and not the meteorological type.
The LA Galaxy were set for their initial test without Landon Donovan, who was off to assist in the U.S. dash toward South Africa 2010. Considering Donovan's above-and-beyond contributions to the Galaxy attack this year, his loss could have spelled real trouble for Bruce Arena's side.
The Galaxy's Home Depot Center siblings, Chivas USA, had their own personnel predicament to deal with, as the heart and soul of the side, veteran midfielder Jesse Marsch, was serving his one-game suspension.
So what happened? Others stepped up, and the results were grand. Alan Gordon had one of his best matches yet for the Galaxy, which subdued Toronto and took all three points out of BMO.
And it was a collective effort for the Red-and-White, as everyone in the Chivas USA midfield elevated their game in Marsch's absence to help the side smite Seattle. Rookie Michael Lahoud took Marsch's place centrally, but it was Paulo Nagamura who elevated his game even further. On the flanks, Atiba Harris and Justin Braun supplied the work as Chivas also coped with the loss (and subsequent lineup rearrangement) of Jonathan Bornstein to U.S. duty.
Throughout the league, Round 12 brought lineup shuffle and alteration -- and subsequent opportunity. All around the league, the first week of June saw reservists or others who are usually complementary parts seize the moment.
This is the time to start doing it. The summer will be chalk full of international absences and multi-match weeks as Open Cup play presses forward, followed by SuperLiga and CONCACAF Champions League fixtures. It's "use it or lose it" time when it comes to openings in the rotation.
One time zone farther east, Omar Cummings helped his Colorado Rapids side deal with the loss of Conor Casey, who took his share of the league scoring leadership when called for national team chores. Cummings has quietly been a major part of the success at Dick's Sporting Goods Park anyway. And his 88th-minute equalizer Saturday was terrific stuff, as his precision turn split two RSL defenders. From there, his bold shot from a tough angle allowed Gary Smith's team to split the points.
Rapids midfielder Nick LaBrocca, who has been used more often along the right lately, filled in for U.S. international Pablo Mastroeni in the center of the park. He, too, was a steady force, winning his share of the battles against an undermanned, reconfigured RSL midfield.
"A couple of the boys picked a big time to step up to the plate and realized it was on their shoulders today," Smith said.
Richard Mulrooney, sporting the always-menacing facial protection, filled in admirably for Ricardo Clark as the Dynamo's holding midfield presence. This is a spot where Mulrooney was once an MLS All-Star. So even though his home at Robertson Stadium has more often been at right fullback, the role certainly wasn't foreign to him. On the other hand, Mulrooney is 32 now, and he had missed the previous three matches due to a practice field mishap. So stepping in for Clark, who's been quite good lately and was a raging bull in the national team shirt over the weekend, wasn't an easy assignment.
Rookie attacker Nick Zimmerman has shown something in two consecutive appearances for the New York Red Bulls, including his debut start Sunday against New England. (In fact, Zimmerman's dashes along the right side might be the only thing going right around camp Red Bull these days.)
He didn't exactly replace an absentee position for position. But it's safe to say that Zimmerman would have a harder time squeezing into the lineup if Jorge Rojas had been around. (He was in South America to assist in Venezuela's qualification efforts.)
Zimmerman, in his first year out of James Madison, has the look of old-fashioned winger. He's got quick feet and he's quick into the attack. Zimmerman seems to understand about initiative and how to exploit it with quick, early action. He who hesitates forfeits the initiative. Plus, it helps that he can cross or shoot with either foot, which makes him less predictable.
For Columbus, Andy Gruenebaum made a mighty contribution as the Crew extended their unbeaten streak to eight. Gruenebaum has been filling in for the injured William Hesmer, and more outings like that one will take any pressure off Hesmer to rush a hasty comeback.
Of course, there were others who didn't exploit the opportunity. Veteran C.J. Brown was back in Chicago's starting 11 as three-fourths of the rear guard was away for qualifiers or due to suspension. Brown and fellow fill-in Dasan Robinson did OK in limiting the Houston Dynamo chances, although Brown couldn't deal individually with Kei Kamara on the wing on one early sequence, and that proved the difference in this 1-0 result.
In Cuauhtemoc Blanco's absence (for a Mexican World Cup qualifier) Chris Rolfe wore yet another hat, filling in at the central attacking midfield spot. He helped the Fire generate numerous chances. But ultimately, getting blanked at home is not going to cut it. Patrick Nyarko took Rolfe's spot along from the front line, and he also looked continually dangerous. But a striker's job is scoring goals, and Nyarko failed to convert chances.
Pat Noonan got on the field for Columbus as Alejandro Moreno flew south to take part in Venezuela's World Cup bid. Noonan will probably need to do more with future opportunities, although it's hard to complain about a win on the road. (Especially since the visitors played a man down for almost 40 minutes. Did you really have to go there, Chad Marshall?) Noonan may also need more time to get accustomed to Guillermo Barros Schelotto's ways, as they rarely combined in the attacking third.
TACTICAL CORNER
Rookie left back Matt Besler steps in to collect a bad touch off Emmanuel Ekpo's boot. Besler wasn't under intense pressure, and it wasn't a particularly dangerous spot on the field. This is where a defender can play a little soccer; he can take an extra touch, use his body to create space, move the ball usefully to a teammate, etc. Instead, Besler boots the ball aimlessly. It falls to Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum and, about 10 seconds later, Schelotto is poking it into K.C.'s (somewhat comically) unguarded goal.
