Matt Pentz

  • The High-Scoring Rapids Rule, FC Dallas' feel-good story, MLS's best team?

    The goal-fests all around MLS in Week 11 shouldn't have come as a surprise.

  • Jozy Altidore not getting enough credit for immense impact on Toronto FC

    Altidore can strike a pose, too. Asked afterward whether Jozy Altidore is still somehow underrated around Major League Soccer, Toronto FC teammate Michael Bradley only smirked and offered a curt nod, as if the answer was so obvious the question needn’t even be asked. Bradley could have just gestured back down the tunnel toward the field, where Altidore had been so dominant throughout Toronto’s 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field on Saturday.

  • D.C. United's ruthless efficiency, Seattle's crazy comeback and other odd results from a weird MLS weekend

    Ozzie Alonso capped Seattle’s late comeback against the Revs. It isn’t often that an entire round of games goes against the run of play, but it certainly felt that way over the weekend in Major League Soccer. Despite being outshot 26-9 and possessing the ball for just 26 percent of the game, D.C. United emerged from Bobby Dodd Stadium as 3-1 winners over Atlanta United.

  • L.A. Galaxy, Philadelphia Union problems run too deep to be solved by coaching changes

    Roland Alberg’s 39th-minute goal made it 3-0 to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday afternoon at PPL Park. The Montreal Impact pulled one back shortly afterward, but Philly carried the 3-1 lead into the final 25 minutes and looked well on its way to a badly-needed victory. Impact striker Anthony Jackson-Hamel scored in the 69th and 87th minutes, denying Philadelphia its first victory in 238 days.

  • Vancouver-Seattle rivalry gets the villain it needed in Fredy Montero

    Montero scored twice against the Sounders, his former MLS team. VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Minutes before kickoff between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders on Friday night, ‘Caps club president Bob Lenarduzzi ruminated on why this particular Cascadia derby doesn’t crackle with the intensity found south of the border. “When people think of Canadians, they think of polite, nice people,” Lenarduzzi said from his box at BC Place.

  • MLS must make this necessary change to finally win the CONCACAF Champions League

    No Major League Soccer team has ever won this iteration of the region’s continental club competition, and that drought will continue after FC Dallas and the Vancouver Whitecaps were knocked out in last week’s semifinals by Liga MX opposition. Dallas always looked the likelier of the two to break the streak, carrying over a 2-1 lead to the second leg at Pachuca. Vancouver momentarily put a scare into Tigres via Brek Shea’s third-minute goal at BC Place, but the second half turned into a rout as the visitors cruised to a 4-1 aggregate win.

  • Here's some insight on how LAFC, MLS's next expansion team, will be built

    LAFC has some sweet downtown digs. LOS ANGELES – LAFC has the delivery down. Major League Soccer’s next expansion club has a downtown headquarters best described as tech startup meets timeshare presentation.

  • Atlanta United's ambition: to become 'the biggest club in America'

    As far as scoreless early-season Major League Soccer draws go, the 0-0 tie last Friday between the Seattle Sounders and Atlanta United was as good as it gets.

  • Why MLS Cup contenders should be even more concerned about FC Dallas

    Urruti and FCD are flying high. FC Dallas had itself a week. First, Dallas bested Pachuca 2-1 last Wednesday in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals, the winning goal courtesy of a spectacular free kick by Kellyn Acosta.

  • How Seattle Sounders overcame hawks attacking doves at CenturyLink Field to raise an MLS championship banner

    Fans show their Sounders pride at Seattle’s inaugural MLS match against the Red Bulls. SEATTLE – Perhaps my personal favorite anecdote about the Seattle Sounders’ inaugural Major League Soccer match involves the hawks swooping out of the rafters to attack doves released as part of a mock kickoff ceremony. On Sunday evening, eight years to the day when they opened their expansion campaign with a 3-0 win over the New York Red Bulls, the Sounders will unveil their first MLS Cup championship banner.

  • Minnesota United out to prove it won't be worst MLS expansion team ever

    MNUFC and Johan Venegas are feeling the pain of being an expansion team. Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath was defiant, his gaze narrowing as he steadied himself for the fight. Some league observers even floated the idea that MNUFC could go down as the worst expansion team in MLS history.

  • USMNT snub drove Jordan Morris to fulfill high expectations with Sounders

    Morris enters his sophomore season with modest goals. SEATTLE – It would be hyperbole to say Jordan Morris exceeded expectations during his rookie season with the Seattle Sounders, but that’s only because the bar was set so high. Morris was named Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year after tallying 12 goals and four assists during the regular season.

  • How Portland's Caleb Porter found a happy medium between the styles of Guardiola and Mourinho

    The last time the Portland Timbers failed to make the MLS Cup playoffs, coach Caleb Porter spent the offseason in a state of introspection. Porter questioned everything – from team building to the style of play previously so central to his identity.