Preseason is officially underway, and we've got five games on the schedule today.
- 2 pm ET: Real Salt Lake 3, UC-Irvine 1 (Irvine, California) RECAP | HIGHLIGHTS
- 5:30 pm ET: Philadelphia Union 1, Jacksonville Armada 3 (Jacksonville, Florida) | RECAP
- 7 pm ET: San Jose Earthquakes 1, Vancouver Whitecaps 1 (Tucson Arizona) | RECAP (VAN) | RECAP (SJ)
- 7 pm ET: FC Dallas 1, Jonkopings Sodra 1 | RECAP
- 9 pm ET: Portland Timbers 1, Houston Dynamo 1 | RECAP (POR) | RECAP (HOU)
You can catch all the news and updates from MLS training camps below, and for the entire preseason schedule, click here.
ANOTHER DRAW IN THE DESERT
The Portland Timbers and Houston Dynamo rang up another draw in Tucson, matching the early game's 1-1 scoreline in a contest played over three 30-minute periods.
Fresh Dynamo signing Leonel Miranda put Houston up in the 48th minute, only for trialist and forward Dynamo forward Omar Cummings to return the favor in the 69th minute.
Both teams are back in action on Tuesday, with Houston now facing Vancouver at 12 pm ET and Portland facing San Jose at 12:30 pm ET.
ALL EVEN BETWEEN QUAKES, 'CAPS
The Vancouver Whitecaps and San Jose Earthquakes played to a 1-1 tie in the first of two Desert Friendlies matches on Saturday evening in Tucson, Arizona.
The man known only as Trialist #1 – though reported to be Portuguese center back Paulo Renato – put the Earthquakes up in the 29th minute, putting away a flicked-on corner kick.
Vancouver would dominate the proceedings in the second half, and equalized off a composed finish from Kekuta Manneh in the 65th minute off a feed from Sam Adekugbe. Earthquakes defender Brandon Barklage picked up a red card for a dangerous tackle in the 83rd minute, while goalkeeper Bryan Meredith chipped in with a number of game-saving stops.
DALLAS PICK UP A TIE
FC Dallas improved after a preseason-opening drubbing at the hands of Orlando City, picking up a 1-1 draw on Saturday evening against Swedish side Jonkopings Sodra in Bradenton, Florida.
Atiba Harris, back for his second stint with FCD, lasered home Dallas' only goal of the game with a 25-yard blast. The Swedes would equalize soon after in the 38th minute, though, and the score would remained deadlocked throughout the second half.
UNION FALL IN JACKSONVILLE
The Philadelphia Union took a tumble in their first preseason game, falling 3-1 to the Jacksonville Armada.
The NASL expansion side hit Philadelphia with a quick one-two punch scored by Fabricio Ortiz and Alhassane Keita. Philly got one back in the 24th minute, Sheanon Williams finding Andrew Wenger, but a penalty just before halftime allowed Jacksonville to restore their winning advantage.
Catch the recap on PhiladelphiaUnion.com.
NYCFC AT THE ETIHAD
A few New York City FC players took the field at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon and no, not to play (even Frank Lampard watched the 1-1 draw with Hull City from the bench). Instead, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Sebastian Velasquez, Ned Grabavoy and Chris Wingert stepped out for a halftime interview to introduce themselves to the Manchester City fans.
NYCFC are in Manchester to train and will play friendlies against St. Mirren (Feb. 10, in Scotland) and Brondby (Feb. 15, in Denmark) before heading back to the States for the Carolina Challenge Cup.
FULL SQUAD FOR FCD
FC Dallas will wrap up their stay in Florida on Saturday evening with a friendly against Swedish second-division side Jonkopings Sodra. FC Dallas.com has a preview of the game, which is expected to feature plenty of first-team regulars for FCD, as well as 16-year-old Homegrown midfielder and US U-17 international Alex Zendejas.
D.C. REFLECT ON FLORIDA TRIP
Despite a loss in the final game of their trip to Florida, D.C. United were able to draw some positives from the 1-0 loss to Sweden's Malmo FF:
"We never like to lose, but saying that I thought it was our best performance. Our mentality was right, our edge was right," said head coach Ben Olsen. "I was a little bit disappointed, I challenged the guys last game, and they responded. The rust is coming off, you’re seeing some of the new guys create relationships with others around them. Overall, I think we ended on a positive, which is important."
United wrapped up their trip to Florida with an 0-1-2 record after draws with Orlando City and Jonkopings Sodra, another Swedish squad. They will now make a brief stop at home before flying to Austin, Texas for the ATX Pro Challenge, starting Feb. 13.
COMEBACK KIDS
Real Salt Lake overcame an early deficit to top UC Irvine in their first preseason encounter of 2015. The Anteaters took the lead in the first half, putting away a rebound following a free kick, but it was 2-1 to RSL by halftime and 3-1 by the final whistle.
Read the recap here
, and check out the highlights below:
IMPACT INK THIRD ROUND PICK
The Montreal Impact announced Saturday that they have signed rookie forward Cameron Porter, their third round pick (45th overall) in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.
"Cameron is a young player who has shown potential during camp and has impressed us," said Impact head coach and director of player personnel Frank Klopas in a statement. "It will be up to him to continue to work hard and prove himself in order to earn minutes."
Porter enjoyed a prolific college career at Princeton, netting 15 goals in 17 games in his senior season on the way to the 2014 Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Year award. He finished with 31 goals and 13 assists in his four-year career with the Tigers.
ANTEATER MANIA
Real Salt Lake are the first team of the day to get underway, facing off against UC Irvine in a scrimmage at 2 pm ET as they continue their Southern California camp. RealSaltLake.com caught up with Claret-and-Cobalt head coach Jeff Cassar and defender Tony Beltran to preview the team's first game of the preseason:
CEDRICK'S JETS
A few lucky national teamers are spending the first part of their preseson in international competition, and perhaps none are playing at a more competitive tournament than the African Cup of Nations. That makes this move from Crew SC winger Cedrick Mabwati in the DR Congo's third-place playoff against Equatorial Guinea all the more impressive:
A tantalizing taste of things to come for Columbus fans, to be sure.
LIVE FROM TUCSON
Timbers.com will be providing more live soccer to the masses when they stream Saturday night's encounter between Portland and the Houston Dynamo as part of the annual Desert Friendlies.
Whether new signings or old favorites, Portland's revamped backline or Houston's new look under first-year manager Owen Coyle, there will be plenty to watch out for as these two teams begin the long journey towards a playoff return after one year on the sidelines.
'CAPS KEEP IT LIGHT
The Vancouver Whitecaps are also in action in the Desert Friendlies on Saturday when they take on the Quakes at 7 pm ET (streaming info to follow). The 'Caps got off to a great start to preseason behind a pair of goals from new Young DP Octavio Rivero, and earned a brief measure of respite with a fun session of keep-away in Friday's training:
The group was split among nationality lines into Americans/Green Card Holders, Proud Canadians, and Latin Americans/Everyone Else, with Jordan Harvey claiming an American victory.
A DAY OF FIRSTS
The Philadelphia Union also play their first preseason game of 2015 on Saturday, as they are in Florida to take on NASL expansion team Jacksonville Armada. You can get live updates on the game from the Union's Gameday Twitter account. In the meantime, we've got Philly training at the magnificent EverBank Field:
