CARSON, Calif. — Chivas USA's season has been a total seesaw of results: letdowns after impressive victories, and wins when they find themselves struggling.
After a big 2-0 midweek win against the San Jose Earthquakes to snap a four-game winless streak, the Rojiblancos are, needless to say, hoping to retain their good form.
Led by a strong defense and energetic midfield to get the much needed win at home on Wednesday, Chivas USA now travel to Livestrong Sporting Park to take on a motivated Sporting Kansas City side on Saturday (7:30 pm ET, Galavisión). The match is the third in eight days for head coach Robin Fraser's side, who believe that the win over San Jose can serve as a catalyst for a run of good results.
"[Sporting are] a tough team who are on a bit of a hot streak right now," midfielder Nick LaBrocca (pictured above) told MLSsoccer.com. "They're going to be feeling good about themselves because of their new home, so it'll be a tough game, but hopefully an exciting one."
"Exciting" benefits the fast-paced game of LaBrocca, but the Rojiblancos will be eager to slow the game down and shut down Sporting stars Graham Zusi and Teal Bunbury. Throughout the season, Chivas USA have struggled playing in shootouts against other teams.
When the Rojiblancos head east, the goal will be to not just stop the chances Sporting genrate, but to prevent the chances before they happen.
"We're at our best when, instead of putting out a fire, we avoid fires all together," said defender Heath Pearce. "We did a good job of killing things at the root of everything against San Jose and now we face a team that we can beat. Our confidence is high and hopefully we can use that momentum to get a result."
Chivas USA will be keenly aware that the crowd at Livestrong Sporting Park will be against them, but the energetic LaBrocca is confident of the Goats’ abilities under pressure.
"We are a very stubborn team and when things aren't going our way, we're just going to keep pounding it out until we get our way," quipped LaBrocca.
Adam Serrano covers Chivas USA for MLSSoccer.com and can be reached at adam.m.serrano@gmail.com and on Twitter: @AdamSerrano
