CARSON -- Nick LaBrocca's qualities have been clear to the most discriminating observers since he was a rookie fresh out of Rutgers seeing all of his playing time in Major League Soccer's Reserve League.

It quickly vaulted him into the Colorado Rapids' starting lineup, and then Toronto FC's after a trade last year, and now we're getting to see him emerge into a star. The next step comes Saturday night against the Houston Dynamo at Home Depot Center.

LaBrocca has been a catalyst in Chivas USA's rebuild this season, taking charge on the attack to the count of a team-best six goals -- one more than he'd netted in his first four MLS campaigns -- a figure that merely hints at his importance to the Goats.

“I've been trying to get Nick for three years, at least. I'm just happy we have the opportunity to get him now,” said Chivas USA coach Robin Fraser, who came to the Goats from Real Salt Lake. “The good thing about him, too, is for all his ability, he's very humble and willing to do whatever the team needs him to do. You put that together with that kind of natural ability, he's a tremendous player to coach.”

LaBrocca, 26, who joined the Goats (5-7-8) in a preseason trade from Toronto, is an unassuming as they come. At 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, with a receding hairline and a genuine shyness, he's not going to be mistaken for a top-class athlete -- until he hits the field. Then he's the maestro, serving as Chivas' primary linkman and creator from his spot atop the club's midfield diamond.

“He's a great player. He gets better and better every game,” midfielder Blair Gavin said. “You're like, 'Can you get better?' And he does. He's shifty, he's crafty, he makes great runs off the ball ... he changes up the dynamic. [Opponents] got to be aware of this guy.”

Defender Zarek Valentin says LaBrocca “has four eyes when he's on the field.”

“He has two eyes behind his head and two eyes in front of his head. His awareness is incredible,” Valentin said. “And it's good to have those kind of guys where I can play the ball as hard as I can on the ground, and he'll take a perfect touch to where he wants it, and he'll start an attack out of that.”

Fraser praises LaBrocca's soccer IQ.

“That's one of the reasons we wanted to get him, because he's such an intelligent player,” the coach said. “And I think we've asked him to be even more active in finding open spaces on the field, and he's become very good at being able to find gaps and holes between defenders and slip into good spots. You put that with a very good first touch, and he makes himself dangerous frequently.”

His performance has been noticed. New York Red Bulls coach Hans Backe, who next week will guide the MLS All-Star team against Manchester United, included LaBrocca on his 22-man roster.

The game will be played at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., not too far north of LaBrocca's hometown, Howell, N.J. The opportunity to play in such a game in front of friends and family is humbling.

“This is like icing on the cake,” LaBrocca said after getting the news. “It feels good. I'm excited, honored. I feel very fortunate to be given this opportunity.”

He earned it with a series of superb performances capped by often sizzling goals -- and had scored in three successive matches before last weekend's 0-0 draw with the Red Bulls.

“I'm just kind of doing what I've been doing, what I've been working on,” he said. “It's just translated offensively a little more than it has before.”

Fraser has given him more responsibility than he had with Colorado or Toronto, and that's part of what has fueled LaBrocca, “helped me get on the same page as my teammates a little faster than I normally would.”

LaBrocca says that Fraser's staff, the chemistry among players and the atmosphere in the locker room have “made life very easy in transitioning in what would usually be a difficult and challenging time,” that he “mesh[es] well with this group of players, not only on the field, but off the field,” and that there's “still a lot to build on, and that's the exciting part.”

WORTH NOTING: Both teams are carrying four-game unbeaten streaks, each with one win the span. ... The Dynamo won, 2-1, on June 11 in Houston, scoring twice from set pieces to counter Marcos Mondaini's seventh-minute opener. ... Chivas is 3-10-6 all-time against Houston, with just one MLS regular-season victory -- in August 2006 -- in the series. (The other wins were in the 2006 playoffs and in last year's U.S. Open Cup.) The last five league meetings have gone to the Dynamo. ... Left back Ante Jazic (calf strain) and midfielder Paulo Nagamura (quad strain) are back from injury for the Goats. ... Houston is coming off a 2-0 loss Wednesday in a friendly against English Premier League club Bolton.

MISSING: Alejandro Moreno has one final game for Venezuela, in Saturday's third-place match vs. Peru, at Copa America, South America's nations championship. ... Midfielder Ben Zemanski is out with a left-ankle injury suffered Tuesday in training. ... Center back Jimmy Conrad (concussion) remains “doubtful,” but he's not practicing with the Goats.

THE OPPONENT



HOUSTON DYNAMO
Head coach

• The Scotland-born, Bay Area-raised Dominic Kinnear is on MLS's first line of coaches. He assisted Frank Yallop when San Jose won MLS Cup titles in 2001 and 2003, guided the Earthquakes to the Supporters' Shield in 2005, then won MLS Cup titles as head coach in the first two seasons after the team moved to Houston. A fine attacking midfielder, Kinnear made 54 appearances for the U.S. national team (should have been on the 1994 World Cup roster) and played in Mexico and for three MLS clubs.

Three key players

• Brad Davis is MLS's most dangerous left winger, a set-piece specialist who creates from the flank -- and leads the league with nine assists. He was a no-surprise selection for the MLS's All-Star team.
• Geoff Cameron first emerged as a backline leader for the Dynamo, then turned out to be far more dynamic in midfield. The 2009 MLS Best XI selection is back on track after an injury-marred campaign last year and has been rewarded with an All-Star selection.
• Tally Hall inherited the goalkeeping job when Canadian legend Pat Onstad retired, and he's been pivotal to whatever success the Dynamo has had, repeatedly making big saves to bail out Houston's defense. It's led to an All-Star bid.

Current form/prospects

• The Dynamo (5-6-9) come in with a four-game unbeaten streak, but they've only won twice since April and have struggled to find consistency even when they've played well. Kinnear and the upper brass are maneuvering during the transfer window, sending defender Mike Chabala and midfielder Lovel Palmer to Portland this week for midfielder Adam Moffat and allocation money they apparently are trying to spend on Honduran winger Oscar Boniek Garcia. They're in position to do something, sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference, where only one team -- Philadelphia -- is more than one game above .500.

Local connections

• Forward Brian Ching played in eight MLS games and scored a goal for the Galaxy in 2001. … Goalkeeper coach Tim Hanley was on the Galaxy's staff during the 2007 season. … Kinnear was based in Mission Viejo during the buildup to the 1994 World Cup.

Missing

• Ching and winger Colin Clark are serving red-card suspensions. ... Defender Jermaine Taylor (concussion) has been upgraded from out to probable. ... Forward Calen Carr (concussion) is doubtful. ... All-Star winger Corey Ashe (sprained knee) was just added to the injury report, as probable.

THE GAME

At Home Depot Center (Carson), 7:30 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports West and KWHY/Channel 22
Radio: W Radio (XEWW/690, Spanish)
Referee: Abiodun Okulaja