Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Burchie bombs United into the Quarterfinals

I missed the match entirely. Wound up going shopping with Mrs. Shatz in advance of our Ocean City trip. First full-team match that I've missed all year.

But we did get some answers to the questions that I posed yesterday:
Does [Soehn] choose to start the highly paid Quavas Kirk in this match, or keep using him only in the safety of the Reserve division? Yes! Kirk played 90 minutes on the right side of midfield.
Do we dare give another start to the recently demoted Jose Carvallo? No! In fact, James Thorpe was on the bench ahead of Carvallo. Clearly he won't be around much longer.
Is it worth risking further injury to Ben Olsen just to get him some field time? No! Despite his 15 minutes against LA, Olsen is still not ready for extended action.
Are rookies Jeremy Barlow, Pat Carroll, Dane Murphy, or Mike Zaher worthy of their first appearances with the first team? Only PC saw action in this match. Murph and Zaher were on the bench, and Barlow was left off the roster completely.

Since I didn't witness the match, I'll be accepting suggestions for the Top/Call/Rail categories from anyone who managed to attend the match. My thoughts based solely on the play-by-play are Top Shelf for Marc Burch (obviously), Call for Rod Dyachenko (3 shots on goal), and no Rails. I'm not sure that this clean sheet for Zach Wells was enough for me to release the ban on all defenders from the top shelf category, since Wellsy only had to make 1 save.

Agree? Any additions? Please feel free to add your suggestions into the comments section.

In the meantime, I did get to witness the end of the Houston Dynamo versus Charleston Battery match on USLlive.com. Good to see a lower level team have the testicular fortitude to convert four straight penalty kicks and send the defending MLS Cup Champions packing. Also congrats to our old pals Jay Nolly, Nick Addlery, and Justin Moose. Each played 90 minutes in propelling the Vancouver Whitecaps past Toronto FC in the Canadian Champions Cup.

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