The Chivas USA Soccer season began with probably the best goalie in MLS in net for the Chivas with Brad Guzan tending goal but all the rumors of Guzan leaving to play in Europe finally materialized about mid way through the season and Guzan was traded to Aston Villa in July.

Zack Thornton was acquired from the New York Red Bulls and we was to bring Chivas a veteran goal tender with playoff experience. Thornton was in goal for the Chicago Fire when they won the MLS Title in 1998. So yea he's experienced meaning he's a little older and sometime in September Thornton went down with a hamstring pull and Dan Kennedy has been Chivas USA starting goalie since then compiling a string of six starts and four wins.

Unfortunately for goalie Dan Kennedy he was issued a red card in the last match of the Chivas USA Soccer season and that brings us to today where Zach Thornton, who was originally brought in to replace Brad Guzan and was then replaced by Dan Kennedy, will be again starting in net for Chiavs USA. Zach Thornton definitely has the experience and playoff experience to boot that you're looking for in your goal tender this time of the year but at this stage of his career can he be the same tender he's been in the past?

The spotlight on goal tender Zach Thornton will be even brighter since Chivas USA is missing it's biggest scoring threat in Maykel Galindo and offensive mid fielder Raphael Wicky. Figure on a low scoring game so goalie Zach Thornton should be instrumental today.

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Chivas USA is hot right now winning four straight matches and six of their last seven. The victory last night over the Earthquakes featured a goal by Chivas rookie forward Justin Braun. It was Braun's fourth goal of the season and although Justin Braun may not be the most graceful out on the pitch he does give Chivas USA soccer something that they can use up front and something that is generally lacking in MLS soccerr...

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The other highlight of the night was from the pass to Justin Braun from Alecko Eskandarian who seems to be finding his groove after taking the first half of the season off due to an injury.

The goal by Braun was scored in the 7th minute of the match and the rest of the match pretty much featured the Earthquakes controlling the tempo of the game and attacking the Chivas defense all night.

With Chivas USA in constant flux due to call ups and injuries and let's not forget losing our all-star goalie Brad Guzan, head coach Preki seems to be focusing on team defense and it's a good way to approach the game with so many players in and out of the lineup.

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But a  strange thing happened in the process...

As some of the younger got more playing time they began to blossom and now Chivas USA Soccer is on a winning streak of 3 games and it is large part due to the play of some of these younger players. Players such as:

18 year-old Jorge Flores who has scored 3 goals in his last three games and just seems to be in the right place at the right time... the ball just seems to find this guy on the pitch some times and most importantly he's putting the ball in the back of the net... I'm sure his hustling all over the field has something to do with his being in the right place at the right time... Should be interesting to see who Chivas USA Coach Preki starts at the forward position if Jorge Flores continues to score.

Then there's Justin Braun... this guys a big guy from Canada, he's 6'3 and 195 lbs but he's an absolute beast on the ball... he has 1 goal and 2 assists in 9 games played but I don't see the Braun as much of a goal scorer unless he develops better finishing skills. Like I said though he's a big guy and he uses his size to shield defenders from the ball and he's starting to deliver the ball to the guys in the front of the net and he continues to do that it'll be hard to keep him off the pitch... I see him delivering the ball to someone like Ante Razov who can put the ball in the back of the net in a heart beat... Look out if Justin Braun learns how to finish.

Lastly, Carey Talley was added to the back line recently and he's made an excellent addition and improved what was probably one of the worst back lines in the league after being decimated by injuries. Talley is great in transition and has done a great job of clearing balls out of the defensive zone and he's particularly adept at moving the ball up the field and passing it into the offensive zone... something Chivas USA Soccer sorely missed from any of it's defenders prior to the addition of Carey Talley.

Chivas USA plays the New York Red Bulls tonight who just lost their best goal scorer (Jozy Altidore) to a team across the pond (ughhh) and who's biggest goal scorer from a year ago (Juan Pablo Angel) is struggling this season. Chivas USA is also going for a franchise record fourth consecutive victory tonight.

On the scoring side, Chivas USA biggest scoring threat from a year ago Maykel Galindo is out again with a groin injury and he seems to be a guy who is going to be injury prone... thus far in his short career with Chivas USA he's been out of many games due to injuries and this year he just hasn't been the Maykel Galindo of a year ago... Let's hope he comes back completely healthy because when he was playing he seemed to be lacking that extra burst of speed that he had last year that allowed him to separate from defenders.

On the injury side, forward Alecko Eskandarian is out with a groin injury and mid-fielder Raphael Wickey is out with an ankle sprain - both are in their first year with Chivas USA and both were being counted on to help out on the offensive end.

Striker Ante Razov recently came back from an injury and he's still getting himself back into to playing form as he hasn't been able to find the back of the net much lately either...

Chivas USA is in need of a big time scoring threat!

Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo aren't getting it done this year and with their defense in a shambles Chivas USA needs to score more goals.

Jesse Marsch has been big for Chivas USA this year... he's played on the defensive side, he's mixed it up in the middle of the field and he scored a crucial goal this past week over the league leading Colorado Rapids to put Chivas USA back in the thick of things...

Paulo Nagamura has been a beast playing largely as a defensive mid-fielder...

Sasha Kljestan has scored some amazing goals this season...

Currently Chivas USA has 11 points only one behind western conference leader Colorado Rapids.