Recently in U.S. Open Cup Category

Short on time today, so just have time to note that:

*The struggling Galaxy are in action tonight in Carson against the resurgent San Jose Earthquakes, who are just beginning a stretch of road games that could determine the direction of their season. The Galaxy also learned last night they will face the NASL's Carolina RailHawks on the road Tuesday in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup. The winner hosts the victor of the Chivas USA-Ventura County Fusion contest June 5 in the fourth round.

*Chivas USA are in New York to face a Red Bull team seeking a sixth straight win in a 4 p.m. game (live on Galavision). The Red Bulls could see defender Wilman Conde return, despite his recent arrest for assaulting a police officer.

Chivas USA, which today announced a coaching and player development partnership with Long Beach-based Beach FC, will see defender Ante Jazic (Canada) and midfielder Oswaldo Minda (Ecuador) leave for their respective national teams after the game.

The Goats will play the PDL Ventura County Fusion next Tuesday at Ventura College in the U.S. Open Cup. they learned last night.

The Fusion are one of two amateur teams from Ventura County left in the knockout competition.

But does anyone, except Seattle - the Sounders are winners of three straight cups - care?

I'm sure Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena is thrilled (not): After all it's not like the club has much on its plate this year.

Here's more from AP on the U.S. Soccer decision announced today:

CHICAGO (AP) -- All 16 eligible Major League Soccer teams will compete in the U.S. Open Cup, which is expanding from 40 to 64 teams this year.

The tournament will start May 15, with the second round May 22 and the MLS teams from the United States entering in the third round May 29, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Wednesday.

MLS had entered eight teams in recent years, with six qualifying automatically and two emerging from play-in rounds.

MLS teams must win five games in the single-elimination tournament to earn the title. The final will be Aug. 7 or 8.

Seattle will attempt to become the first team to win four years in a row.

The three Canadian-based MLS clubs are ineligible for the competition, in case you were wondering.

Full details here.

Scramble in Seattle: Lamar Neagle scores the Sounders' third goal past a prone A.J. DeLaGarza and goalkeeper Josh Saunders in the second half of Seattle's U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal victory over the Galaxy (AP Photo).

Game story

Watch:

Winning Wambach: Another Abby Wambach header, another U.S. win. I believe she missed this attempt, but connected on another header and scored in the 3-1 U.S. win (AP Photo).

*Southern California stars shone brightly this morning at the World Cup with UCLA's Lauren Cheney getting the first U.S. goal and creating the second from a corner kick for Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach, while Diamond Bar's Alex Morgan added the third in the 3-1 semifinal win over France at the World Cup.

*The Galaxy and Real Madrid held a press conference Tuesday ahead of Saturday's friendly at the Coliseum.

*The Galaxy face the Sounders tonight in Seattle in the U.S. Open Cup.

*Chivas USA's next opponent - the New York Red Bulls - were stunned by Chicago last night in the U.S. Open Cup. The Red Bulls and Chivas USA meet Saturday in Carson.

*A rookie goalkeeper scored a stunning goal for the San Jose Earthquakes against England's West Bromwich Albion, which plays Sunday in Ventura against the PDL Fusion.

*Club America and Atlas clash tonight at 7:30 at Home Depot Center in Reto Aguila II. Tickets are still available.

*The USL Pro Los Angeles Blues, who have played most of their games in Orange County at Cal State Fullerton, have now edged even further from LA despite their name and will play their three remaining home matches at Norco College's Mustang Stadium in Riverside County.

From what I've heard it's a money-saving move as the minor league team bleeds red ink.

Updated

The U.S. will face Japan in Sunday's final. It airs at 11 a.m. on ESPN and Galavision.

Former Galaxy player Leonard Griffin out jumps Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez in a U.S. Open Cup game Tuesday between the LA Blues and the MLS club at Cal State Fullerton (Photo courtesy LA Blues).

*Staff Writer Phil Collin made the trek to Orange County for the U.S. Open Cup game between the Galaxy and the minor league LA Blues and filed this game story.

*Earlier in the day the U.S. Women's National Team opened their World Cup campaign against North Korea with Torrance's Shannon Boxx going the full 90 and looking dominant in midfield.

*The Galaxy will meet new USL pro franchise the LA Blues in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup next week after the team disposed Tuesday of lower level opponent the Ventura County Fusion. The Fusion weren't helped by the fact their captain Andy Rose is on trial with the Chicago Fire and missed the game.

The Galaxy face the Blues Tuesday at Titan Stadium in Fullerton where the MLS outfit often plays games of this ilk fielding largely reserve squads; somewhat confusingly the stadium is where the Blues plays most of their home games, but the game is apparently a "home" affair for the Galaxy.

Plenty of MLS connections for the Blues, of course, where former Galaxy youngster Izzy Sesay will be among those motivated to prove the club wrong for releasing him.

Incidentally, here's the full bracket for the competition.

Updated 2:30 p.m.

The Galaxy have just announced that tickets to the game have gone on sale starting at $10. Call 1-877-3GALAXY (342-5299)

*Before the Galaxy (9-2-7) meets the Blues it will face the Earthquakes (5-5-4) in San Jose Saturday where fewer than 500 tickets remained Tuesday afternoon for the game at 10,000-capacity Buckshaw Stadium, presumably on the assumption David Beckham will show up for the occasion.

The Earthquakes beat the Galaxy 1-0 in the corresponding fixture last year, scoring sensation Chris Wondolowski getting the winner with one of his league-leading 18 goals on the season.

The game will be shown at 8 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

*With the Gold Cup final scheduled to be played in Pasadena Saturday (scroll down for a preview of today's semifinals), Chivas USA (4-6-5) are similarly on the road Saturday, facing former Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz and the Philadelphia Union (6-4-4) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at PPL Park (live on Prime).

Chivas USA are without forward Alejandro Moreno, away for several weeks on Copa América duty with Venezuela, for a game they fell 3-0 in last year. Concussion victim Jimmy Conrad also remains out for the Goats.

Before the Union meets Chivas USA, however, they will play tonight against Sporting Kansas City.

*The California-heavy U.S. U-17 team plays Uzbekistan at 1 p.m. today in the second game of its World Cup campaign after beating the Czech Republic Sunday.

*Finally, local colleges are releasing their fall schedules thick and fast with the latest to do so being the Cal State Northridge men on Tuesday.

Who do you love? In San Diego, there's only one answer (AP Photo).

*Friendly: Mexico 1 Venezuela 1

Chivas USA's Alejandro Moreno started for Venezuela.

*U.S. Open Cup:Portland Timbers 2 Chivas USA 0

*Notable: Goalkeeper Dan Kennedy made his first start of the season; defenders Seth Owusu and Andrew Boyens both made their Chivas USA debuts.

*Quotable:

"We were down a man, and at that point we were figuring out ways to stay in the game, to be quite honest," said Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser. "We just talked about battling, and making it difficult for them, and seeing if we could sneak an opportunity. To be honest, I was really proud of the effort in the second half."

*U.S. 1 0 Paraguay 1 highlights:

*More here.

*Quotable: "They are a very good team defensively and their objective was pretty clear: to come in and defend well and try to counter," said the Galaxy's Landon Donovan. "We were at fault for allowing them to score a goal relatively early and it let them execute their game plan the way they wanted."

* U.S. Under-20 National Team 4 Suriname 0 Irvine's Bobby Wood got the opener, while UCLA's Kelywn Rowe of Newport Beach got the fourth in the 81st minute.

* Costa Rica 0 Argentina 0

*The game Saturday in Toronto is on Prime for those not into bowling.

*When winless Chivas USA plays the winless Portland Timbers Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup in the Pacific Northwest, the Goats will find a young goalkeeper between the opposing posts.

*Quotable:

"Guys are in good spirits - all just getting back from dinner," Chivas USA Tweeted earlier Monday evening. "They're excited for the match and eager to get a win."

*Game coverage: The game kicks off at 7 p.m. There is no TV or radio. The truly dedicated can follow the game on the @Chivas USA Twitter feed. An audio stream of the game is "likely," the club said. The best place to follow along is here.

*International update: forward Alejandro Moreno scored the second goal in Venezuela's 2-0 win Friday over Jamaica; defender Michael Umaña played 90 minutes in Costa Rica's 2-2 draw with China.

*Notable: Former Chivas USA and Galaxy defensive midfielder Kevin Harmse is back with the Vancouver Whitecaps for a second go-around.

*Finally, wondering about that new Chivas USA fan group? Details here.

Back from a long weekend in the soccer wasteland called Las Vegas where the vast majority of casinos have never heard of Fox Soccer Channel, there's no column today but I should note by way of a little catch-up that:

*Chivas USA, who played to a 0-0 draw Friday against D.C. United at Home Depot Center, meets the Canadian U-23 team in a noon scrimmage in Carson today. The match, at the Track and Field Stadium, is open to the public. Here's more on Friday's game from a Chivas USA perspective.

*Given the score and the mere three goals Chivas USA has managed in six preseason games, it's clear the Goats need help up front. Enter MLS veteran striker Stern John.

*Chivas USA midfielder Michael Lahoud is out six three weeks after suffering a "deep laceration on his left knee" and requiring surgery in a collision Sunday with goalkeeper Dan Kennedy during training.

*Chivas USA lost a coin toss Monday and as a result will travel to Portland next month to play the Timbers in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying game.

*Former Galaxy striker Edson Buddle scored his second goal for Germany's FC Ingolstadt in a 4-1 win Sunday over Karlsruhe (the score is incorrect on the video). Watch it here:

*Former Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz scored in his first game for the Philadelphia Union Monday in a preseason game against Greek team Ergotelis. His goal in the 1-1 draw came from a cross in a move started by UCLA product Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates.

*Galaxy striker Jack McBean got assists Saturday on all three goals as the U.S. defeated Canada 3-0 in the U-17 CONCACAF championship.

Watch here:

Stuff.

An unusually svelte-looking Sounders part-owner Drew Carey and customarily bald goalkeeper Kasey Keller celebrate in Seattle after the Sounders' U.S. Open Cup win (AP Photo).

The South Bay boy done good.

Sigi Schmid, who grew up in Torrance, guided Seattle to a second successive berth in the CONCACAF Champions League courtesy of this 2-1 come from behind U.S. Open Cup victory against the Columbus Crew Tuesday at Qwest Field. Sanna Nyassi scored both Seattle goals.

Things could have been different had Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers - a protege of Schmid's - hit the goal instead of the woodwork with five minutes left.

But Rogers missed and the typically loud 30,000-plus Seattle crowd basked in their richly deserved victory just a few minutes later.

And fun to watch.

Quotable:

"I'm extremely proud of our team," said Schmid. "We talked about being able to win tonight and doing something special. We're the first MLS team to repeat and the first to repeat in a long time. The guys really took it to heart and even though we went down 1-0, they showed a lot of character."

Notable: The crowd of 31,311 smashed the U.S. Open Cup record of 21,583 - set way back in 1929.

In other soccer news:

*Central defender Yohance Marshall will miss Thursday's Galaxy game in Philadelphia against the Union after being called up into the Trinidad & Tobago squad for friendlies Wednesday against Bermuda and Sunday against Jamaica. Marshall didn't start against Chivas USA, giving way to the former Maryland pairing of Omar Gonzalez and AJ DeLaGarza, after starting the previous two games.

*Voting has opened for the LA Riot Squad Player of the Year award, pretty much the most prestigious Galaxy-related award out there.