Going for Gold

Landon Donovan vs. Canada (ISI)
Originally uploaded by mfishkin.

Landon Donovan is, as they say, en fuego. His three goals for the US in their CONCACAF Gold Cup wins last week (4-1 vs. Cuba and 2-0 vs. Canada) have pushed the Nats through to the tournament’s quarterfinals. First, though, the US must finish first-round group play vs. Costa Rica in Foxboro this evening. (7pm, Telefutura). The Ticos have also clinched a quarterfinal berth, so both of tonight’s lineups may be highly experimental. Donovan’s three tallies give him 25 all-time, lifting the Redlands, CA product to 3rd place on the career US scoring list behind Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda (34) and elder statesman Brian McBride (28). Considering that Donovan is all of 23 years old, the Galaxy midfielder is destined to hold the top spot. The only question is how soon he’ll get there.

Open Cup-date
Amateur squads Ocean City (NJ) Barons and Des Moines (IA) Menace made big news in the US Open Cup’s second round on June 29th. The Barons knocked off the Long Island Rough Riders, a pro outfit from the USL’s Division Two by a dominating 4-0 scoreline at St. John’s University in Queens. The Menace took an even bigger scalp, defeating the USL’s Division One’s Charleston (SC) Battery 3-2 in Iowa to advance in the knockout tournament. The Cup’s third round will be played tonight and tomorrow, with some MLS clubs finally getting into the act:

Third Round Matches (club level: MLS = I)
Portland Timbers (II) vs. Seattle Sounders (II)
Richmond Kickers (II) vs. Ocean City Barons (IV)
Rochester Rhinos (II) vs. Virginia Beach Mariners (II)
Western Mass Pioneers (III) vs. Chicago Fire (I)
Charlotte Eagles (III) vs. CD Chivas USA (I)
Atlanta Silverbacks (II) vs. Des Moines Menace (IV)
FC Dallas (I) vs. Wilmington Hammerheads (III)
Minnesota Thunder (II) vs. Real Salt Lake (I)

Recent Results
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Group B
July 7th: Cuba 1-4 US
July 9th: US 2-0 Canada

US Open Cup
Second Round: June 29th
Wilimington (NC) Hammerheads (III) 5-0 Roma of Dallas (Amateur)
Western Mass. Pioneers (III) 5-0 Reggae Boys of Indiana (Amateur)
Virginia Beach Mariners (II) 3-0 Richmond Kickers Future (IV)
Ocean City (NJ) Barons (IV) 4-0 Long Island Rough Riders (III)
Des Moines Menace (IV) 3-2 Charleston Battery (II)
El Paso Patriots (IV) 1-4 Charlotte Eagles (III)
Minnesota Thunder (II) 2-1 Chicago Fire Premier (IV)
Seattle Sounders (II) 3-1 Salinas Valley Samba (Amateur)

MLS
Saturday, July 9th
DC United 0-1 Kansas City
Columbus 1-2 San Jose
MetroStars 2-1 LA Galaxy
Chicago 1-0 New England
Chivas USA 5-1 Salt Lake

Standings (Team, Points, GD)
CONCACAF Gold Cup
x=clinched quarterfinals
Group A
x-Honduras 4, +1
x-Panama 4, +1
Trinidad 2, 0
Colombia 0, -2

Group B
x-USA 6, +5
x-Costa Rica 6, +3
Canada 0, -3
Cuba 0, -5

Group C
Jamaica 4, +1
South Africa 4, +1
Mexico 3, +3
Guatemala 0, -5

MLS Eastern Conference
Chicago 35, +7
New England 32, +14
Kansas City 25, +6
MetroStars 24, +6
DC United 22, +2
Columbus 14, -14

MLS Western Conference
FC Dallas 34, +14
San Jose 28, +8
LA Galaxy 25, +1
Colorado 17, -5
Salt Lake 13, -19
Chivas USA 9, -20

This Week’s Matches
Tuesday, July 12th
CONCACAF Gold Cup
US vs. Costa Rica, 7pm TELE

Saturday, July 16th
Chicago vs. Columbus, 4pm, ESPN2
CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinals, 1pm UNI, 4pm TELE
MetroStars vs. Colorado, 7:30pm, FSC
New England vs. FC Dallas, 7:30pm
Kansas City vs. Salt Lake, 8pm
LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA, 10pm FSC, HDNet