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The Week that Was: MLS Week 15

Sellout (and then some) in Seattle, Mike Magee remains unstoppable, and Real keeps rolling. These were the storylines of the 15th week of the 2013 Major League Soccer season, a week which included just five league matches due to scheduled 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Anyone going to the June 18 qualifier vs. Honduras? I’ll be there with the American Outlaws. If you want to meet up at the tailgate outside of Rio Tinto, send me a tweet.

RESULTS AND STATISTICS

Major League Soccer (Home Clubs on Left)
Philadelphia Union (Carroll 25’, Williams 29’, Casey 31’) 3-0 Columbus Crew
To borrow a line from Anchorman: “Boy, that escalated quickly.” That was the story of this one. Columbus dominated the early going and once Brian Carroll’s 25th-minute shot took a fortuitous deflection off of a Crew defender, the floodgates opened for the Union in an impressive performance. Just the Union’s third win in nine all-time meetings with Columbus, all of which have come in Philadelphia (five meetings).

New England Revolution 0-0 D.C. United
D.C. United is still winless since March 9, but the club has picked up two draws in its last four matches. This was a pretty big one, considering it was on the road against a red-hot rival. This was the 60th all-time meeting between the clubs, with D.C. holding a narrow 28W-9D-23L advantage.

Chicago Fire (Magee 68’, Paladini 82’) 2-2 Portland Timbers (Valeri 33’, Zemanski 58’)
That Mike Magee trade looks better by the day. The man cannot stop scoring! Three goals in three straight matches for Magee since he began representing the Men in Red. Chicago has now collected at least one point for the third straight match while Portland just keeps humming along to the tune of a 12-match unbeaten streak. This was the fourth match played in the series history between these two clubs and was the first one which did not result in a Timbers’ victory.

Real Salt Lake (Stephenson 44’, Garcia 84’, 90 + 2’) 3-1 Los Angeles Galaxy (Donovan 45 + 1’)
Don’t look now, because Real Salt Lake has already passed you. The Claret and Cobalt is red hot these days, having earned its second straight win and third in four matches to secure a tight grip on No. 2 in the Western Conference and the entire league table. This win was RSL’s 97th in 268 MLS matches. Do you think some of that “who needs Donovan?” talk following the USMNT’s 2-1 win at Jamaica Friday got to Landon? He scored one heck of a goal to temporarily level this one at 1-1 before halftime and had the look of a man who had a chip on his shoulder.

Seattle Sounders (Rose 9’, Carrasco 70’, Neagle 81’) 3-2 Vancouver Whitecaps (Camilo 10’, 26’)
Always a great thing to see when the match on the field equals or exceeds the pregame hype. That’s what happened here. Nearly 54,000 (largest MLS crowd of the season) were on hand at Seattle to witness a high-scoring affair which ended with the home side scoring a late winner. That’s not a bad script at all. Seattle’s 97th win across all competition (197 matches) since joining Major League Soccer. The Whitecaps remain winless against Seattle in six MLS meetings (0W-3D-3L).

Total goals scored (Week 15): 16
Average goals per match (Week 15): 3.20
Total goals scored (Season): 335
Average goals per match (Season): 2.52

ATTENDANCE

Here’s a fun fact: Seattle’s sellout crowd of 53,679 to witness the Cascadia Cup clash with Vancouver accounted for 45.3 percent of Week 15’s total attendance figure.

Week 15 marked the best average attendance figure of the season, as 118,266 tickets were sold to the league’s five matches for an average of 23,653 per contest. This beats Week Three’s 23,029 average by a decent margin.

The season total is now up to 2,318,857 for the year, or an average of 17,435 per match.

Seattle generated the lone sellout of the week, its fifth of the season and 34th of the year for the league. The four other matches of the week also saw some healthy numbers, with all five matches being played in front of crowds at 71 percent capacity or higher. Not too shabby!

Devil’s Advocate: USA, Mexico, and Jamaica

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Brett Compton Posted in Brett Compton, U.S. National Teams, World Cup 2 Comments

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On Tuesday, June 4, the Mexican National Team took a trip to Independence Park in Kingston, Jamaica—a venue affectionately referred to as “The Office” by supporters of the Reggae Boyz—and took the full three points with a 1-0 victory. The win could hardly be argued as dominant, but at this stage in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, style points are about as important as possession figures.

The win was Mexico’s first in the Hexagonal and temporarily vaulted the heavily-favored side to the top of the standings. Yet the match which was defined by one well-timed header by Aldo De Nigris in the 48th minute and a slew of missed Jamaican opportunities strewn throughout likely produced mixed feelings among supporters of the United States Men’s National Team.

Mexico’s win at Jamaica was a GOOD thing for the USMNT
Reason Number One: Predictability. A good Mexico is expected. A dominant Mexico is nothing shocking and can be planned for. What throws a wrench into the gears of qualifying is an upstart Jamaica side which is playing with confidence late into the Hexagonal and battling for one of the top three spots.

Reason Number Two: Jamaica’s confidence is low. Very, very low. The Reggae Boyz have scored just one goal through four matches of the final round of World Cup qualifying and have only picked up two points.

Reason Number Three: The United States could all but put the final nail in the coffin on Friday. Yes, it’s still early in that Friday’s match will mark the midway point of qualifying for Jamaica. Yet if the United States could pull off the road victory, three points would go a long way towards eliminating the Reggae Boyz, who will play three of their final five matches away from home (at Honduras, at Panama, at United States).

Mexico’s win at Jamaica was a BAD thing for the USMNT
Reason Number One: The Reggae Boyz’ backs are up against it now. Friday’s match against the United States becomes a must-win, and they know it. Not only do they know it, but they very recently have done it, defeating the Yanks last round in Kingston on September 7. You never want to face a cornered team with much on the line, let alone if that team has proven it can beat you.

Reason Number Two: The United States is currently on the outside looking in. A draw may have suited the Yanks best, but Mexico’s win has the U.S. currently sitting in fourth place in the Hex, meaning it would be destined for the challenging home-and-home, half-a-world-away two-legged fixture with New Zealand, the winner of the Oceania qualifiers.

Reason Number Three: It was a win for Mexico. We don’t like when Mexico wins.

What do you think? Was Mexico’s win at Jamaica on Tuesday a good thing or a bad thing for the United States?

The Week that Was: MLS Week 14

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Brett Compton Posted in Brett Compton, Major League Soccer, US Open Cup 3 Comments

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Week 14 of the 2013 Major League Soccer season was, and will be, the busiest of the year. Sixteen United States Open Cup matches, one Amway Canadian Championship match, and nine regular-season MLS matches made for one heck of a week.

Twelve MLS clubs advanced to the fourth round in USOC play while the first champion of the year was crowned on May 29 in the form of the Montreal Impact earning a 2-2 victory via the away-goals rule in the second leg of the Canadian Championship vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Félicitations, Montreal. Tous pour gagner (all to win) indeed.

RESULTS AND STATISTICS

U.S. Open Cup (Home Clubs on Left)
Richmond Kickers 0 (2) – (4) 0 D.C. United
Interesting to see two affiliate clubs square off in the competition. This match was D.C. United’s 46th in Open Cup play, the most among all active Major League Soccer clubs.

Philadelphia Union (McInerney 48’, Carroll 90 + 3’) 2-1 Ocean City Nor’Easters (Kollie 90 + 1’)
Philadelphia is building an impressive USOC resume (4W-1D-2L in seven matches) en route to advancing to the fourth round.

Orlando City Lions (Burke 4’, Dwyer 48’, Tan 63’) 3-1 Colorado Rapids (Hill 18’)
Colorado goes one and done for the second straight season in U.S. Open Cup play. This was Orlando City’s first win over an MLS club in a USOC match.

Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 0-2 FC Dallas (Perez 54’, Hedges 66’)
FC Dallas’ 22nd USOC win in 42 matches. The Hoops are as far along in the annual tournament as they’ve been since 2011, when they lost to eventual champions Seattle in the semifinal round.

Charleston Battery (Falvey 73’) 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes
This was the ninth time Charleston has defeated an MLS club in the U.S. Open Cup. It was the first time the Battery had done it since 2010 when the club took down the Chicago Fire. In USOC play, Charleston has also beaten D.C. United (’99), MetroStars/RBNY (’01 and ’04), Houston (’07 and ’08), FC Dallas (’08), and Chivas USA (’09).

Rochester Rhinos (McFayden 77’) 1-5 New England Revolution (Rowe 23’, 64’, Dorman 53’, Bengston 54’, Barrett 82’)
Has Jerry Bengston found his form for New England? Non Honduran CONCACAF fans will hope not, as he scored his first goal for New England since March 9 before joining Los Catrachos for international duty in the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Sporting KC (Kamara 12’, Bieler 73’) 2-0 Des Moines Menace
The defending champions live to play another day. This was Sporting KC’s 18th win in 35 USOC matches. SKC hasn’t lost an Open Cup match since a 2-0 defeat to the Richmond Kickers on July 12, 2011.

Real Salt Lake (Beckerman 3’, Sandoval 98’, Stephenson 101’) 3-2 Atlanta Silverbacks (Gulley 86’, Cruz 121’)
There’s something about that Eric Wynalda magic! The architect of Cal FC’s run through the Open Cup last season nearly killed another giant in Real Salt Lake this week, but it wasn’t quite meant to be. RSL advances to the fourth round for the second time in the last three seasons.

Los Angeles Blues (Davis 11’) 1-2 Chivas USA (Alvarez 53’, Kennedy 62’)
If there’s a bright spot within the horrible 2013 that Chivas USA has endured, it is the fact that the club is still alive in Open Cup play. Also, don’t forget the fact that goalkeeper Dan Kennedy scored the match-winning goal in round three! Yes, you read that right. Many things can be said about this club in 2013, but being boring is not one of them.

Charlotte Eagles 0-2 Chicago Fire (Magee 11’, Rolfe 57’)
#MikeMageeFacts: He scored in his first appearance with the Chicago Fire. Pretty cool way to get adjusted to your new club. Chicago picks up its league-leading 31st win in USOC play (45 matches).

Carolina RailHawks (Da Luz 59’, Shriver 61’) 2-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
Bruce Arena and the Galaxy have got to really be hating the Carolina RailHawks these days. That and an admittedly difficult cross country travel schedule between USOC and league play. The Galaxy was shown the door by Carolina for the second straight season in the Open Cup and last advanced past the third round in 2011.

Tampa Bay Rowdies (Hristov 75’) 1-0 Seattle Sounders
This marked Seattle’s earliest exit in the tournament since joining Major League Soccer and is also the club’s only non-shootout loss in 20 matches. Banner day for Tampa Bay.

Columbus Crew (Gaven 52’, Meram 84’) 2-1 Dayton Dutch Lions (Smith 78’)
Very exciting match. I covered this one in person, so you can read about it here!

New York Red Bulls (Espindola 61’, Sam 66’) 2-0 Reading United
New York’s 19th win in USOC play (36 matches). This also marks RBNY’s third straight appearance in the fourth round of the annual tournament.

Houston Dynamo (Dixon 26’, Barnes 85’) 2-0 FC Tucson
Houston’s USOC win sets up an interesting all-Texas match in the fourth round of the tournament, as the Dynamo will now take on FC Dallas in Frisco June 12. Houston now improves to 6W-1D-6L in 13 Open Cup matches.

Portland Timbers (Piquionne 2’, 17’, 34’, 45 +2’, Danso 73’) 5-1 Wilmington Hammerheads (Nicholson 61’)
No Cal FC repeat from last season for the Timbers! Portland dominated this one right from the start, largely through Frédéric Piquionne’s four (!) first-half goals. Portland evens its overall USOC record to 2W-0D-2L in four matches.

Amway Canadian Championship (Home Club on Left)
Vancouver Whitecaps (Camilo 4’, Kobayashi 69’) 2-2 Montreal Impact (Martins 49’, Camara 84’)
Impressive work by the Montreal Impact to come back from two separate deficits in this one to claim its first-ever piece of silverware since joining Major League Soccer. That means that only five clubs (Chivas USA, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, New York Red Bulls, and Vancouver Whitecaps) have yet to claim a trophy since joining the league.

Major League Soccer (Home Clubs on Left)
Toronto FC (Osorio 66’) 1-1 Philadelphia Union (McInerney 90 + 1’)
Toronto FC gave up a late goal?! You’re kidding me. The Reds have given up nine goals at the 75th minute and beyond this season and have done so in SEVEN OF THEIR LAST EIGHT matches. Incredible. This was TFC’s 250th match in all competitions since joining MLS, and the Reds have thus far posted a record of 69W-74D-107L. In other news, Jack McInerney scored his league-leading 10th goal of the season to pull the visiting Union level in this one. Let’s keep him on that Gold Cup roster and give him a cap this summer, yes?

New York Red Bulls (Klazura OG 51’) 1-2 Vancouver Whitecaps (Harvey 58’, Miller 83’)
Impressive of Vancouver to fight back from a one-goal deficit on the road to pick up its first win away from BC Place this season. The loss was New York’s first since April 7 and extends Vancouver’s MLS unbeaten streak to four matches.

Columbus Crew (Higuain 69’) 1-1 Houston Dynamo (Creavalle 31’)
Federico Higuain’s penalty in the 69th minute snapped a 294-minute home goalless streak in league play for the Crew on Saturday. Houston has not defeated Columbus in nine matches and is 0-2-2 in its last four games in MLS play. Columbus extended its unbeaten streak to three matches.

Sporting KC (Bieler 45 + 4’) 1-2 Montreal Impact (Nyassi 47’, Warner 53’)
Montreal earns a big road win despite losing Alessandro Nesta (red card) and manager Marco Schallibaum (ejection) during the match. The Impact are riding high this week, having won the Canadian Championship and also solidifying its place atop the Eastern Conference standings as New York tripped up. Something to keep in mind in that race: Montreal has FOUR matches in hand to the Red Bulls.

Colorado Rapids (Harris 56’, 64’) 2-2 FC Dallas (Perez 61’, 66’)
Brace yourself for this one. Two players—Atiba Harris and Blas Perez—for Colorado and FC Dallas, respectively, found the back of the net twice in this pulse-pounding draw in Commerce City, Colorado. The Rapids are now just one goal away from 800 across all competitions (612 matches).

Real Salt Lake (Morales 16’, Grabavoy 33’, Findley 38’) 3-0 San Jose Earthquakes
Javier Morales and Robbie Findley each had very strong days for the Claret and Cobalt, registering one goal and assist apiece. This was Real Salt Lake’s 96th MLS regular-season victory (267 matches). San Jose continues to sputter (winless in four) while RSL is unbeaten in three, earning seven of a possible nine points.

Chivas USA 0-2 Seattle Sounders (Martins 22’, de Luna OG 33’)
Obafemi Martins certainly got his money’s worth in this match. The Nigerian forward scored a goal and got ejected in the 71st minute with a straight red for…well, I’m still trying to figure that one out. Mario de Luna’s own goal in the 33rd minute was Seattle’s 200th goal in 140 MLS regular-season matches. As far as own goals are concerned, well, that one has got to be the best of the season!

New England Revolution 5-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
Saer Sene makes his first start of the 2013 MLS season following his torn ACL at the end of last year. Not only did he start, but he scored his first goal of the year in the 33rd minute! With a 2-0 Revolution lead, youngster Diego Fagundez put this one on ice with a late goal, his fourth in as many matches. (Care to fight for his senior team rights, Uruguay?) Three straight league clean sheets from New England. Oh, and Chad Barrett scored against his former club in stoppage time. This will go down as a pretty rough week in the history of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Chicago Fire (DeLeon OG 9’, Magee 85’) 2-0 D.C. United
Chicago broke its four-match winless streak on Sunday while simultaneously extending D.C.’s winless streak to 11 matches. #MikeMageeFacts: He also scored in his second appearance with the Chicago Fire.

Total goals scored (Week 14): 26
Average goals per match (Week 14): 2.89
Total goals scored (Season): 319
Average goals per match (Season): 2.49

ATTENDANCE

Week 14 saw a pretty solid set of attendance figures in MLS matches. A total of 149,034 tickets were sold for the week’s nine matches, averaging 16,559 per contest. This average currently ranks seventh of the 14 weeks of the season.

One sellout was recorded (Sporting KC) and five matches were played at 94 percent capacity or higher. SKC’s sellout was its eighth of the year and the club has recorded 75 percent of all Eastern Conference capacity crowds in 2013.

Colorado fans are showing up in droves lately, as the club recorded a sellout last week and filled Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to 97 percent capacity on Saturday. New England also recorded its largest crowd of the year, hosting 19,120 fans for a 5-0 thrashing of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Crew Tames Lions in Open Cup Play, 2-1

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Brett Compton Posted in Brett Compton, Major League Soccer, US Open Cup 1 Comment

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Precisely 365 days ago, this fixture turned out poorly for the heavily-favored Columbus Crew. Despite earning a 1-0 lead in the 64th minute, Columbus allowed two goals by the Dayton Dutch Lions in the final 12 minutes of the match to crash out of the 99th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in the third round for the second consecutive season.

One year later, the post-match whistle signaled a very different result to the Crew Stadium faithful. On Wednesday night, Columbus pulled off a 2-1 win over the ten-man visiting Lions to advance to the fourth round of the 100th U.S. Open Cup.

A 14th-minute red card to Dayton’s Brock Granger forever altered the course of the match, but Columbus wouldn’t take advantage until the second half. Eddie Gaven scored in the 52nd minute before Dayton grabbed a shock equalizer in the 78th. Second-half substitute Justin Meram ultimately played the role of hero for the Black and Gold, scoring the match-winner in the 84th minute.

“The first round (of MLS club entry in the competition) is usually difficult, to be honest with you,” said Crew manager Robert Warzycha. “You’re usually matching up with the smaller clubs and it is a time for the smaller clubs to shine. Obviously we had a difficult game today. I think we made it a bit more difficult than it should have been, but all credit to Dutch Lions for trying and they were rewarded with that goal in the second half.”

“I’m happy that we went through,” he continued.

The win was the 20th in Open Cup play for the Crew, putting it in elite company with just four other clubs which have achieved at least that same number of victories (Chicago, D.C. United, Los Angeles, and FC Dallas).

Columbus had the better of the early play, firing two early shots within the first 13 minutes. A very nice chance fell to Ben Speas in the fifth minute, and the young midfielder hit a deflected shot safely into the arms of goalkeeper Matthew Williams. Just a few minutes later, Federico Higuain hit a shot slightly high of the target.

The match took an abrupt turn in the 14th minute when a nice ball from the Crew midfield sent Gaven on a sprint towards the Dayton penalty area with a defender on his back hip. Granger of the Dutch Lions brought Gaven down in a desperation sliding attempt, earning a straight red for his efforts and only increasing the magnitude of the uphill climb for the visiting USL-Pro side.

An errant pass out of the back by Glauber led to a two-on-two chance for the Lions in the 27th minute, their best chance of the half. It did not result in a shot.

Despite firing seven total shots—three of which were on target—Columbus went into the halftime break in a scoreless deadlock with the visiting Lions. Higuain led the way for both sides, hitting three shots in the first 45 minutes. The Lions were not given much time or space to operate offensively, and consequently only registered one off-frame attempt in the first half.

The Crew was able to pick up where it left off to begin the second half, pressuring Dayton immediately. This offensive intent paid dividends in the 52nd minute when Gaven scored his first goal of 2013 thanks to a nice assist by Higuain. The Argentine midfielder lifted a pass to an onrushing Gaven, who was able to collect the ball mid-stride, take a touch, and slide it past Williams into the vacant far corner.

Shane Smith leveled the match for the visitors in the 78th minute, taking advantage of a counterattacking opportunity and positioning himself well at the far post. He received a cross from 62nd-minute substitute Remco Klaasse and was able to chip it just over the outstretched Matt Lampson to pull the sides even at one goal apiece.

The small crowd at Crew Stadium fell silent, no doubt remembering what happened between these clubs on the very same pitch just one year ago.

History nearly repeated itself just moments later, as Dayton had a golden opportunity to take a shocking 2-1 lead with just ten men on the field. Following a Lions’ attempt which had beaten Lampson, Eric Gehrig played the role of hero in the 82nd minute by sliding across the goal line to prevent the ball from crossing the threshold.

“Having that feeling the last two years of losing these Open Cup games, that really gets to you as a player,” Gehrig said. “Especially letting down the fans, letting down the club, and letting down the organization. In my head, I just thought that there is no way they’re scoring. Matt (Lampson) made a great save on that, (Chad) Barson did a good job pressuring, and as a defender we’re taught that if the goalie goes and leaves his goal, someone has got to be there to cover. Lucky enough, it was me.”

Justin Meram, a 65-minute substitute for the Crew, reclaimed the lead for his side in the 84th minute with a beautiful curling finish to the far post. The University of Michigan graduate collected a pass from Gaven inside the penalty area and coolly looped his shot past the outstretched Williams to strike the decisive tally.

Columbus, one of just eight active MLS clubs which has hoisted the Open Cup at least once in its history, will continue its quest at the Chicago Fire on June 12.

“This is going to be an MLS team that we’re matching up against, so I think so,” Warzycha said when asked if the club would field more regular starters against Chicago. “We’re going to treat this as a regular game and we’re going to put the best players, in our mind, on the field.”

For those out there who think that the U.S. Open Cup doesn’t matter to MLS clubs, just picture the Columbus Crew’s press box. Framed on the left wall are three articles by the Columbus Dispatch which tell the story of the first title in club history: the 2002 U.S. Open Cup.

Goals:
Columbus – Eddie Gaven 1 (Federico Higuain 1) 52’
Dayton – Shane Smith 1 (Remco Klaasse) 78’
Columbus – Justin Meram 1 (Eddie Gaven 1) 84’

Bookings:
Dayton – Brock Granger (Red: last man challenge) 14’
Dayton – Taylor Lord (Yellow) 38’
Columbus – Glauber (Yellow) 55’
Columbus – Aaron Schoenfeld (Yellow) 76’

Columbus Starting XI: Lampson, Barson, Gehrig, Glauber, Wahl, Gaven (George 88’), O’Rourke, Warzycha, Speas (Meram 65’), Higuain (Finlay 65’), Schoenfeld

Dayton Starting XI: Williams, Lord, Preciado, Granger, Smith, DeLass, Harada, Khutsidze (Broekhuizen 85’), Madigan (Swartzendruber 77’), Bardsley (Klaasse 62’), Garner

Head Official: Sorin Stoica
Attendance: 1,302

The Week that Was: MLS Week 13

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Brett Compton Posted in Brett Compton, Major League Soccer 6 Comments

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He’s back! Just three months following his public announcement of being a gay professional athlete, Robbie Rogers returned to Major League Soccer as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy. The California native made his Galaxy debut in the 77th minute of a 4-0 drubbing of the visiting Seattle Sounders late on Sunday evening.

Welcome back, Robbie. Your courage is admirable and I wish you the best of luck.

RESULTS AND STATISTICS

Major League Soccer (Home Clubs on Left)
D.C. United 0-2 Portland Timbers (Wallace 21’, Nagbe 57’)
Remember when this Portland club had trouble winning on the road to the tune of a 1W-4D-12L record away from Jeld-Wen Field last season? Boy, that sure seems a long time ago now. Portland extends its unbeaten streak to a club-record 11 matches while D.C. United is on the other end of the spectrum and now winless in a club-worst 10 matches.

Montreal Impact (Di Vaio 2’, 28’, 32’, Wenger 74’, Smith 90 + 4’) 5-3 Philadelphia Union (McInerney 5’, Hoppenot 69’, Le Toux 85’)
Wow. Two goals in the first five minutes, eight goals overall, and a first-half hat trick by Montreal’s Marco Di Vaio. Montreal has hit a nice little hot streak of its own, winning two straight and going unbeaten in five of its last six matches. This was Philadelphia’s 50th loss across all competitions (119 matches played) and Montreal’s 20th win across all competitions (50 matches played).

New England Revolution (Fagundez 23’, Agudelo 90 + 3’) 2-0 Toronto FC
Toronto FC’s 200th match in MLS regular-season play (46W-59D-95L). The Reds gave up a late goal, and despite not having a decisive impact on the match, it was the eighth (of 18) given up in the final 15 minutes of a match this season. Following a four-match unbeaten streak from March 30 – April 20, TFC has lost five straight. New England is on its first two-game winning streak of the season.

FC Dallas (Castillo 33’) 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes
The Hoops are now just four goals from 800 in MLS regular-season play (539 matches). Try this fact on for size: FC Dallas has earned 27 points in just 13 league matches this season. This is four more points than TFC accumulated throughout the ENTIRE 2012 campaign.

Real Salt Lake (Saborio 78’) 1-1 Chicago Fire (Amarikwa 84’)
Alvaro Saborio returns from five games away due to injury and scores the first goal of the match. Chicago snaps a three-game losing skid with an important point away from home. RSL sits securely in the Western Conference’s third spot with 21 points through 14 matches.

Colorado Rapids (Harris 11’, Sturgis 78’) 2-0 Chivas USA
Two clubs with two very different streaks met at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday: Colorado extended its unbeaten streak to five matches with this win while Chivas USA extended its winless streak to seven. Colorado continues to own the series between these two clubs, as the Rapids have now won 13 of the 24 meetings and have lost just five.

Sporting KC (Kamara 68’) 1-1 Houston Dynamo (Davis 45 +1’)
He’s back! Last week literally, this time figuratively. Kei Kamara scored his first goal since returning from his Norwich City loan, pulling host Sporting Kansas City level in the 68th minute against Houston. This series continues to be pretty even, as the Dynamo hold a narrow 6W-7D-4L advantage in the 17 league meetings between the clubs.

New York Red Bulls (Henry 31’, Olave 90 + 1’) 2-2 Columbus Crew (Oduro 2’, Higuain 74’)
New York battles back from two deficits to pull level in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. Columbus has not defeated New York since the 2010 season. The Red Bulls are an impressive 3W-3D-0L against the Crew in the last six meetings between the teams.

Los Angeles Galaxy (Franklin 12’, Keane 24’, 34’, 44’) 4-0 Seattle Sounders
Robbie and Robbie. Keane scores a first-half hat trick (his first three-goal match with the Galaxy) while Rogers made his LA debut in the 77th minute. Los Angeles ups its home record against the Sounders, improving to 3W-1D-1L (8 goals for and 3 against) in five meetings.

Total goals scored (Week 13): 27
Average goals per match (Week 13): 3.00
Total goals scored (Season): 293
Average goals per match (Season): 2.46

ATTENDANCE

The cumulative attendance figure for the 2013 season crossed the two million threshold during the 13th week of the season. Two sellouts (Colorado and Sporting KC) were recorded during the week and four matches were played at 91 percent capacity or higher.

The 13th week of the 2013 MLS season saw 154,033 tickets purchased over the course of nine matches, averaging 17,115 per match. This average attendance figure ranks sixth when compared to the 13 weeks of the current campaign. Through 119 total matches on the year, 2,051,557 tickets have been purchased for an average of 17,240 per match.

Colorado and Sporting KC recorded the only sellouts of the week and their best attendance figures of the season on Saturday, hosting 18,204 against Chivas USA and 20,876 against Houston, respectively.