Nats in MLS Recap

The Wizards-FC Dallas game saw a matchup of two National Team defenders looking to make a push for the final spots in the World Cup roster (assuming the US qualifies). Unfortunately for Jimmy Conrad and Heath Pearce, they each had some less than spectacular moments.

Kansas City took an early 1-0 lead, but they would then give up the next two goals due to poor giveaways by Conrad. In the first half, an errant pass to the center of the field sprung Dax McCarty for the tying goal. Then, in the second half, Conrad tried to dribble out of trouble in the back, was dispossessed, and again had to pick the ball out of the back of his net thanks to Jeff Cunningham.

Fortunately for Conrad, however, he reedemed himself by scoring the winning goal in the 80th minute of Kansas City's 3-2 victory. After a near own goal forced Dallas keeper Dario Sala to tip a header off his own cross bar, Jimmy Conrad was all alone on the backpost to nod in the loose ball.

Pearce, who came on in the 62nd minute for his FC Dallas debut, was that FC Dallas defender whose attempted clearance of a cross nearly found its way into his own goal. Though Sala was able to steer the ball away, it did eventually lead to Conrad's finish and a lost point for FC Dallas.


In Houston, Brian Ching and Stuart Holden led the Dynamo against Kyle Beckerman and RSL. Ricardo Clark was not in the lineup for this one, but the Dynamo were still able to pull out a 3-2 victory.

Ching had an eventful game that started with a second minute goal typical of his gritty style, as he got his leg around his defender to redirect a Brad Davis freekick for a 2nd minute goal. The Dynamo doubled their lead before Gold Cup standout Kyle Beckerman helped bring RSL back into the match. After some nice buildup through the midfield, Beckerman was slotted through and finished cooly from the top of the box past an oncoming Pat Onstad.

Stuart Holden was active all night, being heavily involved in a number of quality scoring opportunities as Houston looked for the winner. The Dynamo eventually found that goal late in the match for a 3-2 win, but Brian Ching found himself headed to the showers early, after a hard challenge led to him being shown a straight red card.

Last but not least, Landon Donovan played a key role in Los Angeles' 2-0 victory over Toronto FC. With the Galaxy up 1-0 in the second half, Donovan sprung ahead of his defender into the TFC box and looked to have been tugged down, but was not awarded with a penalty. In the 83rd minute, however, Donovan helped complete a beautiful goal by hitting a David Beckham cross first-time right to the foot of Edson Buddle, who finished to seal the victory.


It's looking as if we're on a collision course for a Western Conference Final full of National Team stars, as the Dynamo and Galaxy appear to be the class of the West. Meanwhile, Chivas USA stars Sascha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein (who featured in Chivas USA's 0-0 draw at Seattle yesterday) will be looking to get their team into the playoffs.

Today, Chad Marshall and Robbie Rogers will be in action as the Crew take on the Chicago Fire.