The MLS preseason will kick into high gear on Wednesday, Feb. 15, when a whopping 17 clubs will be in action in Florida, Tucson, Ariz., Portland and Argentina. Here’s a rundown of the day’s action:
Chicago Fire 4, Montreal Impact 1
The Chicago Fire scored three goals in the first 18 minutes and added a fourth midway through the second half before Ignacio Piatti converted an 88th minute penalty for the Montreal Impact's only goal in a 4-1 Fire victory at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla. Wednesday. The victory improved Chicago to 4-0-0 on the preseason, while Montreal (2-1-0) suffered their first loss. David Accam (1st minute), Dax McCarty (15th) and Nemanja Nikolic (64th) scored for the Fire. Montreal also scored an own goal in the 18th.
Orlando City SC 3, Philadelphia Union 3
Orlando City and the Union drew 3-3 in an extended match featuring three, 45-minute periods on Wednesday in Clearwater, Fla. The first 45-minute segment ended at 1-1, with newcomer Jay Simpson scoring in the 41st minute for Philadelphia before Will Johnson leveled for Orlando with the final touch of the period. Orlando ended the second period with a 3-2 advantage, with Ilson Jr. striking early for the Union before Carlos Rivas and Cyle Larin scored to put the Lions back on top. Philly clawed their way back in the final period, with C.J. Sapong scoring 15 minutes from full-time to make it 3-3.
Colorado Rapids 1, Sporting KC 1
The Rapids and SKC played to a 1-1 draw in the Desert Diamond Cup opener in Tucson, Ariz on Wednesday afternoon. After a scoreless first half, Sporting took the lead in the 51st minute, when Amer Didic looped a header inside the far post off a Tyler Pasher cross. Kansas City looked like they take all three points, but Colorado had other ideas. The Rapids were awarded a penalty kick following a Video Assistant Referee stoppage in the 89th minute, with Dillon Powers burying the spot kick in the 91st to make it 1-1.
San Jose Earthquakes 0, San Francisco Deltas 1
The San Jose Earthquakes were ousted by NASL expansion club San Francisco Deltas, 1-0, in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes started the game with a lineup that included Chris Wondolowski, Simon Dawkins, and Tommy Thompson, but could not manage to score a goal and were outdone by a first-half finish from former Real Salt Lake forward Devon Sandoval.
San Jose Earthquakes Lineup (4-4-2, left to right): Tarbell — Colvey (Francis), Imperiale, Silva (Bernardez), Lima (Sarkodie) — Salinas (Cato), Godoy (Ceren), Yueill (Alashe), Thompson (Thierjung) — Dawkins (Mfeka), Wondolowski (Garcia)
Toronto FC 6, Miami FC 1
Toronto FC scored three goals on each side of halftime en route to cruising to a 6-1 victory over Miami FC in a game played in Orlando. Justin Morrow scored the winner for Toronto FC in the first half, and Sebastian Giovinco added a brace before the break. The closing 45 minutes saw Benoit Cheyrou, Aikim Andrews, and Raheem Edwards get on the board for Toronto before Miami FC pulled back a late consolation goal.
New York City FC 0, New York Red Bulls 2
The preseason New York Derby ended with a 2-0 Red Bulls win on Wednesday in Tucson. Sacha Kljestan scored both goals on the day, in the 23rd and 43rd minutes, with a late tally that would have completed the hat trick chalked off for offside. Luis Robles also saved a first-half penalty for New York.
New York City FC lineup (4-3-3): Johansen (Rawls); Gomez, White, Sweat, Allen (Matarrita); Stertzer, Wingate (Sands), Awuah; Brown, Okoli, Shelton (Harrison)
New York Red Bulls starting XI (4-4-2): Robles; Bilyeu, Long, Collin, Zizzo; Felipe, Davis, Royer, Kljestan; Veron, Wright-Phillips
Houston Dynamo 2, New England Revolution 0
The Dynamo won their first game of the preseason that came against MLS opposition. Goals on the night came courtesy of Erick "Cubo" Torres (54th minute) and Alberth Elis (89th minute).
Houston Dynamo lineup (4-3-3): Tyler Deric (Joe Willis 46); George Malki (A.J. DeLaGarza 46), Jalil Anibaba (Adolfo Machado 46), Agus (Leonardo 46), Kevin Garcia (Dylan Remick 46); Joseph Holland (Alex 46), Eric Alexander (Juan David Cabezas 46), Boniek GarcÃa © (Ricardo Clark 46); Andrew Wenger (Romell Quioto 46), Mauro Manotas (Erick Torres 46), Vicente Sánchez (Alberth Elis 46)
New England Revolution starting XI (4-4-1-1): Cropper; Tierney, Woodberry, J. Smith, Farrell; Fagundez, Kouassi, Rowe, Caldwell; Nguyen; Bunbury
Minnesota United FC 3, Real Salt Lake 3
Minnesota United made it three draws in three games in Portland this preseason, after tying Real Salt Lake in a 3-3 shootout. Kevin Molino opened the scoring for the Loons in the 24th minute, before doubling his tally 24 minutes later. Yura Movsisyan cut the deficit to one goal just before the hour mark, and Chad Barrett tied it up for RSL in the 79th minute.
It was a dramatic finish, as Andrew Brody put RSL ahead in the 88th minute, but Minnesota United grabbed the equalizer courtesy of Johan Venegas in second-half stoppage time.
Minnesota United starting XI (4-4-2): McLain; Davis, Demidov, Calvo, Taylor; Schuler, Warner, Ibarra, Molino; Ramirez, J. Venegas
Real Salt Lake starting XI (4-3-3): VanOekel; Wingert, Maund, Schuler, Phillips; Mulholland, Silva, Rusnak; Allen, Movsisyan, Plata
Portland Timbers 2, Vancouver Whitecaps 1
The Portland Timbers fielded a virtual starting lineup and several players went 90 minutes as they dominated the Vancouver Whitecaps in a 2-1 win to close out the Portland Tournament. The Timbers outshot the Whitecaps 16-2 and the goals came within a two-minute span in the first half as Diego Valeri (26th minute) and Fanendo Adi (28th minute) both scored on crosses from the left with the first strike by Valeri featuring a 15-pass build-up by the Timbers.
The Whitecaps goal came on a Cristian Techera free kick with 11 minutes to go, but their concern will be a foot injury that forced new acquisition Yordy Reyna off the field.
Portland Timbers (4-2-3-1, right to left): Gleeson -- Powell, Olum, Ridgewell (60' Clarke), Vytas -- Guzmán, Chara -- Asprilla (60' Arboleda), Valeri (76' Barmby), Nagbe -- Adi (60' Mattocks)
Subs not used: GK Attinella, D Myers, D Valentin, D Farfan, M Zemanski, M Okugo, M Barmby, F McInerney
Vancouver Whitecaps (4-2-3-1 right to left): Ousted -- Nerwinski (62' Williams), Waston, Parker (77' Dean), Harvey -- Laba, Teibert (46' Jacobson) -- Davies (62' Manneh), Barnes (77' Greig), De Jong (46' Reyna) -- Hurtado (62' Techera)
Subs not used: GK Tornaghi
FC Dallas 1, Estudiantes de La Plata 1
FC Dallas closed their Argentina trip with a 1-1 draw against Estudiantes de La Plata on Wednesday morning, with FCD’s lone goal scored by new signing Cristian Colman. The club will now return to Texas, where they’ll scrimmage SMU on Sunday before hosting Arabe Unido in a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal next Wednesday.
