The Good
15,474-
It might not have been a sellout, but the crowd at Empire Field for the first leg of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship final was still pretty impressive considering it was going head-to-head with a Vancouver Canucks playoff game. This was just the precursor to Saturday with great attendance numbers across the board.
Rapture Banners-
Props to the folks in the Timbers Army ("RAPTURED") and the Sons of Ben (covering "River" in their usual "The River End" banner to make "The End") for making some banners that made me chuckle in the aftermath of all the apocalypse nonsense.
Bobby Convey's free kick-
It might have a shot...might have been a cross...but either way, it was pretty, and a game-winner. Check it out here. Convey's goal probably would have been a lock for Goal of the Week honors were it not for...
Carlos Ruiz's unlikely golazo-
I don't think anyone in PPL Park expected Carlos Ruiz, a predominantly right footed player in the midst of a lackluster campaign, to crack a left footed volley on goal from 35 yards out in the second half of Saturday's Chicago-Philadelphia match, especially Jon Conway. But the unlikely strike, which Ruiz himself later admitted was a bit of a fluke, found the back of the net and is now an early frontrunner for MLS Goal of the Year.
The Bad
Mother Nature-
Another FC Dallas home match, another rain delay. Folks in Frisco just haven't gotten much luck with weather this year.
The other side of Chad Barrett-
To be fair, Barrett did have a nice goal in the SuperClasico, but his bungled breakaway early in the second half wasn't exactly the first time he's blown a quality scoring opportunity. Fortunately for Barrett and the Galaxy, the miss didn't come back to haunt them.
NY set piece defense-
Hans Backe has got some work to do. The Red Bulls have now conceded five set piece goals in their last three matches, with both of Houston's goals on Saturday night coming off dead ball situations.
The Ugly
Sporting KC's skid-
KC looked poised to finally snap their four match league losing streak at Qwest Field, only to have Jeff Parke snatch a draw away with a late winner. Peter Vermes' side hasn't taken a single point since their April 2nd draw at Vancouver, and they've still got two more legs of their long road trip to go before they finally open Livestrong Sporting Park.
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