Kennedy makes return to Harder with Chivas USA

Danny Kennedy will be back in familiar surroundings Saturday night when his Chivas USA team takes on the Houston Dynamo in the final preseason game for the Major League Soccer clubs at UCSB’s Harder Stadium.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

Kennedy was the standout goalkeeper on the history-making 2004 UCSB men’s team that shook up the college soccer world by reaching the NCAA College Cup final. He was in the nets during that memorable night when nearly 12,000 fans filled Harder Stadium to watch the Gauchos beat Virginia Commonwealth to advance to their first final four.

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After cutting his teeth as a professional soccer player in Puerto Rico and Chile, Kennedy is in his second year with Chivas USA. He was in prime position to be the starter last year until he suffered a knee injury last March that required surgery. That derailed his season and opened the door for MLS veteran Zach Thornton, who went on to have a stellar year, winning the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year honors.

Kennedy is healed and ready to take back the job. He’s started in the majority of the preseason matches for Chivas USA and has played well, posting three shutouts, including a scoreless draw against the rival L.A. Galaxy.

When he takes the field against Houston he might have a flashback to that amazing early December night when the Gauchos played Virginia Commonwealth in the NCAA quarterfinals. Dynamo forward Dominic Oduro was a high-scoring forward for VCU, and he delivered an early goal to put his team ahead. But the Gauchos responded with four unanswered goals to win the game and set off a wild celebration on the field.

Houston, a two-time MLS Cup champion, should give Kennedy and the Chivas USA defense a tough test. Besides Oduro, the Dynamo has forward Brian Ching, who last month scored a couple of goals for the U.S. National team in a win over El Salvador.

The Dynamo also has an exciting, young midfielder named Francisco Navas Cobos, who is out of the club’s academy program.

Chivas USA has bolstered its club with the addition of two international players, defenders Michael Umana of Costa Rica and Yamith Cuesta of Columbia.

Seven foreign countries are represented on the Chivas USA roster: Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico and Sierra Leone.

The offensive threats up front are Maykel Galindo of Cuba and Mexico’s Eduardo Lillingston.

Chivas USA also has impact players like Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan, both of whom have earned caps with the U.S. National team. Bornstein recently played in a World Cup preparation match against the Netherlands.

This could be the final MLS match for a while as the league and the players’ union have yet to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement, and the players have said they’ll go on strike just before the start of the regular season on March 26.

Tickets for the match are $20 for reserved seats, $15 general admission and $10 for children under 12 and students with ID. They can be purchased by phone at (877) 747-4295 or at local merchants: Aggressive Soccer in Santa Barbara and Goleta, Guadalajara Market on De la Guerra Street; Xtreme Soccer on Milpas, Java Jones in Isla Vista; Taqueria Rincon Alteño in Carpinteria and Blue City Mortgage in Solvang.

Part of the proceeds from the match will be donated to Direct Relief International to help with the support efforts for earthquake victims in Chile in Haiti.