The 2007 MLS preseason kicked into gear over the weekend, with five teams getting their scrimmage slates started.
Highlighting the weekend's action was a 4-2 victory for D.C. United over the Columbus Crew in a 120-minute scrimmage in Bradenton, Fla., Sunday. New signing Luciano Emilio led the way for the Black-and-Red with two goals, and Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez chipped in, as well.
"We had moments today where we really displayed some good stuff," said United head coach Tom Soehn. "Our next step, however, is to consistently play at that level. We were creative and held a lot of possession until we became tired. We worked hard, considering the hard work we've put in all week, and I'm pleased with the effort from all of our guys."
United raced out to a 3-0 lead by the 45-minute mark, with Gomez getting things started in the 14th minute as he pressured a Crew defender into a poor pass back to 'keeper Jon Busch. Emilio tackled the ball away from Busch and directly into the net.
Emilio was involved again on the half-hour mark, receiving a ball from Ben Olsen with his back to goal and holding it as Joshua Gros made a run up the wing. Emilio played Gros out wide, and the Rutgers product provided a service for Moreno to bang home.
Gomez made it a three-goal lead in the 45th minute after some nice interplay with Emilio and Moreno.
The Crew attempted to get back into the game and cut the lead to two goals through Kei Kamara just before an hour had passed, but Emilio struck again shortly thereafter. An Aaron Chandler goal was mere consolation for the Crew.
D.C. United lineup: Troy Perkins (Ryan McIntosh 60, Matt Nelson 90); Facundo Erpen (David Stokes 60), Bobby Boswell (Jay Needham 60, Kasali Casal 110), Bryan Namoff (John Wilson 60, Guy-Roland Kpene 105); Ben Olsen (Devon McTavish 60), Brian Carroll (Jeff Carroll 60), Clyde Simms (Brian Arguez 60), Christian Gomez (Justin Moose 60), Joshua Gros (Stephen deRoux 60); Luciano Emilio (Rod Dyachenko 60, Ricky Schramm 114), Jaime Moreno (Jamil Walker 60).
Fire sweep twin bill: The Chicago Fire opened their preseason scrimmage schedule with a double dip Saturday in Bradenton, shutting out the University of South Florida and U.S. Under-17 national team 4-0 and 2-0, respectively.
Against USF, the Fire dominated each of the three 30-minute periods. Jerson Monteiro, a first round pick in January's SuperDraft, started the scoring with a 15-yard volley in the 13th minute, and Ivan Guerrero tallied in the 29th.
Roody Lormera made the lead three with a header from close range in the 63rd minute, and Calen Carr rounded out the scoring on a breakaway three minutes from time.
In their second match of the day, the Men in Red got a sterner test from the U.S. U-17s in a 70-minute scrimmage.
Just 10 minutes in, Pascal Bedrossian put the Fire ahead, easily slotting home after midfielder Mike Banner did the hard work to cut up the left flank and along the endline. The teams appeared sluggish for much of the match, but the Fire came alive in the last 15 minutes, and second-year man Floyd Franks drilled home his team's second in the 57th minute from 18 yards out.
Fire lineups:
vs. USF: David Mahoney (Josh Saunders 45); C.J. Brown (Bakary Soumare 30), Jeff Curtin (Jim Curtin 30, Daniel Woolard 60), Gonzalo Segares (Jordan Russolillo 30); Logan Pause (Erik Hort 30), Diego Gutierrez (Chris Armas 30, Mark Totten 60), Ivan Guerrero (Brian Plotkin 30), Floyd Franks (Pascal Bedrossian 30, Derek Kosek 60), Mike Banner (Nate Norman 30, Andrae Clarke 60, Asmir Pervan 75); Chad Barrett (Roody Lormera 40), Jerson Monteiro (Asmir Pervan 30, Calen Carr 60).
vs. U.S. U-17s: Dane Brenner (Nick Noble 35); C.J. Brown (Dasan Robinson 35), Jim Curtin (Jeff Curtin 35), Gonzalo Segares (Daniel Woolard 35); Roody Lormera (Mark Totten 35), Chris Armas (Diego Gutierrez 35), Derek Kosek (Logan Pause 35), Pascal Bedrossian (Floyd Franks 35), Mike Banner (Ivan Guerrero 35); Calen Carr (Andrae Clarke 35), Asmir Pervan (Jerson Monteiro 35)
Red Bulls whitewash U-17s: The New York Red Bulls also played the U.S. Under-17 team Saturday, blanking the youngsters 4-0 in Bradenton.
Markus Schopp led the way with two goals for the Bulls in the 90-minute scrimmage. He opened his account in the seventh minute with a fortuitous bounce, as the U-17 goalkeeper collided with a defender while coming out for a cross. The ball fell to Schopp, who scored easily.
Just after the half-hour mark, Schopp had his second, powering home a header from a Claudio Reyna corner kick. Then, just before the half, recent Red Bulls acquisition Dave van den Bergh fired a shot from 12 yards to make it 3-0 in favor of the MLS side.
Dane Richards, the 19th overall pick in January's SuperDraft, closed out the scoring in the 85th minute with a simple tap-in.
"The fitness part of it is getting together and getting to know each other's strengths and weaknesses," said Red Bulls assistant coach John Harkes. "We're pretty happy with what we saw and there were some good combinations going to goal."
Red Bulls lineups:
First half: Ronald Waterreus, Todd Dunivant, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Parke, Marvell Wynne, Dave van den Bergh, Seth Stammler, Dema Kovalenko, Markus Schopp, Claudio Reyna, Jozy Altidore
Second half: Jon Conway, Eric Denton, Hugh MacDonald, Todd Dunivant (Seth Stammler 65), Joe Vide, Ansu Toure, Sal Caccavale, Craig Capano, Dane Richards, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, John Wolyniec
Loyola no match for Chivas USA: Chivas USA and new head coach Preki started their preseason schedule with a 1-0 victory against Loyola Marymount University Saturday at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
The game's only goal came in the 68th minute from the foot of forward Anthony Hamilton, the club's fourth round pick in January's Supplemental Draft.
Chivas USA lineups:
First half: Preston Burpo; Jorge Barrera, Claudio Suárez, Cameron Dunn, Orlando Pérez; Jamar Beasley, Erasmo Solórzano, Jesse Marsch, Estuardo Sánchez; Maykel Galindo, Edwin Borboa.
Second half: Brad Guzan; Lyle Martin, Jason Hernández, Carlos Llamosa, Jonathan Bornstein; Miguel Zepeda, Mohammed Sethi, Francisco Mendoza, Jordan Arias; Matt Taylor, Anthony Hamilton.
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
