. 2 and 6 FIFA dates: 51 total players representing 17 different countries from 17 MLS clubs. The vast majority of players called are from CONCACAF teams, some playing friendlies and some just starting the qualification process for the 2014 World Cup. There are also MLS players heading across the Atlantic to represent four different African squads, and the LA Galaxy’s Robbie Keane heading to Ireland to captain the Boys in Green in Euro 2012 qualifying. RBNY will lose the most with six players leaving for the international dates, while San Jose were the only club not to see anyone from their squad called in. In what shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, the US called up the most MLS players — 11 in total — followed by Canada and Jamaica with seven. Of the non-CONCACAF contingent, Gambia lead the way with three MLSers called in, including Vancouver Whitecaps Designated Player Mustapha Jarju. Chicago Fire Marco Pappa (Guatemala) Chivas USA Ante Jazic (Canada) Michael Umaña (Costa Rica)

Freak Pearce injury sums up frustrating night for Chivas

CARSON, Calif. — Chivas USA have been anchored by Heath Pearce throughout their entire season. In one moment on Saturday night, the Rojiblancos had their leader in the back taken from them, encapsulating one of their most frustrating games of the season in a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake. In the 59th minute, with the team up a man and pressing for an equalizer, Pearce went down and forced a substitution that caused Chivas to play with a makeshift back line for the rest of the match. The "freak" injury, as Pearce described, was a devastating one for a defender who had up until then had played every minute for the Rojiblancos this season and just recently been called up for US national-team duty. "It wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary," he explained after the match. "I wasn’t running hard, I wasn’t sprinting hard, I remember cutting gently to my left and I just felt a pop in my [right] hamstring. Trainers say it is swelling and they think it is a tear." WATCH: FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS "Hopefully, I can get an MRI and be able to assess how bad it is," he continued. "I hope that it’s nothing and that it’s a minor strain, but [team trainers] seem confident otherwise so we’ll get an MRI and speak more specifically soon." Losing Pearce was a microcosm of Chivas USA’s struggles throughout the night. Whether it was a defensive miscue in just the 10th minute by Ante Jazic that led to the decisive goal or the fact that the Goats failed to equalize despite playing with a man advantage for more than an hour, it was a night of what could go wrong, went wrong. Time and time again, the Goats were able to control possession — particularly in the first half — but they couldn’t translate that into quality chances, leading to a great deal of frustration from head coach Robin Fraser. "We moved the ball well in the first half, very quickly and very urgently and put ourselves into great serving positions," said Fraser. "We pretty much had them in pressure the rest of the first half, so to come out in the second half without enough energy was not enough."  As Chivas USA look to put the result behind them, their focus falls to their injured leader, who they hope to have on the field once again when they face D.C. United on Sept. 10. "We have almost two weeks, and we know that muscle injuries can heal in that time," said Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy. "We’ll keep our fingers crossed for Heath and we hope that he’ll be alright.

FCD Notebook: Jacobson improving, makes trip to KC

While it was a chaotic, lightning-filled 24 hours north of the border for FC Dallas at midweek, Andrew Jacobson’s allergic reaction to peanuts and ensuing visit to the hospital topped the unpredictable climate. Following his pregame routine of eating energy bars, Jacobson grabbed one before FC Dallas headed onto the pitch at BMO Field on Thursday morning for the replay of their CONCACAF Champions League game. But this bar was filled with peanuts. "I ate like a chocolate bar in the locker room," he told MLSsoccer.com over the phone on Friday afternoon. "I eat them all the time before games, but I guess in Canada, they’re different." Jacobson — who has known about his peanut allergy his whole life — was quickly taken to the hospital after developing a violent reaction. As FC Dallas traveled to Toronto Pearson International Airport after the game to make their afternoon flight to Dallas and connection to Kansas City, Jacobson remained at the hospital unsure if he would be on the team’s flight until a stroke of fortune went FCD’s way. "I went to the hospital and one of the doctors was affiliated with Toronto, so he gave me a lot of attention," said Jacobson, who completed a pool workout with the first team in Kansas City and worked out in the hotel weight room Friday. Not all was lost on Jacobson’s trip however. He started and played 45 minutes at center back in Wednesday’s originally scheduled game before it was canceled due to inclement weather. "I really enjoyed it," he admitted of the central defense spot. "It’s definitely a different pace; you play a lot different. It helped having Kevin [Hartman] behind me, Ugo [Ihemelu] next to me, and Daniel [Hernandez] in front of me. They helped me out a lot." Jacobson added that he is available and looks forward to get on the pitch at Livestrong Sporting Park in FCD’s first visit to the new stadium on Saturday (8:30 pm ET, watch LIVE online). Castillo returns from Colombia "changed" When Fabián Castillo returned to FC Dallas earlier this month following his six-week tenure with the Colombian national team at the U-20 World Cup, he noticed a little wear and tear in his club mates. "My teammates are a little tired with all the games, but we have to work hard to obtain the championships," he said of FC Dallas’ quadruple pursuit of the US Open Cup, Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup and CONCACAF Champions League trophy. Castillo — who said he has a full tank and is ready to help his team in any way — brings a different element to the FC Dallas attack: speed and unpredictability. Head coach Schellas Hyndman said it would take two weeks for him to readjust to the system but, regardless, Castillo comes back somewhat a different player. "In my case, I come back better and a little more changed," he said of his time with the Colombian Under-20s. "I want to leave it all on the field." Castillo played for nearly an hour on Thursday morning against Toronto FC after coming on as a substitute in the home loss to Seattle last weekend. He added that while he was away, he regularly communicated with forward Maykel Galindo to see how the team was doing. "The team is doing things well," he added. "Right now, we have to work hard."

ALERT: Hurricane prompts MLS to make schedule changes

NEW YORK — Citing general public safety concerns, Major League Soccer has made the following schedule changes because of the potential impact of Hurricane Irene:

FCD survive weather, allergies to escape Toronto with win

If it wasn’t lightning storms and pouring rain washing out FC Dallas’ hopes of pulling out a result at BMO Field, it was a last-minute allergic reaction to one of their key players. But somehow FCD survived a freakish trip to Toronto, riding a goal from newly acquired backup defender Jack Stewart to beat TFC, 1-0, on Thursday to stand alone atop Group C in the CONCACAF Champions League play, with six points through two matches. It was the thankful ending to a bizarre 24 hours for Dallas, who saw a 1-0 halftime lead over Toronto wiped out by vicious weather on Wednesday night. CONCACAF elected to abandon the match and, by tournament rules, replay it in its entirety on Thursday morning. As FC Dallas re-took BMO Field on Thursday for their rare weekday-morning match, starting center back Andrew Jacobson approached head coach Schellas Hyndman and informed him of allergic reaction he was having from some locker-room snacks. "A.J. came up just as we are getting ready to walk out to the field for the game and said, ‘I’ve been into some cans over there and I didn’t realize that it had peanuts in there and I’m allergic to peanuts,’" Hyndman explained to MLSsoccer.com by phone after the match. "His body was shutting down so we had to take him to the hospital." Jacobson remained at the hospital for the duration of the game and it was uncertain whether he would join the team on their flight back to Dallas and connection to Kansas City. Stewart — less than a week after arriving on loan from NSC Minnesota Stars of the NASL — was also unaware of the situation that was developing right before kickoff as FC Dallas had only 10 players on the field. "I didn’t know what was going on," Stewart admitted to MLSsoccer.com. "They just told me to go in there and I was like, 'This is going to be interesting.’" That was only the beginning for FCD. Captain Daniel Hernandez uncharacteristically missed a 45th-minute penalty kick wide left and Dallas had to survive a late, desperate assault from the home side as a couple hundred fans watched on. But just a minute after Hernandez’s miss, Stewart answered by flicking a near-post cross from Ugo Ihemelu past Reds goalkeeper Milos Kocic. "A better script would have been you would have known you were starting," said Stewart of his fairytale beginning with FC Dallas, "but at the end of the day, I did what I was brought in here to do, and that was to give cover to guys and then try to work my way into the lineup." Hyndman had come to expect the worst Thursday morning after all of the situations that went against FCD over the previous 12 hours. And while the penalty kick proved him right, Stewart’s performance was well timed. "Just before we took the penalty kick, I said, ‘It’s going to be typical for us to miss it because so many things have been going wrong,’" Hyndman said. "It’s hard to score a goal when you are sitting on the bench and I thought [Stewart] did a really good job flicking that ball in."