Recently in Chivas USA Category

And if that's what you came here for, scroll down.

With just over 24 hours to go until the Galaxy-Chivas USA Western Conference semifinal second leg (4:30 p.m. Sunday ESPN2) and the teams deadlocked at 2-2 halfway through what is essentially a 180 minute game (although, of course, it could go longer) here's press box colleague Luis Bueno on the pressure on Chivas USA.

Ives Galarcep reaches a similar conclusion here.

Oh, and happy birthday to Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein (who turns 25 today).

Friday's women's college games
Washington 1 UCLA 2

Friday's men's college games
UCLA 1 Oregon 1

Loyola Marymount 2 Gonzaga 1

Cal State Dominguez Hills 2 Cal State San Bernardino 1

Washington State 0 USC 0

And finally, they throw you out of the soccer bloggers club if you don't post this video. If you're one of the three people in the country who have yet to see this check it out:

For perspective, here's the view of Los Angeles feminist soccer blogger Jennifer Doyle.

That second trivia question was a little tougher, apparently.

Far fewer readers could name one of two goalkeepers who had dressed for both the Galaxy and Chivas USA this season than correctly answered the first question.

The answers: Miguel Benitez of Cal State Dominguez Hills and Kevin Guppy of Cal State Northridge. Both were among the pool of emergency goalkeepers MLS keeps on hand to help clubs caught short in that position and both were called up by the two clubs at some point this season.

The winners: Adam Serrano of Arcadia and Far Farshad of Pacific Palisades.

Congrats to both - I've sent you e-mails telling you when and where to pick up your pair of tickets to Sunday's Galaxy-Chivas USA Western conference semifinal decider at Home Depot Center in Carson.

Thanks to everyone who entered the two contests and the Galaxy for providing the four pairs of tickets.

If you didn't win and still want to go the game, click here.

Two days until the Galaxy-Chivas USA Western Conference semifinal from Carson's Home Depot Center (4:30 p.m. ESPN2) and the Galaxy blog reports tickets are going fast and the club is considering opening up the grass berm.

Don't have yours yet? Click here.

Suggested reading/listening/viewing:
*Reporter Phil Collin has more on the game here.

*The Galaxy's Chris Birchall, a mid-season signing, is fast becoming a regular on the starting XI. Did he expect that?

*Former Chicago Fire player Jared Montz talks to Chivas USA's Jesse Marsch in a podcast on his blog.

*Can the Galaxy get a goal or two past the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year?

I'll have more on the game Saturday.

Plenty of other soccer to watch this weekend on TV (click to the right for a full listing).

Saturday's games
6:54 a.m. ESPN2 Tottenham Hotspur-Sunderland
7 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Aston Villa-Bolton Wanderers
9:30 a.m. FSC Wolverhampton Wanderers-Arsenal
12:45 p.m. ESPND Athletico Madrid-Real Madrid
5:30 p.m. FSC Chicago Fire-New England Revolution
7 p.m. KVEA Atlas-CD Guadalajara

Sunday's games
6 a.m. FSC Lazio-AC Milan
8 a.m. FSC Chelsea-Manchester United
11:30 a.m. FSC Inter Milan-Roma
Noon TeleFutura Houston Dynamo-Seattle Sounders
2 p.m. KMEX Club America-Monterrey

In local college action:
*Cal State Dominguez Hills (stars and all) is in action today.

*But the season is over for the Cal State Northridge women's team after dropping a 2-1 decision to UC Santa Barbara Thursday. Still, the Matadors finish the year with a 10-10 overall mark and a 6-2 league record that's tied for the best conference result in school history.

*The Matador men end the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday at UC Irvine. Cal State Northridge (9-7-2, 4-4-1, BWC) won 1-0 Wednesday at home against Cal State Fullerton in OT, keeping their playoff aspirations alive going into Saturday's game. From the Matadors press release:

A Northridge victory will give the team enough points to clinch the fourth spot while an Anteater victory will bump Cal Poly from their current position as the second seed and drop them to third place in the standings, giving Irvine an opportunity to host a first-round game.

*The UCLA men UCLA (9-3-2, 4-1-2 Pac-10) return home for a three-game homestand to close the regular season. First up is a 7 o'clock game tonight against Oregon State at Drake Stadium. At 1 p.m. Sunday the Bruins face Washington at Drake Stadium in a game that is free for all veterans and active military personnel (who receive four free admissions with proper ID). In addition, Sunday is AYSO/Youth Soccer Day. Youth soccer team members and their coaches will be admitted free if they're wearing their team jerseys. Moreover, UCLA Alumni Association card holders will receive four free admissions with alumni association card. Team posters will be given away Friday, team photo cards Sunday.

*The Loyola Marymount men (7-8-1, 2-5-1 WCC) close out their season this weekend with games at 2:30 p.m. today against Gonzaga and 2 p.m. Sunday against Portland at Sullivan Field.

Enjoy the weekend.

Feel the passion!

Thanks to the dozens of you who entered the first ticket contest with prizes courtesy of the Galaxy.

The winners: Mike Crandall of Glendora and Kristinne Uy of Rosemead, who win a pair of tickets each to Sunday's big game.

They correctly answered the question: who is the only player to score for both the Galaxy and Chivas USA this season?

The answer, as most of you knew, was Alecko Eskandarian. (Although I did like the person who answered Don Garder, which sounds like MLS Commish Don Garber's Bizarro planet alter-ego).

So for a chance to win one of two more pairs of tickets for Sunday's crucial game (and help the Galaxy fill up the upper deck), let's separate the hardcore soccer fans from the herd since so many of you observed the question was too easy.

You know Eskandarian suited up for both the Galaxy and Chivas USA this season, but did you know two other players accomplished the same feat? Now, neither actually appeared in an MLS game. Both, BTW, are goalkeepers (hint, hint).

Name one of them.

Good luck.

E-mail the answer to nick.green at dailybreeze.com. The deadline is noon Friday. Again, I'll choose two correct answers at random (if there are that many, heh, heh). BTW, credit for this obscure question should go to press box colleague Scott French.

If you don't know the answer, click here.

(Incidentally, this is a helluva RSL-Crew game I'm watching on DVR. Make sure and check out the highlights. Think someone had a point to prove?)

SuperClasico Playoff Passion (AP Photo)

The game is tied at 2-2.

There will be a winner Sunday whether it's after 90 minutes, 120 minutes or penalty kicks.

And the Galaxy are giving away two pairs of tickets to the game to the person who correctly answers the trivia question: Which player has scored for BOTH Chivas USA and the Galaxy this season?

E-mail answers to me at nick.green at dailybreeze.com. I'll accept entries through 3 p.m. and will then pick two correct answers at random.

I'll announce the winners here, so be sure to check back.

Two more pairs of tickets will be available (and a new trivia question) Friday morning for those of you who don't win today.

Alternatively, you can buy tickets to the biggest game in the short rivalry between the two clubs here.

The big Zach attack. (AP Photo)

Readers of this blog didn't agree, but Chivas USA's Zach Thornton was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year today, 11 years after first taking the honor with the Chicago Fire.

That time span between awards was undoubtedly one of the reasons the 36-year-old took the honor, beating out the Galaxy's Donovan Ricketts and Seattle Sounders veteran Kasey Keller (both in their first MLS seasons). Thornton equals the feats of Joe Cannon and Pat Onstad in becoming one of only three MLS goalkeepers to win the award twice.

"Whenever you're mentioned in that class of goalkeeper, with [Joe and Pat], you have to feel good about yourself," said Thornton. "To wait this long and to have gone through what I've been through and to be able to win the award again is outstanding."

At one time Thornton was seen as a fading, aging, washed up goalkeeper with youngster Dan Kennedy eagerly waiting in the wings to seize his opportunity.

But Kennedy got injured, Thornton dropped 15-20 pounds at the urging of Chivas USA Coach Preki and all of a sudden Zach was back helped by a very good back four in front of him.

From the Chivas USA press release:

In 2009, Thornton led Chivas USA to a 13-11-6 record and posted a career-best 12 shutouts and 0.87 goals against average, both of which were the top marks in MLS.

Thornton's goals against average this season ranks second all-time in league history behind Pat Onstad's 0.82 in 2007, and his 12 shutouts were one shy of the club record, set by Brad Guzan in 2007.

Thornton became the second Chivas USA goalkeeper to win the award, following Guzan's record-setting campaign in 2007.

Thornton ranks second all-time in MLS in shutouts (70) and wins (125), behind only former Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.

So this seems as good as any segue to mention that Thornton's efforts between the posts are among the 32 nominees (he has two of them) for MLS Save of the Year. The top 10 saves will be announced a week from today, with the winner announced Nov. 18.

Watch the video:

Vote here.

A playoff win against Chivas USA - and this shot - eluded the Galaxy and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts Sunday at Home Depot Center. (AP Photo)

So Chivas USA Coach Preki walks into the press conference after the game and virtually the first thing out of his mouth are the words:

"I guess it was a fun game for the spectators, not so much for the coaches."

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena (who hadn't hear what Preki said) followed suit:

"Good game for the fans, I'm not sure about the coaches."

And here's David Beckham on the errors: "That's soccer sometimes. There's certain games where there's no errors, but both teams make them. There's nothing wrong with that because there are mistakes made in games. It's about learning from those mistakes and working as a team we will do that. It's entertaining for the public. It's not so entertaining for the managers and the players. When mistakes happen you don't play as you'd like, but that's life."

So that's settled then.

ESPN highlights here.

Game story

Preki was encouraged by the second half play of Maykel Galindo, who had probably his best game in months (years?) for Chivas USA:

"That's the real Galindo that we knew from a couple of years ago. ... I know he still has it and now's the time for him to bring it on."

Here's Beckham on what the team can take away from the contest: "

When we went one-nil down we came back, we showed character. We started the first half really bad especially the first 15 minutes and they scored. And then we come back from that and we regain our composure. And then at the start of the second half they do the same and they get back into the game. We'll look at that. We'll work on that this week leading up to the second game and hopefully we'll put it right."

Here's a polite Beckham on the burgeoning rivalry:

"It grows every time we play, every time we come up against them. It's always good to have that rivalry, it's always good to have that heat our there on the field and it was no different today."

Here's Arena on what lies ahead:

"It was a one-goal win for them or us today. I think the second game is going to be a heck of a contest."

Notable: The 25,218 in attendance was the largest playoff crowd at the Home Depot Center outside of a MLS Cup. The Galaxy expect to have a comparable crowd next weekend.

Chivas USA 2 Galaxy 2

An entertaining if error-ridden game with all four goals coming from unmitigated howlers has ended all square.

Alan Gordon missed a trio of chances for the Galaxy after coming on a as a second half sub that could have made the difference, but Chivas USA had their own burden to bear with striker Justin Braun seemingly intent on giving away virtually every ball he touched.

Highlight of the second half was Paulo Nagamura's stabbing turn and shot that required an agile (as always) Donovan Ricketts to turn the ball spectacularly around the post with a superb diving save.

Next: the Galaxy host Chivas USA at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Home Depot Center.

More later.

Updated:

Trust SI's Grant Wahl to put it in succinct perspective with this tweet: GrantWahl

Let's see: 4 goals, 4 examples of crap defending. LA-CHV looking like CYO game. Beckham's head might explode. 2-2.

Chivas USA 2 Galaxy 2

This is becoming a game when different players are making their worst errors of the season at the worst possible time.

The culprit this time was usually dependable Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez whose poor attempt at a back pass was gratefully intercepted and deposited in the back of the net by substitute Maykel Galindo who has knotted the game a two apiece.

Do Chivas USA have a third goal in the them for the first time in a year?

Chivas USA 1 Galaxy 2

Looks like we have the most entertaining game of the playoffs so far on display here this afternoon in Carson.

The upper deck has filled in nicely, too, which means a good walk-up (must be the quality of those previews this morning).

This game has threatened to spiral out of control a couple of times, with the fast pace contributing to errors in the middle of the park.

Key stat: Chivas USA has just one shot on target, the Galaxy four.

The Galaxy have looked good going up the right hand side of the park with David Beckham especially causing Chivas USA problems.

Nice little bit of showboating from Beckham we haven't seen that much of since his arrival with him clipping the ball with the back of his heel and passing it to himself three times in succession. Effective, too.

BTW, Maykel Galindo has come on at the half for Michael Lahoud.

Chivas USA 1 Galaxy 2

We just saw the Chivas USA screw-up of the season - and now the Galaxy have the lead just before halftime.

An inexplicable hoof back into the penalty box by Chivas USA forward Maicon Santos (was he trying to bicycle kick that ball out of danger?) landed right in front of Landon Donovan, bounced a couple of times, but neither Cary Talley nor Zach Thornton could prevent the Galaxy's leading scorer from claiming the go-head goal in the 41st minute.

We're trying to figure out what Santos was thinking up here; I'm sure Preki is, too.

Chivas USA 1 Galaxy 1

The Galaxy tied it up in the 14th minute when Yamith Cuesta made a terrible hash of what should have been a businesslike clearance of a speculative Landon Donovan header into the box. Instead the Columbian defender completely whiffed on the ball and a lurking Mike Magee had the simple task of putting it past Zach Thornton.

Chivas USA 1 Galaxy 0

A mixup between Mike Magee and Landon Donovan just inside the Galaxy's own half gave Chivas USA possession in the fourth minute that Sacha Kljestan used to good effect to find Maicon Santos, who's deft outside of the foot shot into the far corner gave Donovan Ricketts no chance.

Donovan was at fault for that one is the consensus up here in the press box, although Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez surely gave Santos too much respect and space as well and should have closed him down better.

Sunny and 80 degrees here at the under populated Home Depot Center.

Kick off has apparently been pushed back to 2:25 p.m. to accommodate TV if you're wondering.

It's the same starting lineup this afternoon that both teams fielded for the respective MLS season finales.

Here's Arena's team: Donovan Rickettts, Sean Franklin, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Chris Birchall, David Beckham, Dema Kovalenko, Mike Magee, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan.

Preki's starting XI: Zach Thornton, Carey Talley, Jonathan Bornstein, Yamith Cuesta, Ante Jazic, Michale Lahoud, Marcelo Saragosa, Sacha Kljestan, Justin Braun, Maicon Santos.

Give the attacking options off the bench advantage to Chivas USA for this one: the Galaxy have Alan Gordon and Jovan Kirovski in reserve, while the Goats counter with Maykel Galindo and Eduardo Lillingston.

BTW, Shalrie Joseph the New England Revolution have just beaten the Chicago Fire 2-1 in their playoff opener. Joseph, naturally, scored the winner.

This is the game Southern California MLS fans have long awaited.

I'd like to say there's a buzz in the air, a sense of anticipation and tension and plenty of concrete expressions of the rivalry that have temporarily divided friends and families.

I'd like to say that, but it wouldn't be true.

Even soccer fans I've talked to this week are more interested in talking Italian soccer than this first-ever MLS playoff series between intra-stadium rivals.

The upper deck at Home Depot Center will remain empty of fans, a stark reminder of the disinterest surrounding the game.

And I know more than a few season ticket holders who aren't shelling out extra to take in the post-season.

Maybe its the ticket prices (although prices for today's Chivas USA-hosted game are considerably cheaper than what the Galaxy will charge next Sunday) in a bad economy.

Maybe it's the general mediocrity of the teams (and MLS).

Maybe people are just too busy on a weekend where Halloween falls on a Saturday.

Maybe I'm reaching here.

But for whatever reason, I'm just not seeing or feeling the excitement a playoff SuperClasico should bring. Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Madrid, this ain't - yet.

Perhaps the attention (or lack thereof) is an expression of the quality (or lack thereof) of soccer we can expect to see.

Remember the Galaxy have a 12-6-12 record; Chivas USA finished the regular season 13-11-6.

The Galaxy rank 10th in goals scored in MLS, Chivas USA 12th.

"It's almost at the point now where we want to score so badly, score early and try to kill games off I think guys are maybe over anxious when they get their opportunities instead of just taking their time to place the ball in the net," Chivas USA (and former Galaxy) defender Ante Jazic said. "That final third is just killing us right now."

And of course, we have two goalkeepers ranked in the top six in the league, which is all very well, but fans want to see great goals rather than good saves in general.

One possible key to the game: Galaxy central defender Gregg Berhalter. Expect Chivas USA to try to exploit his lack of mobility and speed.

That's logical, right, Ante?
Answer: "I don't know the game plan yet." (big smile)
Translation: Yes

Follow these links for more info and insight:

* Game preview.

* More on the rivalry between players from The New York Times.

* Chivas USA's ghosts of playoffs past.

* My column from earlier in the week.

And since you've read this far, remember the game kicks off at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.

I'll blog from the stadium as usual.