In retrospect, a better option would have been fielding the stronger team at Montreal and getting a result there --
rendering the outcome of the match at FAS meaningless if you assumed the Red Bulls would have to beat Montreal in October -- but Petke likely figured the Seattle home game was more important -- ie.
more winnable -- than the Galaxy away game if he had to pick one game to have all his starters rested.
New York Red Bulls:
vs. FAS (2-0)
New York -- Meara, Eckersley, Armando, Perrinelle, Miller, Sam (Stevenson 74), Cahill (Obekop 89), Oyongo, Luyindula (McCarty 78), Alexander,
Sene.
at Montreal Impact (0-1)
New York -- Meara; Kimura, Perrinelle, Armando, Eckersley; Lade, Christianson, Obekop, Bover (McCarty 82), Stevenson;
Sene (Alexander 79).
at FAS (0-0)
New York -- Meara, Duvall, Armando, Perrinelle, Eckersley, Sam (Stevenson 17), McCarty (Alexander 61),
Christianson, Oyongo, Luyindula, Sene (Bover 72).
*
D.C. United and Montreal were the first MLS teams to advance to the final eight, each
with three wins in three games.
United, first in the Eastern Conference, started reserves in its two home games and used only a few key players -- notably goalkeeper Bill Hamid, midfielder Perry Kitchen and forward Fabian Espindola -- in the match that
mattered, the road game against Waterhouse of Jamaica.
Last in the Eastern Conference, Montreal has had nothing to lose in MLS, so it has made the CCL the priority. It went so far as to
rest its two stars, Ignacio Piatti and Marco Di Vaio, for its MLS game against New England to save them for the home
game against the Red Bulls it won, 1-0.
D.C. United:
vs. Waterhouse (1-0)
D.C. United -- Willis; Caskey, Opare, Shanosky, Attakora; Porter (Silva 80), Neal, Jeffrey, Martin (Kemp 70); Estrada, Johnson.
at Waterhouse (2-1)
D.C. United -- Hamid; Kemp, Birnbaum, Opare, Inkoom; Porter (Pontius 67), Kitchen, Neal, Caskey (Franklin 46); Estrada (Boswell 86), Espindola.
vs. Tauro FC (2-0)
D.C. United -- Willis, Inkoom, Opare, Shanosky, Korb (Franklin 46), Caskey, Martin, Jeffrey, Porter, Pontius (Johnson 54),
Estrada.
Montreal Impact:
vs. FAS (1-0)
Montreal -- Bush; Krol, Ferrari, Camara, Ouimette, Gorka, Felipe (Lefevre 78); Romero, Duka (Bernier 63), Mapp (Tissot 69), Di Vaio.
at FAS (3-2)
Montreal -- Bush; Krol, Lefevre, Ferrari, Ouimette; Bernier, Felipe, Piatti, Duka (Mallace
46), Romero; Di Vaio.
vs. New York Red Bulls (1-0)
Montreal -- Bush; Miller, Pearce, Ferrari, Camara;
Mallace, Gagnon-Lapare, Romero, Duka (Jackson-Hamel 90+1), Piatti (Lefevre 81); Di Vaio (McInerney 82).
*
Sporting Kansas City and the Portland Timbers are in good shape to
make the final eight, both carrying two-goal leads into what are in effect two-leg series with their remaining Central American rivals because of Concacaf rules that make head-to-head the first
tiebreaker.
Sporting KC will carry a 3-1 edge into its match at Saprissa of Costa Rica, and Portland leads Olimpia of Honduras, 4-2. But both games will be played midweek between the
next-to-last and last weeks of the regular season, so their coaches will have tough decisions about who to play.
In all three games to date, Sporting KC's Peter Vermes has started his two U.S. World Cup players, Matt Besler and Graham Zusi. While it opted not
to take a week off before or between the two legs of the 2013-14 CCL quarterfinals at the start of the 2014 MLS season, Sporting KC got a break in the scheduling as the second and third matches of the
current group stage fell between a bye week in MLS.
The Timbers have mostly held out their starters from their first three CCL games -- an exception was Will Johnson, rested ahead of the 4-2 win over Olimpia at home -- but they do benefit from having one of the deepest attacks in MLS.
Sporting KC:
at Real Esteli (1-1)
Sporting KC --
Kempin, Ellis, Collin, Besler, Sinovic, Claros, Olum, Zusi (Feilhaber 67), Saad (Dwyer 73), Sapong, Dovale (Zizzo 57).
vs. Saprissa (3-1)
Sporting
KC -- Gruenebaum; Juliao, Collin, Besler, Sinovic; Claros, Nagamura, Feilhaber; Dovale, Dwyer, Zusi.
vs. Real Esteli (3-0)
Sporting KC -- Kronberg;
Igor Juliao, Palmer-Brown (Claros 60), Besler, Sinovic; Olum, Nagamura (Medranda 84), Feilhaber (Zizzo 46); Dovale, Bieler, Zusi.
Portland Timbers:
at Alpha United (4-1)
Portland -- Weber, Powell, McKenzie, Kah, Villafana, Zemanski, Alhassan, Jewsbury, Nanchoff (Peay,
82), Urruti (Adi, 56), Zakuani (Wallace, 64).
vs. Olimpia (4-2)
Portland -- Weber, O’Rourke, Paparatto, McKenzie, Harrington, Alhassan
(Wallace, 46), Jewsbury, Johnson, Nanchoff (Nagbe, 63), Fernandez, Urruti (Adi, 81).
vs. Alpha United (6-0)
Portland -- Gleeson; Harrington,
Paparatto, McKenzie, Peay, O’Rourke, Zemanski, Jewsbury (Wallace, 62), Nanchoff, Fernandez (Fochive, 79), Urruti (Adi, 72).