Chivas USA Notes – (1-1 Ties vs. Sporting KC, Livestrong Sporting Park, Kansas City, MO, 7/09/11)
 
Nick LaBrocca scored his 6th goal of the season which also became the 10,000 goal in MLS history and gave the lead to Chivas USA against Sporting Kansas City at the 30th minute. The equalizer that marked the final score (1-1), came from KC’s forward Omar Bravo during compensation time (minute 93rd).
 
Chivas USA tied Sporting Kansas City 1-1 on Saturday evening before 18,467 fans. Midfielder LaBrocca faced and beat KC’s goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen, assisted by Justin Braun. Omar Bravo took advantage of the only Red-and-White’s defense distraction and put the ball at the back of the net to give the equalizer to home’s team.
 
With the tie, the Goats’ record moves to 5-7-7 with 22 points, and occupies the sixth place in the Western Conference. Chivas USA now will go back home to face Rafa Marquez’s New York Red Bulls on Saturday, July 16th at The Home Depot Center. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. PT, and will be broadcast on Prime Ticket, Galavision, and W Radio 690 AM. For information on the game and to purchase tickets, please call 1-877-CHIVAS-1 or visit cdchivasusa.com
 THE WORD FROM THE TEAMS:
 
CHIVAS USA – Head Coach Robin Fraser
 On the match: It was a hard fought game. I thought that Kansas City gave us some problems in the first half, but we were able to adjust and create some chances. In the second half, I thought they came out with a lot of energy and really took it to us. I think it’s the first time all year we’ve had to change our formation because a team was giving us trouble, so hats off to them for playing so well. To be 60 seconds from getting out of here with three points, it’s extremely disappointing.
 
On the play of Nick LaBrocca: I was hoping somebody would ask me about Nick. I’m very excited about the fact that I feel that we have the best young emerging player in the League. He’s such an intelligent player and he gets himself shots.
 
On controlling C.J. Sapong: It really just comes down to good team defending and knowing what your opponent’s strengths are and being able to adjust. I thought that, for the most part, we did a decent job of putting him in more uncomfortable positions. He’s a tremendous young player and I think he’s got a really bright future.
 
·         CHIVAS USA – Striker Justin Braun
 
Overall thoughts on game: Obviously, it’s disappointing for us. Anytime you give up a goal in stoppage time it’s definitely a letdown. We were expecting to get the three points. We were playing really well and unfortunately in the second half kind of got away from that and came under some pressure and then we broke.
 
·         CHIVAS USA – Defender Jimmy Conrad
 
On LIVESTRONG Sporting Park: It’s amazing. I feel like a played a very, very small part in getting it built. I did a lot of work with the politicians. But it’s great for Kansas City and it’s something the fans deserve. And it’s probably the best facility in this country. I play in the Home Depot Center now and that used to be the premier place to play, but this has definitely raised the bar. It was an exciting game, I wish we would’ve got more out of it but it was a good place to watch a game.
 
·    KANSAS CITY – Head Coach Peter Vermes
On his team’s performance: I thought that they did a very good job in the first half. It wasn’t so much their possession, it was that they recovered most of the balls in the midfield, which we were a little bit late on. And, at times, they were able to stretch the field and I thought they did a really good job on second balls. I thought that the goal was pretty soft on our part. I thought that we were pretty unorganized in the first half. But the great thing is that during halftime, I said to the guys that in the last 11 games that we’ve played, it is probably the worst half of soccer that I’ve seen us play. And unfortunately, that’s going to happen. The important thing is how you react in the second half. And I thought our reaction was excellent, and we had the last-minute dramatic goal to get the tie, but the amazing part is the fight the guys have to just keep going and going. It was pretty impressive and I’m proud of the fact that we put ourselves in that position to start the second half.
On the team giving up the first goal as of late: You never want to give want to give up the first goal. But you know, we’re alive and well. We have a lot of games left, and we have a lot of games left at home. I feel that we’re starting to come into our own as a team, and we’re going to continue to hopefully get results. As much as you don’t want to focus on everyone else in the league, it’s not like everyone else is taking off in points because some teams are getting beat. Maybe some of the top teams are getting a little further away, but that’s okay as long as you’re still in the mix, and right now we’re in the mix.
On Omar Bravo scoring the equalizer: I’m happy for him that he got it. It was a great goal because of his anticipation. That’s the one thing that people don’t see about Omar. The on thing that Omar does better than other players is that he finishes the ball. He may not get the first ball or the second ball but he keeps on going to get the third one because of his commitment to making those runs. His goal was extremely opportunistic and due to his anticipation of where he thought the ball was going to go.
  SPORTING KANSAS CITY – Forward Omar Bravo
On ending the night with a goal: We like to make ourselves suffer sometimes, but in the end the ball went in and we got the tie. There’s a lot of things we need to get better at, but it was important to get the tie.
        On coming from behind recently: It’s complicated, we need to analyze the way we play.
Chivas USA (5-7-7) vs. Sporting Kansas City (5-6-7)
 
July 9 2011- Livestrong Sporting Park
Scoring Summary:
CHV — Nick LaBrocca 6 (Justin Braun 3, Blair Gavin 1) 30
KC — Omar Bravo 4 (unassisted) 93+
Chivas USA — Dan Kennedy, Michael Lahoud, Heath Pearce, Michael Umana, Zarek Valentin, Ben Zemanski, Simon Elliott (Francisco Mendoza 68), Nick LaBrocca, Blair Gavin (Jorge Flores 63), Justin Braun, Marcos Mondaini (Mariano Trujillo 79).
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Boyens, Chris Cortez, Victor Estupinan, Zach Thornton.
Sporting KC — Jimmy Nielsen, Michael Harrington, Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, Chance Myers, Milos Stojcev (Kei Kamara 38), Roger Espinoza, Graham Zusi (Birahim Diop 80), Julio Cesar (Luke Sassano 46), Omar Bravo, C.J. Sapong.
Substitutes Not Used: Teal Bunbury, Scott Lorenz, Shavar Thomas, Eric Kronberg.
Misconduct Summary:
CHV — Justin Braun (caution; Tactical Foul) 32
Referee: Jasen Anno
Referee’s Assistants: Chris Strickland; Peter Balciunas
4th Official: Daniel Fitzgerald
Attendance: 18,467
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: Sunny-and-91-degrees
cdchivasusa.com