PORTLAND, Ore.
– Over the weekend, goalkeeper
Steve Cronin
and Major League Soccer’s D.C. United saw the 2009 campaign come to an end. On loan with the MLS side, Cronin and his teammates endured a hard-fought draw, but it would not be enough to clinch a playoff berth.
D.C. United was confronted with a must win situation on the road against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday in order advance to the postseason. United scored back-to-back goals, including the go-ahead tally in the 82nd minute, to take a 2-1 lead. In a wild finish, United’s Fred was red carded for a handball on the goal line which set up Claudio Lopez’s equalizing penalty-kick goal in the 92nd minute. The combination of the 2-2 draw, plus Seattle Sounders FC’s 2-1 win, eliminated D.C. from a tight MLS playoff race. Click here to read the entire match report.
After the Timbers’ 2009 USL First Division season, Cronin was loaned to United on Oct. 9. He started the MLS club’s final two regular season matches and a CONCACAF Champions League matchup against top-flight Mexican club Toluca. In MLS play, he totaled nine saves and one shutout while allowing just two goals. Cronin, the USL First Division Goalkeeper of the Year, had a 1-0-2 combined record for D.C.
Timbers U-23s in the college ranks:
High-flying Pilots
– With two goals and two assists from midfielder
Jarad vanSchaik
, the University of Portland routed rival Gonzaga 5-1 over the weekend. vanSchaik, who played in 13 games for the Timbers U-23s last season, scored the Pilots first two goals on the day before assisting the next two tallies. The contest against Gonzaga marked the first time UP had scored five goals in a single game since 2007. vanSchaik now has four goals and four assists this season, ranking among team leaders in both categories.
In goal for the Pilots against the Zags was Timbers U-23s goalkeeper
Austin Guerrero
. He recorded two saves to help the No. 10 Pilots improve to 8-3-3 on the season. UP hosts West Coast Conference foes St. Mary’s and Santa Clara this weekend at Merlo Field.
Rocky Mountain High
– On Sunday, Timbers U-23s midfielder
Masaki Hemmi
recorded his fifth assist of the season to lead No. 16 Colorado School of Mines to a 4-2 victory over CSU-Pueblo; Hemmi ranks second on the team in assists. CSM has won three straight and sits in second place in the NCAA Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 13-2-3 overall record. With an impressive 8-1-1 mark over their last 10 contests, the Orediggers close out the regular season with games against Metro State and Regis University this weekend.
Second-half Push
– Both the Oregon State University and University of Washington men’s soccer teams enjoyed a bye week as they prep for the second half of the Pac-10 season. Featuring three total Timbers U-23s players – UW’s
Brent Richards
and
Matt Van Houten
and OSU’s
Chris Harms
– the two sides met recently on Oct. 17, with the Beavers pulling off a 2-0 shutout in Corvallis.
For the Huskies, Richards continues to pace the team with 11 points (4 goals, 3 assists) in 13 games this season; he ranked second among the Timbers U-23s leading scorers last season. Van Houten has played in all 13 games for the Dawgs, tallying two goals. After redshirting last season, Harms has started and played in 12 of the Beavers’ 13 matches in 2009, contributing to the team’s four shutouts.
Entering the week, both OSU and UW are tied for third in the Pac-10 standings. Both the Huskies and Beavers play host to California and No. 23 Stanford this weekend.
