• At least there's still one American team that can beat Mexico. The U-20 women's team scored twice late, including the winner three minutes into stoppage time, to defeat Mexico 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the U-20 Women's World Cup. It's been kind of a rough year for the women's program, which didn't take a medal at the Olympics and didn't make it out of the group stage at the U-17 World Cup. Here's hoping the U-20s can find a trophy this year.

• Montreal's playoff game against Toronto last week seemed like a metaphor for the history of MLS. More than 60,000 fans packed Olympic Stadium in Montreal for the game, giving it the atmosphere and noise level mindful of a UEFA Champions League game. Unfortunately, as always with MLS, there was something just a little off. In this case, it was the penalty areas, which turned out to be 2 yards too narrow. The game was delayed a half-hour for the paint to dry on the new lines.