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What was he thinking?

Last night's U.S. Open Cup final had plenty of Southern California interest what with the likes of former Galaxy team members Sigi Schmid, Pete Vagenas and Ezra Hendrickson (as an assistant coach) involved for Seattle and Josh Wicks starting for D.C. United.

Wicks, who seems to have learned from his traumatic experience last year in L.A., kept United in the game early, but then came his rush of blood to the head (the second in successive games after a confrontation with a teammate in the previous game for United).

And no, it doesn't matter whether Wicks actually made contact. The intent, whether to injure or intimidate, was there. Check out the highlights here:

Charleston Battery 3 Chivas USA 1

Notable:
*Jesse Marsch scored in the 28th minute for Chivas USA to tie the game at one apiece, but it wasn't enough to see the club win a U.S. Open Cup game for the first time in four years.

*Chivas USA goalkeeper Lance Parker made his second start of year after playing last Saturday in SuperLiga against San Luis. Defender Bobby Burling saw his first minutes in 2009 after recovering from sports hernia surgery.

Quotable:

"Overall, I thought we were the better team the whole game," said Chivas USA Coach Preki. "They got lucky breaks. ... I thought we played really well. ... We made them chase the game. ... They just defended the second half and they didn't want to play."

Chivas USA XI: Lance Parker, Sasha Victorine, Jim Curtin, Carey Talley, Jorge Flores, Chukwudi Chijindu (Bobby Burling, 70'), Paulo Nagamura, Jesse Marsch, Bojan Stepanovic, Atiba Harris (Michael Lahoud 84), Eduardo Lillingston (Maykel Galindo, 58').

Briefly:

*The Battery, second in the USL First Division with a 7-2-6 record, lost in last year's U.S. Open Cup final to D.C. United. They advanced to the third round with wins over Atlanta FC and Miami FC Blues. Charleston is unbeaten at Blackbaud Stadium in 2009 with five wins and three ties.

*Chivas USA haven't won a U.S. Open Cup game in four years. Chivas USA has one win in the last nine games in all competitions. This is the first-ever meeting between the clubs.

*The game will be streamed live at 4:30 p.m. on USLlive.com.

AP Photos

Current Galaxy striker Bryan Jordan and former Galaxy defender Ty Harden go head to head during Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup game in Carson, which the Rapids won on penalty kicks after the two teams played to a 0-0 overtime draw.

The Galaxy failed to find a way past a team that played for most of the night with 10 men, but frankly Coach Bruce Arena didn't look too disappointed with dispensing with the distraction of the U.S. Open Cup in a season where there are far more urgent priorities.

The positives?
A.J. DeLaGarza, Yohance (God's gift) Marshall (I'm not being funny - that's what his first name apparently means in Swahili) at central defense and not giving up any goals, said Coach Bruce Arena. Sounds about right to me.

This was one of those nights it was sufficient to show up and look like you're working:

"The opportunity to play some guys tonight was beneficial ... overall I thought our effort was good. We broke down technically with the last pass or the finish tonight and that was the difference in the game."

On the unusual back four of Omar Gonzalez, Yohance Marshall, Gregg Berhalter and A.J. DeLaGarza:

"From Saturday we had a couple of players that needed more time to recover. We didn't intend to play Omar (Gonzalez) at right back, but I actually thought he did a good job. He had some stomach cramps and we had to take him off after 90 (minutes). He's obviously pretty fatigued. Players that played on Saturday we were somewhat reluctant at trying to give them a lot of minutes today and we tried to avoid that."

Gregg Berhalter also had to come out with cramps, BTW. (It's been a while since he played a game, Arena said, although Berhalter said he hadn't missed a day of training this season with his second division German club this season).

At the other end of the spectrum, Colorado Coach Gary Smith declared himself "completely overwhelmed and delighted" (isn't that pushing it for a U.S. Open Cup preliminary game?):

"I thought, categorically, we showed tremendous character, (playing) a man down for the best part of what I think was 90 minutes and that's never easy away from home."

An announced 6,219 were in attendance.

Current Galaxy midfielder Chris Klein and former Galaxy defender Ugo Ihemelu go toe to toe Tuesday in Carson.

Colorado has the first kick.

Round 1

Omar Cummings scores.
Alan Gordon just scrapes it in after Preston Burpo gets a hand on it.

Round 2

Mehdi Ballouch puts it in the left corner to make it 2-1 Colorado.
Chris Klein grasscutter to right of Burpo is saved.

Round 3

Colin Clark blasts it home to make it 3-1 Colorado.
Bryan Jordan gets the Galaxy within one - it's 3-2.

Round 4

Ugo Ihemelu just gets it home and the Rapids are ahead 4-2.
Mike Magee performs a weak stutter step that fails to fool Preston Burpo - who saves.

Final: Galaxy 2 Colorado 4

More later.

Galaxy 0 Rapids 0

Penalty kicks here we come.

Best chance of the second half of OT for Colorado: A jinking Omar Cummings almost single-handedly took on the Galaxy defense in the 20th minute and threaded a ball through to a loitering Jacob Peterson, who missed yet another chance on the evening, carelessly shooting over the bar when he could have put the game away.

Best chance for the Galaxy: Jovan Kirovski shooting wide in the 26th minute.

Alan Gordon also saw a header saved from a Josh Tudela cross in the 30th minute.

Galaxy 0 Rapids 0

Galaxy substitute Mike Magee headed over the bar in the ninth minute of OT from a Josh Tudela cross to provide the highlight of the opening 15 minutes.

Alan Gordon also headed over the bar in the 14th minute after a promising move down the left wing came to nothing.

On to the second OT period.

Galaxy 0 Rapids 0

We're heading to two 15 minute overtime periods, neither team unable to break what in truth has been a fairly turgid deadlock.

Alan Gordon and Chris Klein are on for the Galaxy, while Omar Cummings has entered for Colorado and the three have provided some of the games brighter moments.

There have not been very many, however, and if anything the second half was worse quality than the first.

Good thing we have the first CONCACAF Champions League semifinal between Cruz Azul and the Puerto Rico Islanders to keep us occupied; Cruz Azul just went through on penalties after the teams tied 3-3 on aggregate and will meet the winner of Wednesday's game betwen Atalante and Santos Laguna in the final.

Galaxy 0 Colorado 0

Slips and gaffes sums up this one (and that's just the ref, who unnecessarily left Colorado at 10 men in the 36th minute).

Debutant Greg Berhalter almost flubbed a ball to let in the Rapids' Jacob Peterson, but the striker was unable to capitalize in the 31st minute.

Peterson had the best move of the night, getting in behind the Galaxy defense with a pacy run, only for Ross Schunk to blast over the bar even though he had time and was wide-open about 12 yards out.

Not much else to report, although Van Nuys youngster Tristan Bowen did get a head on a 6th minute Jovan Kirovski corner that sailed over the bar.

Landon Donovan is in the club suite, so he's not going to help matters tonight; Alan Gordon is the extent of the Galaxy's out and out attacking options off the bench, BTW.

This is a reserve team game in every sense of the word.

The Rapids are down to 10-men after an innocuous-looking Greg Dalby challenge on Stefani Miglioranzi in the 36th minute in the middle of the park earned him a straight red.

That was either an incredibly harsh call or an incredibly inept one.

I know which one Colorado Director of Soccer Paul Bravo would choose as he sits swearing at the ref in the press box next to me.

(The game itself isn't much better).

Wholesale changes for the Galaxy tonight as one might expect, which will no doubt leave the 241 in the crowd (at 7:25 p.m. - a press box colleague counted) quivering with anticipation

I'll get to the lineups in a minute, but first some non-news:

*Italian striker Christian Vieri is not coming to the Galaxy. Shocker! You can't believe the Italian sports press.

*Oh, and this guy from England lower division team Brighton & Hove Albion isn't coming either. Another surprise.

Don't those two reports just about sum up the Galaxy though?

Onward...

Galaxy lineup:
Goalkeeper - Josh Saunders
Right back - Omar Gonzalez
Central defenders - Gregg Berhalter & Yohance Marshall
Left back - A.J. DeLaGarza
Right half - Sean Franklin
Central midfielders - Jovan Kirovski and Stefani Miglioranzi
Left half - Kyle Patterson
Strikers - Tristan Bowen & Bryan Jordan

Let's see if moving Franklin further away from the goal helps.

For those counting at home, that's Saunders, Gonzalez and Patterson who also started in Saturday's debacle.

Lots of changes for the Rapids, too, with Terry Cooke returning to midfield. No sign of Conor Casey you'll be glad to know; Omar Cummings is on the bench.

No TV or radio tonight, so be sure and hang out.

It's only a preliminary round game and only the most hard-core fans will be there, but the Galaxy play a return fixture against the Colorado Rapids at 8 p.m. at Home Depot Center with the winner moving on to the next round to play Seattle or Real Salt Lake for a berth in the U.S. Open Cup.

Injuries
Leonard Griffin (Sports Hernia Surgery) is out; Edson Buddle (right quad strain), Todd Dunivant (right ankle), Mike Magee (bruised right foot), Donovan Ricketts (groin strain) are questionable; and Eddie Lewis (left Hamstring strain) is probable.

Awards
*Alan Gordon's second half goal against Colorado has been nominated for Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Week. Vote here.

*Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey was voted MLS Player of the Week for Week 3. (You're welcome).

Trivia
*Saturday's loss to the Rapids was the 400th game in Galaxy history. Their all-time record: 184-152-64. Saturday's game kept one streak alive: the Galaxy have lost their 100th, 200th, 300th and now 400th games in club history.

*Saturday's game between the Galaxy and Rapids was just the second time in MLS history neither goalkeeper recorded a save in a game. Colorado scored on all of their three shots on target, the Galaxy on their two. Shoot more! The last time this happened: May 18, 2005, when Real Salt Lake beat Chivas USA, 2-0. Brad Guzan was in goal for Chivas USA.

Gratuitous David Beckham Reference
* News of the World.

The Galaxy host the Colorado Rapids at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 7 in an U.S. Open Cup qualifying game in Carson.

The winner enters the knockout tournament proper.

Or as one wag put it in the newsroom "I see the Galaxy will be out of the cup by April." (Ahem).

The Galaxy, two-time cup winners, lost 1-0 to the Rapids in a qualifying game last year at Home Depot Center.

It's the second bonus game of the season for season ticket holders.

With the Galaxy down to one healthy goalkeeper in Josh Weeks after Charles Alamo and now Steve Cronin suffered what Coach Bruce Arena effectively regards as season-ending injuries, he is calling in reinforcements in the shape of former Colorado Rapids draft pick Mike Graczyk, a former University of New Mexico standout now in the MLS pool of goalkeepers retained for just this purpose (so no Kasey Keller on loan then, I guess).

Arena knew nothing about Graczyk, who was on the Dallas roster earlier this season and has also played for the PDL Des Moines Menace.

But at training today Arena said he believes Wicks is ready to start his first-ever MLS game Saturday at home against Real Salt Lake:

"He's trained hard and my understanding is he's done well in preseason and throughout the year. I think he's prepared to play. I thought he did a good job on Saturday for his first taste, so it's good he had 45 minutes against New England.

I chatted with Wicks at training today and will be blog later today with a Q&A of that conversation.

The Galaxy have also recalled three players on loan from the USL Portland Timbers - defender Scott Bolkan, defender Varden Adzemian and Bryan Jordan, who has played in one Galaxy and nine Timbers games this season.

A reminder to the dozen or so of you out there still paying attention to the sadly ignored U.S. Open Cup (this is our F.A. Cup, after all) - the 95th annual final between D.C. United and the USL's Charleston Battery is live at 4:30 P.M. on Fox Soccer Channel.

The Battery are seeking to become the first USL team to lift the trophy since the Rochester Rhinos in 1999. Also at stake: a place in the 2009 CONCACAF Champions League.

Battery basics:
Head Coach: Michael Anhaeuser
2008 U.S. Open Cup Record: (3-0-2, 2-0 in PK shootouts)
2008 Open Cup Leading Scorer: Darren Spicer (4 goals, 1 assist)
All-Time Open Cup Final Record: First Appearance
2008 USL-1 Record: 10-9-7 (37 pts., Third Place, single table)
2008 League Leading Scorer: Randi Patterson (8 goals)
Last Outing: 0-0 draw on 8/29 vs. first-place Puerto Rico Islanders

Finally, several Southern Californians were among the 40 selected today to attend the fall U.S. Under-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. There are 17 new players and 23 who are returning.

Southern Californians to attend include: midfielder Luis Gil of Garden Grove; defender Emilio Orozco of Oxnard, who plays for Rampage FC; and defender Alberto Rosas of North Hollywood, who plays for Real So Cal.

Chivas USA:
*Lost yet again Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup (and for the second successive year) against the USL Seattle Sounders, falling 2-0 in the Pacific Northwest.

*Had the experienced likes of Claudio Suárez, Jesse Marsch, Carey Talley and Francisco Mendoza on the bench. Striker Ante Razov and defender Bobby Burling (Loyola Marymount) remained in Southern California after picking up minor knocks over the weekend.

*Has won only one U.S. Open Cup game in five attempts - against USL-2 team Charlotte Eagles.

Game story here.

Chivas USA lineup: (4-3-3): Brad Guzan; Jonathan Bornstein, Jim Curtin, Shavar Thomas, Daniel Paladini; Sacha Kljestan (Keith Savage 83), Paulo Nagamura[C], Kraig Chiles (Jesse Marsch 65); Jorge Flores (Anthony Hamilton 73), Justin Braun (Francisco Mendoza 60), Atiba Harris.