Wednesday is a busy day for MLS teams. Not only do the New York Red Bulls face the Vancouver Whitecaps in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, but 15 teams, including a Red Bulls' reserve side, are continuing their preparations for the 2017 season with exhibition matches.
Six all-MLS games highlight the day's action, including a tilt between the Seattle Sounders and Atlanta United and a showdown between Toronto FC and Minnesota United.
Here is a rundown of Wednesday's matches:
New England Revolution 6, Sporting Kansas City 2
An ugly day at the office for Sporting Kansas City was a great one for the New England Revolution. The two sides met in the third day of action at the Desert Diamond Cup, and the Revolution came away with a lopsided win via a 6-2 scoreline. Daigo Kobayashi got the fun started for the Revolution with a goal two minutes into the match, but Jimmy Medranda canceled it out later in the first half. New England kicked things into another gear after the break, however, as Juan Agudelo and Lee Nguyen each bagged a brace while Diego Fagundez added another tally. Graham Zusi pulled one back late for Sporting KC.
Toronto FC 3, Minnesota United 0
Sebastian Giovinco found the net for the first time this preseason and then wasted little time in scoring a second goal, leading Toronto FC to the easy win over Minnesota United in a match between last year's Eastern Conference MLS Cup Finals representative and the Western Conference's newest expansion club in Orlando, Florida.
The Atomic Ant scored in the 17th and 23rd minutes, and Jordan Hamilton tacked on another goal for the Reds in the 53rd.
New York Red Bulls 2, Houston Dynamo 2
Before the New York Red Bulls' first team takes on the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals series on Wednesday, a number of reserves and trialists in Tucson, Arizona, came back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to draw the Houston Dynamo as part of the Desert Diamond Cup.
Mauro Manotas and Jalil Anibaba scored for Houston, Omir Fernandez and Lucas Terci for the Red Bulls.
D.C. United 3, St. Louis FC 0
D.C. United evened their record in the 2017 Rowdies Suncoast Invitational at 1-1 with their victory over USL outfit St. Louis FC in Clearwater, Florida. Alhaji Kamara's 20th-minute goal put United up 1-0 at the half, and they pulled away after the break with goals from Sebastien Le Toux in the 59th minute and Patrick Nyarko in the 88th.
Lamar Neagle had two assists, including this gem on Le Toux's goal:
Chicago Fire 2, FC Cincinnati 1
It was a wild finish, with three goals scored after the 87th minute, but the Chicago Fire ran their preseason record to 5-0 with Wednesday's victory over USL club FC Cincinnati at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Chicago led 2-0 late on goals from Luis Solignac and Michael de Leeuw, but Cincinnati pulled one back in the 88th. Matej Dekovic made it 3-1 in the 89th, knocking one home from close range after a corner kick, but the USL side made it interesting with a free-kick score in the 90th.
Columbus Crew SC 1, Charleston Battery 1
The USL's Charleston Battery put the ball in the net twice against Columbus Crew SC in Wednesday's Carolina Challenge Cup match in Charleston, South Carolina -- but one of those was an own goal off Nicolai Naess' 63rd-minute free kick, allowing the MLS side to escape with a draw against the hosts.
Philadelphia Union 2, Montreal Impact 2
Anthony Jackson-Hamel netted a 90th minute equalizer for the Montreal Impact as they tied Eastern Conference foes Philadelphia 2-2 in a Suncoast Invitational match. It was the second time the Impact had come from behind to tie the Union, who took the lead through a long-distance Ilsinho blast (34th minute) and a CJ Sapong header in the box (82nd minute). Impact forward Nick DePuy momentarily tied the match at 1-1 in the 68th minute.
Philadelphia Union lineup: Blake (46’ McCarthy) — Rosenberry (63’ Gaddis), Onyewu (63’ Tribbett), Marquez (63’ Elliott), Fabinho (63’ Wijnaldum) — Medunjanin (63’ Carroll), D. Jones (46’ Alberg) — Ilsinho (63’ Epps), Bedoya (63’ Najem), Herbers (77’ Fontana) — Simpson (63’ Sapong)
Montreal Impact 1st Half lineup: Crépeau -- Lovitz, Cabrera, Ciman, Camara -- Bernier, Donadel, Bernardello -- Piatti, DePuy, Tabla
Montreal Impact 2nd Half lineup: Crépeau -- Wallace, Lefèvre, Fisher, Duvall — Lovitz (77’ Temguia), Mallace, Béland-Goyette, Salazar — Jackson-Hamel, DePuy
Colorado Rapids 1, New York City FC 0
A Sam Cronin volley on the stroke of halftime held up as the Colorado Rapids downed NYCFC 1-0 in a Desert Diamond Cup match in Tucson.
Rapids goalkeeper Zac MacMath came up with one of the plays of the match with a stop on a curling effort from Tommy McNamara, who wore the captain’s armband for NYCFC.
Colorado Rapids lineup: MacMath (46’ Mizell) — Burch (46’ Castillo), Sjöberg (46’ Burling), Watts (46’ Ford), Miller (46’ Williams) -- Cronin (46’ Boateng), Azira (46’ Hamilton) -- Badji (46’ Calvert), Powers (46’ Perez), Hairston (46’ Cascio) -- Doyle (46’ Calvert)
NYCFC lineup: Johansen — Awuah, Sweat, Brillant (72’ Sands), Gomez (69’ White) — McNamara, Pirlo, Stertzer (73’ Wingate) — Brown (55’ Camargo), Okoli, Shelton
Atlanta United 4, Seattle Sounders 2
An Atlanta United FC starting XI showed no mercy to a Seattle Sounders reserve side, jumping out to a 2-0 lead after just three minutes, extending that lead to 4-0 just minutes into the second half and ultimately holding on for a 4-2 victory.
Forward Josef Martinez scored another two goals (4 goals in 3 games), Designated Player Miguel Almiron netted a penalty kick (3rd minute) and Tito Villalba also scored (21st minute) to stake Atlanta to a commanding lead.
Henry Wingo (62nd minute) and Will Bruin (74th minute) gave the defending MLS Cup champs hope of a comeback as Atlanta went down a man following Julian Gressel's 68th minute red card, but the 2017 expansion side held on for the confidence-building win.
Atlanta United lineup: Kann — Garza (46’ Bloom), Pirez, Parkhurst (46’ Robinson), Mears (85’ Ambrose) — Gressel, Larentowicz (61' Kratz) — Asad (87’ Carleton) Almirón (61’ Heath), Villalba (61’ Peterson) — Martinez (61’ Vazquez)
Seattle Sounders lineup: Meredith — Griffith, Barnes (71’ Torres), Alfaro (71’ Marshall), Ja. Morris — Delem (71’ Roldan), Mathers (48’ Alonso) — Wingo (71’ Fernandez), Shipp (61’ Lodeiro), Olsen (71’ Dempsey) — Adekoya (61’ J. Jones)
