Last night's Lamar Hunt US Open Cup results left the Rochester Rhinos as the Philadelphia Union's opponent in the third round of the 2012 edition of the long running competition.

The Rhinos beat fellow New York club the Brooklyn Italians 3-0 to advance forward in the USOC. The United Soccer Leagues PRO team will now face the Union at PPL Park on May 29, the first every home game in the USOC for Philadelphia.

Rochester was happy with its victory over the Italians, a National Pro Soccer League side, and felt that it was well deserved.

"Very professional effort. I was very happy with it," Rhinos coach Jesse Myers said to Jeff DiVeronica of the Democrat and Chronicle. "We sorted them right out from the get-go."

Myers' players discussed the pressures of playing against Major League Soccer teams, after the game.

"If you make mistakes against an MLS team you'll get punished," said Tam McManus, a former Scottish Premier League player, to DiVeronica. "We have to defend well."

The Union will be the more rested of the two clubs next week, as the Rhinos will be playing one of their four games in seven days, a busy schedule that began with last night's win over Brooklyn.

History is not on the Union's side, as Philadelphia has lost both of its previous USOC matches against the New York Red Bulls, who could possibly play the winner of this game in the fourth round, and D.C. United.

This past weekend of Major League Soccer was not the most exciting one of the 2012 season. With five draws and four wins throughout the league, it may seem as if there is not much to talk about. Not true. This weekend reinforced three critical points in MLS right now; Toronto still has not won a game as they sit at 0-9-0, the LA Galaxy have gone from first to worst, sitting dead last in the Western Conference, and the New York Red Bulls are quite simply dominant.

Toronto FC is either a horrible football team, or they have become victims of an extreme case of bad luck. That bad luck continued when the struggling club took on DC United, a squad that has now won three of its last five. Before they even knew what to do with themselves, Toronto was down 1-0 as Dwayne De Rosario connected with a header off a 40 yard free kick in the opening minute.

De Rosario would pick up his second goal of the match in the 43rd after picking up a pass in the box. Toronto's keeper Milos Kocic got a hand on the ball, but could not prevent it from going in the net. From that point on, it was pretty much curtains for Toronto. Danny Koevermans, who came on as a sub, would score a conciliation goal for his squad in the 71st, but it would end up being for naught. DC would put their third goal on the board just two minutes later after Hamdi Salihi connected with the ball off a low cross from Andy Najar.

Toronto will next play Vancouver in the Canadian Championship on Wednesday, before taking on the Union at BMO Field this Saturday. More on that game in the match to watch out for. DC United will try and make it three in a row when they take on New England at RFK.

The Galaxy are on a five game winless streak and three of those five games have been losses. This weeks match should have been an LA Galaxy win, but Chivas USA, the team LA shares the Home Depot Center with, got their first home win of the season and first SuperClasico win in five years.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that LA couldn't quite start calling for Bruce Arena's head. After comments some comments he made earlier today, I'm retracting that statement. After Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan left to go train with their respective international camps, Arena told mlssoccer.com, "We haven't won with those players, so I don't think it's going to hurt us." Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane, along with David Beckham are the undisputed leaders of the Galaxy, and without them, they very well could have been winless along with Toronto.

Landon Donovan looked to be one of the only players who had any hustle Saturday night and probably should have left the game with two assists had his teammates finished the ball properly. Instead, after a 70th minute red card resulting from a hand ball off the arm of David Junior Lopes, Chivas won the game with a penalty shot. David Beckham came into the match as a late substitute and tried to reignite his squad, but could not come up with an equalizing goal.

The Galaxy have a short turn around this week and a big test ahead of them as they take on second place San Jose on Wednesday. More on the Galaxy in the match to watch out for. Chivas also have a short turn around this week as they take on the first place Red Bulls in Harrison, NJ. New York has won five in a row.

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• 00:32 - The Philadelphia Union kickoff the game.
• 00:58 - A ball is launched over the top of the Union defense and finds Andrew Jacobson at the top of Philadelphia's 18. The Union defense had been overly aggressive in the attack only seconds beforehand and was unable to handle a run by the former Philadelphia midfielder. Jacobson's one timer off of a bounce was saved by Chase Harrison and put out of play by the goalkeeper for a corner.
• 01:38 - The corner is taken by FC Dallas and headed toward the far post. Blas Perez, Dallas' starting forward, beats his marker, Keon Daniel, on the short side and puts a header inside of the left post. Harrison hits his head on the left post and Perez hurts his shoulder on the play.
• 02:43 - Michael Farfan tries to play a give-and-go with Michael Lahoud, but the new Union midfielder - acquired as part of the Califf trade to Chivas USA - was not in position to receive the pass and instead tried to force his way through an opposing player to the ball. Lahoud received a yellow for his reckless action.
• 03:26 - Lahoud goes in hard on a slide tackle and caught Hernan Pertuz's foot with the challenge. The referee does not call a foul and allows play to continue, with the Union pressuring in Dallas' final third. It could have easily been a send off for Lahoud with only three minutes left in the half for a second yellow. Pertuz was forced to come off and was substituted.
• 04:42 - A poor back header by Dallas, off of a long ball by Carlos Valdes, falls to Gabriel Gomez. The Panamanian central midfielder headed home the bouncing ball, past an onrushing Kevin Hartman. Gomez bore the brunt of the aftermath of the goal, as Hartman came in late and never touched the ball, kicking his right knee well after the ball was already in the air. No call on the play for Hartman, though it could have easily been a red if a different referee was on the field. Amobi Okugo came into the game for the injured Gomez.
• 05:53 - A header by Valdes off of a corner rockets off of Dallas' crossbar for a goal kick.
• 06:40 - Farfan creates room for himself at the top right of the Dallas box and lets a long range left footed shot rip. Hartman tips it wide.
• 07:10 - A cross from the left sideline goes far post, to the end of the Union six. A half-volley is kick saved by Harrison.
• 07:35 - The referee calls the game and it ends 1-1.

The Three Ringed Circus – Manager, Ownership, Sporting Director " Union City Blue

Should the finger be pointing at more than Peter Nowak?

CSN Philly - The Inside Doop: A week of firsts for Union

Dave Zeitlin's column, always a nice read after a game. Check out his thoughts from the 1-1 draw with Dallas.

The Union Dues - "Oh Captain, My Captain" – DC4 : A Tribute.

A cool tribute shirt to Danny Califf from our friends at Quaker City Apparel and The Union Dues.

Delco Times - Union Tally: "IT'S TIME" FOR THE TURNAROUND TO UNION'S SEASON, SAYS NOWAK

"Listen. It’s time. It’s the new guys settling in. They know each other. They play with each other, so now the understanding as a group is pretty good and we’re going to keep fighting." - Nowak

The Philly Soccer Page " Droughts & finishing

PSP takes a look at the statistics surrounding the Union's scoring troubles.

Philly.com - Union earns 1-1 tie at FC Dallas

The Inquirer believed that the Philadelphia Union 'earned' a draw in Dallas. Both teams didn't exactly play to win the game throughout, so deserving a result of any kind seems like somewhat of a stretch.

Philadelphia Union starting XI: Chase Harrison; Michael Farfan, Sheanon Williams, Carlos Valdes, Raymon Gaddis; Gabriel Gomez, Brian Carroll, Keon Daniel, Michael Lahoud; Lionard Pajoy, Danny Mwanga

Philadelphia Union bench: Chris Konopka, Amobi Okugo, Antoine Hoppenot, Cristhian Hernandez, Porfirio Lopez, Josue Martinez, Chandler Hoffman

FC Dallas starting XI: Hartman, Benitez, Hedges, John, Pertuz, Leyva, Marcelin, Hernandez, Jacobson, Jackson, Perez

FC Dallas bench: Seitz, M. Hernandez, Rodriguez, Guarda, Ulloa, Luna, Sealy

Use this space to discuss the game. Please do not use it to post illegal streams, troll, or attack others. FC Dallas fans are more than welcome to join the discussion, but don't be a douche bag. As someone who has been on this network for a long time, it is very easy to tell the difference between someone well-meaning, and someone whose sole purpose is to incite a reaction out of others, a.k.a. trolling.

Prediction: 2-1 Union. I polled people at Irish Mile and that was the most used prediction.

Game is at 8:30 PM on TCN.

Setting: Saturday, May 19 at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas; kickoff scheduled for 8:36:30 PM Eastern

Broadcast Information: The Comcast Network (JP Dellacamera, Bob Rigby), with coverage beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern with a pre-game show / FS Southwest, Azteca America TV-55 (Carlos Alvarado, Rafa Calderon, Eric Mora), KFLC-AM in Dallas / MLS Live, Direct Kick (FS Southwest feed)

Dallas's Record: 3-6-3, 12 points (sixth in West)

Dallas's Last Match: L, 2-1 at Columbus

Philadelphia vs. Dallas Last Season: 0-1-1 (Philadelphia 0 @ Dallas 2 on May 14; Dallas 2 @ Philadelphia 2 on August 13)

For the Dallas Perspective, Visit Big D Soccer

Tomorrow, Frisco will see a meeting between two struggling and wounded teams. The Philadelphia Union and FC Dallas are both riding three match losing streaks, coming off awfully physical matches, and both will be without key players they expected to have little more than a week ago. FC Dallas will be without Brek Shea, who was handed a three match suspension for intentionally kicking the ball at a linesman last week in Columbus, while the Union of course will be without former captain Danny Califf, now of Chivas USA. The loss of these players serve as further blows to both sides, both of which were already reeling beforehand. Shea is the backbone of Dallas's midfield, and the face of the franchise, while Califf has been the backbone of the Philadelphia defense since the club's first-ever match in Seattle. On the plus side, both sides do know how to play without them, with Shea occasionally away on national team duty, and Califf missing some time due to apparent injury.

Dallas has been offensively challenged, though, like the Union, so they may be the ones who are hurt the most by the first match with these changes, but in the overall scheme of things, Dallas's defense has to be the bigger overall concern. Blas Perez has been absolutely terrific up top for Dallas this season right from their opening match, and Union fans likely remember how dominant Fabian Castillo was against them when the Union were in Frisco last year, so offense is still there, albeit weakened without the raw power of the workhorse Shea in midfield. Defensively, though, Dallas has given up two goals in each of their last three matches, and they're tied for the most goals given up this season with Toronto FC (though they've played a few more matches than most teams). It won't help that defender Zach Loyd will also miss tomorrow's match after a red card suspension last week in Columbus.

Defensively for Philadelphia, it's expected that, like last week against the Red Bulls, Sheanon Williams will slot into the centerback alongside Carlos Valdes, with Raymon Gaddis and Gabriel Farfan (back for his first match after a three match suspension of his own) on the wings. Given their lack of depth along the backline, Philadelphia is awfully fortunate that the rookie Gaddis has excelled as he has, and certainly has earned his spot in the starting XI. Certainly, as a group they're going to have to be a little bit more aggressive after sitting back a bit and giving up three goals to the New York Red Bulls, though, again, there's a world of difference between the Red Bulls' offense and Dallas's.

Projected starters, injury reports and assorted match notes after the jump...

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A few weeks ago, I wrote at some length about how Peter Nowak, at least at the time of his hiring, was the right man to lead the Union through their infancy, that his experience in MLS and with US Soccer made him uniquely qualified to lead a franchise built from nothing and without the benefit of a splashy big-name DP.

But since the rumor broke about a week ago that Nowak was planning on trading his captain, I've begun to doubt myself more and more. It all hinges on one question: was there a good reason to trade Danny Califf?

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