A victory for Real Salt Lake helped the Sounders jump to 4th in the West. That and more in a light week on the MLS calendar this week.
It was a light week around MLS as teams started their international break, releasing players for World Cup qualifiers played around the world. Even still, 10 teams took the field last week and the Sounders FC got the results they needed to jump to fourth in the Western Conference with their 3-2 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
At Rio Tinto Stadium, Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy traded goals around the halftime whistle, with RSL scoring just before halftime and the Galaxy equalizing soon after the second half kickoff. That score held until late substitute Olmes Garcia exploded with two goals in the final minutes of the match, including one in stoppage time to give Salt Lake the 3-1 victory. Both goals were assisted by Javier Morales, giving him five assists and a share of the league lead. Salt Lake improved to 8-5-3 for second in the Western Conference while the Galaxy are now losers of five of their last seven matches and fell to fifth in the West at 6-6-2.
The Portland Timbers kept their unbeaten streak alive at 12 matches with a 2-2 draw in Chicago against the Fire, but squandered a 2-0 lead in the process. Diego Valeri and Ben Zemanski scored to put Portland up 2-0 in the first 58 minutes. Then Chicago rallied back, getting goals from Mike Magee – his second in two matches since a trade brought him from LA to Chicago – and Dan Paladini to earn the draw. The Timbers are now 5-1-8 and third in the West while Chicago is eighth in the East at 3-8-3.
On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Union trounced the Columbus Crew 3-0, scoring all three goals in a six-minute stretch in the first half to put away the Crew. Brian Carroll had a goal and an assist and Sebastien Le Toux added two assists as the Union moved into a three-way tie for third in the East at 6-5-4, drawing even on points with Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo. Columbus dropped to 4-5-5 for seventh in the East.
Finally, the Revolution continued their defensive dominance with their 10th shutout of the season and fourth in a row, this one coming against DC United. However, it was also their fourth scoreless draw of the season, as the match finished 0-0. New England is just two points out of playoff position in the East at 5-4-5 and DC is now winless in their last 12 and 1-10-3 overall.
MLS will have a limited schedule again next week, with just five matches over the weekend. The Sounders will have the weekend off before they face RSL on June 22 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
