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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.

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.

Briefly:

*Don't forget, the second MLS playoff game between the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake is scheduled for 5 o'clock today on ESPN2.

*The Cal State Northridge men closed in on a post-season berth Wednesday with a 1-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton with the goal coming in the sixth minute of OT and now hold the tiebreaker over the Titans going into the final game of the regular season Saturday against UC Irvine.

*Riverside's Chad Marshall was named MLS Defender of the Year today (for the second straight year), while referee Alex Prus took the award for MLS officials. The Crew defender is a worthy choice, but I can't help wondering if MLS would benefit from officials like this one:

Well, OK, maybe not.

Soccer on TV this weekend kicks off with a broadcast of the USC-UCLA women's game at 7 o'clock tonight on Fox Soccer Channel (and delayed at 8:30 p.m. on Prime) in a meeting of two top 20-ranked teams.

Here are some other highlights of the weekend's televised games (for a complete list click the link at top right) followed by the local college action you can see live.

Saturday's games

5:30 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Arsenal-Tottenham Hotspur
8 a.m. FSC Bolton Wanderers-Chelsea
10:30 a.m. FSC Manchester United-Blackburn Rovers
Noon GolTV Barcelona-Osasuna
12:30 p.m. FSC AC Milan-Parma

Sunday's games

6 a.m. FSC Livorno-Inter Milan
6:48 a.m. ESPNU U.S.-United Arab Emirates (U-17 WC)
8 a.m. FSC Birmingham City-Manchester City
11 a.m. FSC New England Revolution-Chicago Fire
2 p.m. ESPN2 Chivas USA-Galaxy
3 p.m. KMEX Club America-Jaguares

Women's college games

3 p.m. today Sullivan Field LMU (9-6-2, 1-3-1 WCC) vs. San Francisco (6-4-5, 1-3-0 WCC)
1 p.m. Sunday Matador Field Cal State Northridge (9-9, 5-2 BWC) vs. Long Beach State (5-10-3, 1-5-1 BWC)

Briefly:

*The MLS playoffs begin tonight and Seattle Sounders fans will demonstrate the right way to support a team - by going freaking nuts in the stands. Hope Galaxy and Chivas USA fans are taking note. The Dynamo-Sounders game is on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Game preview here.

*Incidentally, the U.S. is playing Malawi at the U-17 World Cup live on ESPNU right now. It's 0-0 at the half. You can also follow along on Matchtracker. Updated: The U.S. win 1-0 on an Alex Shinsky goal

*The U.S. women are in Germany for a sold out friendly that starts at 10 a.m. The Sol's Brittany Bock is a doubt because of a knock. Sounds like her participation is a game time decision.

*Belated congratulations to former Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan who saved four penalties (!) deputizing for regular starter Brad Friedel for Aston Villa the other night. More here.

Finally, the Cal State Northridge men (7-7-2, 2-4-1 BWC) lost 2-0 to UC Santa Barbara Wednesday. Next: hosting UC Riverside at 3 p.m. Saturday at Matador Field. Take along three cans of food as a contribution to the food drive being held and you'll get in free.

A frenetic final MLS weekend is in the books and on Sunday we learned that Chivas USA and the Galaxy will face each other for the first time ever in the playoffs.

Here's the complete playoff schedule as announced by MLS today:

Eastern Conference semifinals game #1
(1) Columbus Crew at (4) Real Salt Lake, 3 p.m. Saturday.
(2) Chicago Fire at (3) New England Revolution 1 p.m. Saturday Rescheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday (Fox Soccer Channel)

Western Conference semifinals game #1
(1) Los Angeles Galaxy at (4) Chivas USA 2 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2)
(2) Houston Dynamo at (3) Seattle Sounders FC 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2)

Eastern Conference semifinals game #2
(4) Real Salt Lake at (1) Columbus Crew 5 p.m. Nov. 5 (ESPN2)
(3) New England Revolution at (2) Chicago Fire 6:30 p.m. Nov. 7 (FSC)

Western Conference semifinals game #2
(3) Seattle Sounders FC at (2) Houston Dynamo, Noon Nov. 8 (TeleFutura)
(4) Chivas USA at (1) Galaxy 4:30 p.m. Nov. 8 (ESPN2)

I'll have more on the Galaxy-Chivas USA series in Tuesday's column, but let's catch up on what else happened over the weekend:

*U.S. Soccer announced today that the U.S. plays Slovakia Nov. 14 in Bratislava, four days before the U.S. plays Denmark.

"We are very pleased about the opportunity to face another quality opponent on European soil," said U.S. Coach Bob Bradley. "Slovakia finished on top of a very competitive group in UEFA (World Cup) qualifying, and has demonstrated their capabilities throughout the process. With so few available dates for international matches between now and the World Cup, having the chance to play two fellow World Cup finalists is a big plus in terms of our preparations."

It's the first time the U.S. and Slovakia have played each other.

*In Sunday's men's college games it was:
Loyola Marymount 1 San Diego 4
Junior Rafael Baca scored his league-leading ninth goal of the season for LMU (7-7-1, 2-4-1 WCC). Next: at San Francisco Sunday.

Stanford 2 UCLA 0
The Bruins saw their 10-game unbeaten streak snapped and fell to 9-2-2, 4-1-2 Pac-10. Next: at Creighton Saturday.

On Saturday, the Cal State Northridge men (7-6-2, 2-3-1 BWC) lost 3-1 to Cal Poly. Next: at UC Santa Barbara Wednesday.

*Sunday's women's college games
Santa Clara 1 Loyola Marymount 0
The Lions fell to 9-6-2, 1-3-1 WCC. Next: hosting San Francisco Friday.

Long Beach 1 UC Riverside 1
Next for Long Beach (5-9-3, 1-4-1 BWC): at UV Irvine Thursday.

Cal State Northridge 1 UC Irvine 0
The Matadors (9-9, 5-2 BWC) qualified for the Big West Conference tournament for the first time since 2004 with the win. Next: hosting Long Beach State Sunday.

USC 1 Oregon 0
The Trojans sit at 12-5-0, 4-2 Pac-10. Next: at UCLA Friday.

UCLA 3 Oregon State 0
After beating Oregon 5-1 Friday, the Bruins completed their sweep of the Oregon schools and improved to 14-2-1, 5-1 Pac-10. Bruin sophomore Sydney Leroux scored her team-leading 15th goal of the season after netting a pair Friday. Next: hosting USC Friday (live at 7 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel)

San Diego 2 Pepperdine 0
The Waves fall to 8-7-1, 1-3-1 WCC. Next: hosting Seattle University Thursday.

On Saturday, the CSUDH women (11-7) beat Seattle Pacific 2-0. Next: at Cal State East Bay Friday.

It's the final weekend of the MLS regular season in what we are (constantly) reminded is the tightest playoff race in league history, while local colleges are also getting closer to making tournament plans. And, of course, the especially avid fan can see the Galaxy play San Jose at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center (9 p.m. FSN, delayed) and then turn around a few hours later to check in at noon Sunday at the same venue to see Chivas USA play the Houston Dynamo (live on Prime).

So there's plenty to watch on TV, plenty to see locally, plenty to check out below:

TV highlights
*4:30 a.m. Saturday ESPN2 Wolverhampton Wanderers-Aston Villa
*7:55 a.m. Saturday Galavision Mexico-Switzerland (U-17 World Cup)
*9:30 a.m. Saturday FSC Chelsea-Blackburn Rovers
*6 p.m. Saturday FSC Real Salt Lake-Colorado Rapids

*7 a.m. Sunday FSC Liverpool-Manchester United
*9 a.m. Sunday FSC West Ham United-Arsenal
*12:30 p.m. Sunday FSC Chievo-AC Milan
*1 p.m. Sunday ESPN2 Barcelona-Real Zaragoza
*3 p.m. Sunday ESPN2 Columbus Crew-New England Revolution
*3 p.m. Sunday KMEX Club America-CD Guadalajara
*3 p.m. Sunday FSC River Plate-Boca Juniors

In college action Thursday, Torrance's Tyler Krumpe (son of Coach Paul Krumpe) scored the winner in overtime Thursday as the Loyola Marymount men (7-6-1, 2-3-1 WCC) defeated San Diego, 2-1. Also Thursday, the Long Beach State women (5-9-2, 1-4-0 BWC) lost 2-0 to Cal State Fullerton.

Local women's college games this weekend include:
*2:30 p.m. today Cal State Northridge-Cal State Bakersfield
*3 p.m. today USC-Oregon State
*7 p.m. Saturday CSUDH-Seattle Pacific
*1 p.m. Sunday USC-Oregon
*2 p.m. Sunday Long Beach State-UC Riverside
*2:30 p.m. Sunday Cal State Northridge-UC Irvine

Local men's games:
*3 p.m. Sunday LMU-San Diego

In tonight's game Chivas USA still have a shot at the MLS regular season title and home field advantage in the playoffs while the Chicago Fire are still seeking a playoff berth.

Kick off is at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

Meanwhile, the CSUDH men (11-5-1) beat Western Washington 3-0 in Carson Wednesday, while the Cal State Northridge men (7-5-2) tied UC Davis 0-0.

Men's Games
Cal State Northridge 1 UCSB 0
Loyola Marymount 0 Saint Mary's 1
UCLA 2 Stanford 0
CSUDH 4 Cal State East Bay 1

Women's Games
Cal State Fullerton 0 Cal State Northridge 1
Stanford 2 UCLA 0
Pepperdine 2 Gonzaga 0
Cal Poly 1 Long Beach State 0
California 2 USC 3
CSUDH 2 Cal State East Bay 0

It's three games in nine days for Chivas USA to end the season.

Sacha Kljestan tweets at 12:15 p.m. that he's putting his brother to work, BTW: Chillin on the couch watching soccer.. my usual game day routine... gordon is cooking breakfast

I'll blog from the game tonight.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy is already making post-season plans for the third consecutive year to wring the maximum amount of cash out out of David Beckham before he takes off to Italy.

We can look forward to a Galaxy-Kaiserslautern game at 11:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Day (TV details TBA).

Meanwhile, USWNT Coach Pia Sundhage made two roster changes today for the team's trip to Germany.

In women's college action Friday it was:

Stanford 4 USC 0

Pepperdine 0 Portland 6

Loyola Marymount 2 Gonzaga 1

California 0 UCLA 1

CSUDH 3 UC San Diego 2

UC Riverside 0 Cal State Northridge 1

Men's games Friday

UCLA 1 California 0

Loyola Marymount 1 Santa Clara 1

CSUDH 1 UC San Diego 2

A full slate of MLS games returns for the penultimate weekend of play after the WCQ break with the Galaxy on the road against the Dynamo (noon Sunday TeleFutura) and Chivas USA at home Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes (7:30 p.m. KAZA, delayed 11:15 p.m. Prime), a team that returns to L.A. Oct. 24 to play the Galaxy.

How important are these games this weekend in determining playoff positions?

Check out the playoff standings.

Incidentally, Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena told reporters this week that midfielder Dema Kovalenko, who has had a right Achilles tendonitis issue, could figure in Sunday's game, while midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi is out for the last two games of the regular season with a left groin strain.

While we're at it, here's the latest Chivas USA injury report (not including the half dozen long-term absentees):

QUESTIONABLE: GK Lance Parker (R quad strain); FW Maicon Santos (R knee injury); GK Zach Thornton (lower back strain); PROBABLE: FW Justin Braun (lower back strain); MF Paulo Nagamura (L foot contusion); FW Jesús Padilla (R ankle sprain)

Meanwhile, Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein continues to be the talk of the town - um, make that parts of Central America - in the wake of his equalizing goal for the U.S. Wednesday against Costa Rica.

Plenty to watch on TV, too.

The full slate of games is at the link to the right as always, but here are the ones I'll be checking out in addition to the two already mentioned.

Saturday
4:30 a.m. ESPN2 Aston Villa-Chelsea
6:30 a.m. GolTV Freiburg-Bayern Munich
7 a.m. FSC Sunderland-Liverpool
11:30 a.m. FSC Montreal Impact-Vancouver Whitecaps (USL final, second leg)
1 p.m. GolTV Valencia-Barcelona
3 p.m. FSC New England-Chicago Fire

Sunday
8 a.m. FSC Wigan Athletic-Manchester City
11:30 a.m. FSC AC Milan-Roma

Monday
11:55 a.m. ESPN2 Fulham-Hull City

Prefer live college action?
The Long Beach State women (5-7-2) lost 3-2 in overtime up in Santa Barbara Thursday, but here are your options for games in the L.A. area this weekend:

Men's Games
3 p.m. today Loyola Marymount-Santa Clara
4:30 p.m. today CSUDH-UC San Diego
7 p.m. today UCLA-California

11:30 a.m. Sunday CSUDH-Cal State East Bay
2:30 p.m. Sunday UCLA-Stanford
3 p.m. Sunday Loyola Marymount-Saint Mary's
3 p.m. Sunday Cal State Northridge-UCSB (rescheduled from Saturday)

Women's Games
12:30 p.m. today Loyola Marymount-Gonzaga
3 p.m. today Pepperdine-Portland
7 p.m. today CSUDH-UC San Diego

Noon Sunday Loyola Marymount-Portland
1 p.m. Sunday Pepperdine-Gonzaga
2 p.m. Sunday CSUDH-Cal State East Bay

Enjoy the weekend.

Men's Games
San Diego State 2 UCLA 2
Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa scored one and created the other for the Bruins (6-1-2) Sunday. It was Nakazawa's team-leading eighth of the season and his fifth consecutive game with a goal. UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk was taken to hospital with an eye injury. Next for UCLA: California at home Friday.

Women's Games
UCLA 3 Arizona State 2
The home unbeaten streak reaches 60 for the Bruins (11-1-1) Sunday. Next for UCLA: at Cal Friday.

USC 2 Arizona 0
The Trojans (10-3) win their ninth straight game Sunday. Next: at Stanford Friday.

Cal State Long Beach 0 Cal State Bakersfield 0
Long Beach is 5-6-2. Next for CSULB: UCSB Thursday.

Pepperdine 0 Loyola Marymount University 0
A season-high crowd of 428 fans Sunday afternoon at Tari Frahm Rokus Field saw Pepperdine move to 7-4-1, while LMU are now 8-3-2. Next for Pepperdine: hosting Portland Friday.

Cal State Northidge 1 UC Davis 0
Farryn Townley's overtime winner was enough for the Matadors (6-8) Sunday. Next: at UC Riverside Friday.

The Weekend's Men's Games
Washington 1 UCLA 1
UCLA's unbeaten streak and Kyle Nakazawa's scoring streak extended to six games Sunday in Seattle. Nakazawa scored his team-leading seventh goal in the eighth minute from a free kick and UCLA (6-1-1) then gave up an own goal and were forced to hold on to salvage a tie. Nakazawa, of Palos Verdes Estates, also had two goals and an assist Friday in UCLA's 3-1 win over Oregon State in Corvallis.

Loyola Marymount 3 San Francisco 2
Junior Rafael Baca of Lawndale scored the equalizer at 2-2 then assisted on the winner Friday as the Lions moved to 6-3-0.

Cal State San Bernadino 1 CSUDH 0
A 78th minute goal sunk the Toros (6-5-1) Sunday. Cal Poly Pomona beat the Toros 4-2 Friday, Bronco Tyler Reinhart scoring a school-record four goals.

The Weekend's Women's Games
Cal State Northridge 2 Cal State Santa Barbara 3
The Matadors (5-7) rallied from a 2-0 deficit only to see UCSB score the winner Sunday with seven minutes left in regulation. On Friday, CSUN used three different goalkeepers to beat Cal Poly 3-2 in its Big West opener.

Cal State Long Beach 2 UC Davis 1
Sophomore Shawna Gordon scored twice for Cal State Long Beach (5-6) Sunday.

Pepperdine 0 UCLA 2
Third-ranked UCLA (9-1-1) won its ninth straight game Friday, while the Waves' loss snapped a six-match home winning streak. Sydney Leroux scored her team-leading 11th goal on a seventh minute penalty kick.

USC 4 San Diego 0
Junior Alyssa Dávila had assists on the first three goals and added the fourth in the 87th minute en route to the Trojans (8-3-0) seventh straight win Friday at McAlister Field. It was the Trojans' third win over a ranked opponent in the past five games.

Arizona 0 Loyola Marymount 1
The Lions move to 8-3-1 with the road win Friday and play their conference opener next.

Cal State San Bernadino 1 Cal State Dominguez Hills 0
The Toros fall to 7-6 Sunday. On Friday sophomore Jessica Murphy (West Torrance High) scored twice as CSUDH beat Cal Poly Pomona, 2-0.

As I sit here watching the first game of the "weekend' - U.S.-Korea at the U-20 World Cup on ESPN2, BTW and reshown on Galavision at 4 p.m. - I was struck by the paucity of quality games on the tube this weekend (Liverpool-Chelsea at 8 a.m. Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel excepted).

Fox Soccer Channel is showing San Jose-New York on Saturday, for instance, on a weekend fraught with playoff implications. (What masochist is going to watch that?) And I think I'll skip Hull City facing Wigan Athletic, Jozy Altidore and all.

That said, here are the other games I'll be playing attention to this weekend (click over on the right for the full slate of games).

9:30 a.m. Saturday Fox Soccer Channel Manchester United-Sunderland
4:30 p.m. Saturday Prime D.C. United-Chivas USA
5 p.m. Saturday KFTR Pachuca-Club America

Noon Sunday Telefutura Houston-Kansas City
4 p.m. Sunday FSC Portland-Vancouver (USL semifinal)

Chivas USA has a viewing party beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, BTW, at the Shamrock Seafood Restaurant in Wilmington, 120 W. G St. Info: 310-630-4586

Click over to the appropriate link to find out what your local college team is doing this weekend. Long Beach State lost their home opener last night 1-0 to Pacific. Game story here.

Briefly:
*An excellent Landon Donovan profile is here. I'm betting LD heads to Europe sooner rather than later.

Which reminds me - have you cast your vote yet for the Honda Player of the Year poll? Do it here.

Lastly, the Cal State Northridge men won their conference opener against UC Riverside Wednesday and next face New Mexico. More here.