Ben Zemanski

Chivas USA tonight VS. HOUSTON When: 7:30. Where: Home Depot Center. On the air: TV: FS West, KWHY; Radio: 690. Records: Chivas USA 5-7-8; Houston 5-6-9. Record vs. Houston: 0-1-0. Update: Chivas' 2-1 defeat against the Dynamo on June 11 was more lopsided than the score indicates. It won't help that forward Ben Zemanski is listed as doubtful after injuring his left ankle during a scrimmage Tuesday. That leaves Chivas especially short up front while the team continues to seek a striker on the international trade market.

Chivas USA tonight VS. HOUSTON When: 7:30. Where: Home Depot Center. On the air: TV: FS West, KWHY; Radio: 690. Records: Chivas USA 5-7-8; Houston 5-6-9. Record vs. Houston: 0-1-0. Update: Chivas' 2-1 defeat against the Dynamo on June 11 was more lopsided than the score indicates. It won't help that forward Ben Zemanski is listed as doubtful after injuring his left ankle during a scrimmage Tuesday. That leaves Chivas especially short up front while the team continues to seek a striker on the international trade market.

After more than an hour of eyelid-closing soccer, Chivas USA woke up a Wednesday night crowd with two goals in 20 minutes. Chivas midfielder Ben Zemanski provided the first alarm, and before the 9,425 at the Home Depot Center could hit the snooze button too many times, midfielder Nick LaBrocca added another goal to seal a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. "There have been times when we've played better than we did tonight and come away with nothing to show for it," Chivas Coach Robin Fraser said.

Chivas USA forward Justin Braun made it look so easy Saturday night. With a touch here, a tap there, and a slide to finish it all off, the striker snapped his team's five-game losing streak to the Houston Dynamo with casual grace and a grin. Behind his three goals, Chivas picked up three critical points with a 3-0 victory over the Dynamo to send the team confidently into a five-game road trip after the All-Star break. "We're excited about not only the result, but the way we were able to play tonight," Coach Robin Fraser said.

If there is one thing that Chivas USA has learned in 2010, it is that the team needs to be better in 2011. Year-end awards, in other words, will be thin on the ground when the Major League Soccer regular season comes to a close in two weeks. Having failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in five years and having won only eight games, including Saturday night's 3-0 victory over Toronto FC in Carson, Chivas USA requires a substantial makeover. Part of that will come about naturally, with the departure, for instance, of U.S. national team defender Jonathan Bornstein, who is joining the UANL Tigres in Mexico, and the likely retirement of a player or two. The team features a trio of 30-somethings in all-star goalkeeper Zach Thornton, 36, and defenders Ante Jazic, 34, and Alex Zotinca, 33. Any or all of them might decide to call it a career.

Jonathan Bornstein's last practice with Chivas USA was winding down when defender Carlos Borja approached from behind and lifted Bornstein onto the shoulders of teammates Ben Zemanski and Sal Zizzo. After five solid ? sometimes spectacular ? seasons with Chivas, the only professional club Bornstein has ever played with, the team couldn't bear to see its captain walk off the practice field for the final time. So they carried him. Bornstein officially said goodbye to his teammates Saturday, making the last of a franchise-record 123 appearances for Chivas in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Fire.

Chivas USA forward Justin Braun made it look so easy Saturday night. With a touch here, a tap there, and a slide to finish it all off, the striker snapped his team's five-game losing streak to the Houston Dynamo with casual grace and a grin. Behind his three goals, Chivas picked up three critical points with a 3-0 victory over the Dynamo to send the team confidently into a five-game road trip after the All-Star break. "We're excited about not only the result, but the way we were able to play tonight," Coach Robin Fraser said.

Jorge Vergara, the millionaire Mexican businessman who owns Chivas de Guadalajara and a share of Chivas USA, chose the wrong night to come out and see his American team. "I'm not liking what I'm seeing so far," Vergara said at halftime of Chivas USA's season-opening match against Sporting Kansas City in Carson. Chivas USA was trailing, 2-0, at the time en route to a 3-2 loss that got new Coach Robin Fraser off to a rocky start. But Vergara has Fraser's back. "He was in Guadalajara and we talked for several hours about this team and the goals we want to achieve," Vergara said.

When it comes to midfielders who make a difference, Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser could only wish he had a player such as the New England Revolution's Shalrie Joseph. Fortunately, Fraser does have a midfielder who recently made a very big difference, scoring the goal that gave Chivas its first victory of the Major League Soccer season and Fraser his first win as an MLS head coach. That would be Mariano Trujillo, the Mexican midfielder who last weekend bundled home the rebound of a shot by teammate Justin Braun as Chivas upended the San Jose Earthquakes, 2-1. It wasn't the prettiest of goals, as Fraser admitted ahead of Saturday night's match against New England in Carson.

Even in defeat, Chivas USA is winning. On Saturday, in an extraordinary game against Real Salt Lake in Utah, a Chivas team reduced to nine-against-11 for more than 50 minutes held its own against the quickest-thinking team in Major League Soccer. That a goal scrambled past lunging goalkeeper Dan Kennedy by Canadian international midfielder Will Johnson a mere three minutes from the end ultimately brought about a 1-0 loss is irrelevant. How Chivas played — and, more to the point, how intelligently it played — is rapidly developing into one of the more interesting story lines of the 2011 MLS season.

After more than an hour of eyelid-closing soccer, Chivas USA woke up a Wednesday night crowd with two goals in 20 minutes. Chivas midfielder Ben Zemanski provided the first alarm, and before the 9,425 at the Home Depot Center could hit the snooze button too many times, midfielder Nick LaBrocca added another goal to seal a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. "There have been times when we've played better than we did tonight and come away with nothing to show for it," Chivas Coach Robin Fraser said.

Even in defeat, Chivas USA is winning. On Saturday, in an extraordinary game against Real Salt Lake in Utah, a Chivas team reduced to nine-against-11 for more than 50 minutes held its own against the quickest-thinking team in Major League Soccer. That a goal scrambled past lunging goalkeeper Dan Kennedy by Canadian international midfielder Will Johnson a mere three minutes from the end ultimately brought about a 1-0 loss is irrelevant. How Chivas played — and, more to the point, how intelligently it played — is rapidly developing into one of the more interesting story lines of the 2011 MLS season.

When it comes to midfielders who make a difference, Chivas USA Coach Robin Fraser could only wish he had a player such as the New England Revolution's Shalrie Joseph. Fortunately, Fraser does have a midfielder who recently made a very big difference, scoring the goal that gave Chivas its first victory of the Major League Soccer season and Fraser his first win as an MLS head coach. That would be Mariano Trujillo, the Mexican midfielder who last weekend bundled home the rebound of a shot by teammate Justin Braun as Chivas upended the San Jose Earthquakes, 2-1. It wasn't the prettiest of goals, as Fraser admitted ahead of Saturday night's match against New England in Carson.

Jorge Vergara, the millionaire Mexican businessman who owns Chivas de Guadalajara and a share of Chivas USA, chose the wrong night to come out and see his American team. "I'm not liking what I'm seeing so far," Vergara said at halftime of Chivas USA's season-opening match against Sporting Kansas City in Carson. Chivas USA was trailing, 2-0, at the time en route to a 3-2 loss that got new Coach Robin Fraser off to a rocky start. But Vergara has Fraser's back. "He was in Guadalajara and we talked for several hours about this team and the goals we want to achieve," Vergara said.

Jonathan Bornstein's last practice with Chivas USA was winding down when defender Carlos Borja approached from behind and lifted Bornstein onto the shoulders of teammates Ben Zemanski and Sal Zizzo. After five solid ? sometimes spectacular ? seasons with Chivas, the only professional club Bornstein has ever played with, the team couldn't bear to see its captain walk off the practice field for the final time. So they carried him. Bornstein officially said goodbye to his teammates Saturday, making the last of a franchise-record 123 appearances for Chivas in a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Fire.

If there is one thing that Chivas USA has learned in 2010, it is that the team needs to be better in 2011. Year-end awards, in other words, will be thin on the ground when the Major League Soccer regular season comes to a close in two weeks. Having failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in five years and having won only eight games, including Saturday night's 3-0 victory over Toronto FC in Carson, Chivas USA requires a substantial makeover. Part of that will come about naturally, with the departure, for instance, of U.S. national team defender Jonathan Bornstein, who is joining the UANL Tigres in Mexico, and the likely retirement of a player or two. The team features a trio of 30-somethings in all-star goalkeeper Zach Thornton, 36, and defenders Ante Jazic, 34, and Alex Zotinca, 33. Any or all of them might decide to call it a career.

Chivas USA Coach Martin Vasquez has been both patient and optimistic through his team's struggles this season. Saturday he became demanding. After saying a victory would be the only acceptable outcome, Vasquez watched his players respond with an energetic 3-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes, capping their most complete effort of the year. Not that the bar had been set very high, mind you. The three goals Chivas scored Saturday was more they had scored in their first four games combined.

Chivas USA Coach Martin Vasquez, chatting before Saturday night's game, mentioned how his young players were beginning to come through for the team. A couple of hours later, his faith in them turned out to be fully justified. First-half goals by 23-year-old Justin Braun and 21-year-old Blair Gavin and a second-half strike by 22-year-old Carlos Borja earned Chivas USA only its fifth victory of the Major League Soccer season, 3-1 over the Columbus Crew at the Home Depot Center.