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Kennedy, Chivas shut out DC United

Oct 5, 2008 - 4:34 AM By Rich Dubroff PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Chivas USA has welcomed in a handful of new players recently and it is seeing immediate results.

Three of its newest players, Alecko Eskandarian, Sasha Victorine and Dejair, scored goals to power Chivas over DC United, 3-0, on Saturday night.

Eskandarian had a goal and an assist in his seventh game, while Victorine was playing in just his second game and the match served as the debut for Dejair.

"They all did a pretty decent job, and I'm happy how the team played as a unit," said Preki, Chivas USA's coach.

Dan Kennedy recorded the shutout for Chivas, his first since replacing Zach Thornton, who suffered a left hamstring tear on September 6 in Toronto.

Eskandarian's goal in the 35th minute was his fifth and his third in the last three games - all against his former teams.

Eskandarian scored the only goal in Chivas' win over Real Salt Lake and the first goal in its 2-1 win over Kansas City.

"I think it's just a coincidence that we've played all my old teams in the past couple of games," Eskandarian said with a laugh.

DC United goalkeeper Louis Crayton came far off his line and had the ball squirt away. Dejair got to the loose ball and passed to Eskandarian, who deposited a shot into the open net.

"I don't know what the goalie was thinking about it," Eskandarian said. "It seemed like it got away from him. I was screaming for the ball. I saw a wide-open goal. It was so easy that (I thought) 'don't mess this up.'"

DC United coach Tom Soehn, whose team is likely to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2002, didn't downplay Crayton's error.

"We make a mistake," Soehn said. "We had a stadium full of people, and we let them down."

Chivas (11-10-6), which sits four points behind Houston in the Western Conference standings, has won every game Eskandarian has scored in. They've won five out of six overall.

In the 56th minute, Victorine scored his first goal in just his second game with Chivas. Sacha Kljestan passed to Eskandarian, who ripped a shot that was turned aside by Crayton. Victorine put the rebound past Crayton to give Chivas a 2-0 lead.

In the 68th minute, Dejair added a goal and on an assist from Eskandarian.

"I'm an experienced player," Dejair said through a translator. "After the game started, all the nerves went away."

The loss extended DC United's winless streak to six games. United (10-14-3) finds itself in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the New York Red Bulls, who also lost Saturday.

"We somehow found a way to make a tough season even more difficult," Soehn said.

DC United played without its two leading scorers, Luciano Emilio, out with a hamstring injury and Jaime Moreno, who was serving the first of a two-game suspension for a red card. They've combined for 21 of United's 41 goals. DC midfielder Fred was forced from the game early in the second half with a hamstring injury.