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CARSON -- The most difficult aspect in Chivas USA's pursuit of Colombian forward Jose Erick Correa was that the youngster kept scoring goals.

Correa, whose transfer from Colombian top-tier club Boyaca Chico was finalized over the weekend and announced Tuesday afternoon by the Goats, scored six in his last seven games, and it seemed each one served to boost his price.

“He's a guy who's been scoring goals in the Colombian league every weekend, so it's tough to get him,” said Chivas assistant coach Carlos Llamosa, a Colombian-born former U.S. national-teamer who did much of the courting. “Those guys are the guys whose prices go up, but we're fortunate to have this guy on the team.”

He meets U.S. officials about a visa Wednesday, and the hope is he'll be in camp by the end of the week and perhaps available for Monday's MLS Reserve League game against Seattle.

“He's strong, he runs hard, he scores goals, he holds the ball well,” praised head coach Robin Fraser. “He can do a number of things, based on what we've seen. He can run at guys, he's got good speed, is physically strong. Can be a target guy. ... He's definitely one of the very promising forwards in Colombia.”

Said general manager Jose Domene: “We like his upside. He's only 19, he seems to be a kid that has a few chances a game for his team and makes the most it. He's fast, he's strong, but he still has a long ways to go to be a star. He's here to learn and, of course, score, if possible, but we're not looking to him to be the expert.”

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Seems pretty wasteful to let the No. 4 overall pick in last January's draft, an outside back with the potential to become a star (and maybe for the national team, too), slip away for nothing.

Zarek Valentin's departure from Chivas USA in Major League Soccer's expansion draft isn't so simple. And Chivas coach Robin Fraser isn't happy about it.

The Montreal Impact, which next season will debut as MLS's 19th club, on Wednesday listed Valentin No. 2 on its list of 10 players culled from the other 18 clubs after the Goats failed to include him among the 11 players they were permitted to protect.

The 20-year-old right back's fate is product of MLS's decision to “graduate” him from its Generation adidas developmental program, a decision Fraser, Chivas' head coach, called “baffling” and “extremely, extremely disappointing” -- and one that vastly changed Valentin's worth to the organization.

He's young, he's developing and in no way is he there yet -- just what the Generation adidas program is about -- and as a GA he counted nothing against Chivas' salary cap nor roster size. His change of designation means his salary, $80,000 annually (with $138,000 average guaranteed compensation), suddenly is applied against the cap.

MLS success often is about how well clubs maneuver within and around the salary cap, and the Goats also are getting a salary-cap hit from second-year midfielder Blair Gavin's GA “graduation.”

'MADE NO SENSE': “All the ramifications went into that decision” not to protect Valentin, Fraser said Thursday. “Here's a player who comes out early [following his sophomore season at the University of Akron] and is the No. 4 pick and as a GA player that has time to develop.

“It was baffling, to be quite honest. Extremely baffling. And I was extremely, extremely disappointed that he had 'graduated' from that. That's the sort of of program meant to allow players time to develop. For me, it just made no sense.”

Valentin and former Akron teammate Perry Kitchen, who had a solid rookie season on D.C. United's backline, were the only GA rookies who “graduated.” They also were the only GA rookies to exceed 2,000 regular-season minutes. Kitchen played in 31 games, 30 of them starts, and was on the field for 2,726 minutes. Valentin's numbers were 25 (with 24 starts) and 2,114.

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Michael Lahoud played 90 minutes for Chivas USA on Monday. Nobody seems certain whether he should have been allowed to.

The third-year veteran from Wake Forest, out since suffering a concussion April 16 at Vancouver, was stationed at right back for the Goats' MLS Reserve League clash against the Seattle Sounders in Tukwila, Wash. A team spokesman acknowledged it was uncertain if Lahoud had been cleared to play.

Reserve coach Carlos Llamosa, who took the side to Washington following Chivas' loss Saturday at Real Salt Lake in a Major League Soccer match, said through a spokesman that Lahoud trained Friday and Saturday without any symptoms, so it was decided that he could play.

MLS, after several players were forced to retire because of concussion issues, this year implemented a protocol in which players may train after a full week without symptoms, then must see a neurologist and be cleared before returning to the field. Lahoud, team officials said last week, had not been asymptomatic.

A club spokesman's attempt to get clarification from a team doctor Monday night was not successful. Head coach Robin Fraser had remained in Utah, where his family still lives, after Saturday's game; he was due to return to Southern California late Monday night.

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The Galaxy's dominance of the Portland Timbers extended into Sunday afternoon's MLS Reserve League meeting, but it lasted less than a half-hour.

Once Michael Stephens, the most influential player to begin the match, was sent off for a last-man foul in the 28th minute, the Timbers found their legs, started linking passes and took advantage of their opportunities for a 3-1 victory in a league opener at Home Depot Center's Track and Field Stadium.

Rookie forward Spencer Thompson, out of UC Irvine, scored two of the Timbers' goals, and former Santa Barbara High School standout Rodrigo Lopez assisted a pair.

Jovan Kirovski, the Galaxy captain, slotted into central defense, his “first real game” he's played at the position.

“I think I can play there,” he said. “We're short on central defenders, and I can do the job there. So it's fun. I had fun playing there.”

Both teams used experienced lineups, each with at least a half-dozen players who wouldn't look out of place in the first teams. Included: Galaxy Designated Player Juan Pablo Angel, who faded after an energetic first 25 minutes and departed at halftime.

SEEING RED: Stephens, teamed with Paolo Cardozo in central midfield, was outstanding both ways and provided a foundation to the Galaxy's possession game. Until he was red-carded, for dragging down Ryan Pore just outside L.A.'s box while trying to make up for a give-away, the game had been played overwhelmingly between the midfield line and Portland's box.

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Chivas USA opened its first MLS Reserve League slate since 2008 with a late goal Sunday afternoon for a 1-1 draw at Vancouver, a result that means practically nothing to the club in a game with importance that can't be underestimated.

It was first of 10 games for the Goats in a competition of sorts for MLS players deprived of first-team action whether because of injury, form or pecking order, but the Reserve League's larger role is as part of a maturing policy on player development.

It is why rosters have been lengthened to 30 players -- the last six in developmental slots -- and has generated promises that the problems of the previous Reserve League, which ran from 2005 through 2008, will not be repeated this time.

“It means a lot of things,” said Curt Onalfo, the Galaxy assistant coach who will lead L.A.'s reserve side into its league opener next weekend against Portland at Home Depot Center. “It's an opportunity to develop some younger players, to keep guys in form that haven't been getting regular minutes, to help guys back from injury get back in form.

“It's the next step in the right direction, something we look certainly to take very seriously.”

WINNING CULTURE: Teams will be able to use players from its youth academy -- Chivas had had three in its lineup Sunday -- and approved trialists, enabling coaching staffs to observe players in real competition. Standings will be kept, in three self-contained geographic divisions, but no playoffs are planned. Winning does matter.

“Winning is the kind of thing that you want to make it part of your culture, so winning is certainly always the goal,” Chivas head coach Robin Fraser said last week. “But simultaneously, you have a lot of little goals within that that you're trying to achieve.”

Fraser accomplished several against Vancouver. He was able to get goalkeeper Zach Thornton and central defender Michael Umaña, depose starters from last year, some action; bring Mariano Trujillo back from a hamstring injury; give several youngsters, including rising playmaker Gerson Mayen and teen prospect Bryan de la Fuente, extended action; reward a couple of players from the U-18 side, and take a look at a former MLS midfielder who's seeking work.

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The guy hammering balls to the upper-V in Chivas USA's postgame training session Friday afternoon looked vaguely familiar, but putting a name with a face wasn't so simple. Good thing Goats coach Robin Fraser was around.

"You joking?" Fraser said when asked the identity of the club's newest trialist. "None of you [media] guys know? ... Uh, helluva goal scorer in this league 12 years ago."

Ah. Trinidadian striker Stern John, probably the finest forward to play in Major League Soccer's first half-decade, when he netted 44 goals over the 1998 and 1999 seasons for the Columbus Crew. John, now 34, took off for England after the '99 campaign and has suited up for nine clubs there, mostly below the Premier League, and scoring at a decent rate in stints with Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City, Coventry City and Southampton.

John, who played last season for Crystal Palace and on loan for Ipswich Town, is coming off a knee injury and not yet ready for game action, but there was no questioning the power and accuracy of his shot.

"He was really looking for an opportunity to get in with a club," Fraser said. "As you can tell, he doesn't look like he's necessarily quite ready, but when a guy who's scored goals in places he has [comes along], you take a look at him."

John, who as a young MLS player impressed with his quickness, power and knack in front of the net, was just fantastic in 1998, scoring an MLS-best 26 goals. He then tied for the league lead with 18 in 1999.

"One of [MLS's best]. Absolutely one of them," said Fraser, who was a center back for the Galaxy when John was in the league. "I know I had my battles with him, and it was funny: Carlos [Llamosa, a Chivas USA assistant coach and former MLS defender] said the same thing, and then Jimmy [Conrad] afterwards said the same thing. We've all had to deal with him for sure."

Also new in camp is Argentine midfielder Marcos Mondaini, 26, who came out of Boca Juniors' academy and has played, on loan from the Buenos Aires giant, for Ecuadoran clubs Emelec and Barcelona, for Nacional in Uruguay and most recently for Colombia's Atletico Nacional. He played the final 29 minutes on the right flank in Friday's 0-0 draw with D.C. United at Home Depot Center.

"He's just a player I've kind of watched for a while," Fraser said. "Quick, crafty ... definitely an interesting player who's done pretty well in a couple different countries. We're just going to see where it goes and see how it is and see how he fits into the group and how he does."

A club official said Friday night that Mondaini likely will be signed in the next few days.

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Galaxy legend Cobi Jones, the most-capped player in U.S. national team history, could be, should be (OK, will be) inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame this summer.

Jones, who played 164 times for the U.S. and spent 15 seasons with the Galaxy, as player and coach, before taking a position last month with the New York Cosmos, makes his initial appearance this year on the ballot, which arrived in voters' e-mail boxes Thursday.

He's a slam dunk. So is former U.S. national team backline anchor Eddie Pope, also among six newcomers on the eligibility list.

Others making their first appearances are Chivas USA assistant coach Carlos Llamosa, former Galaxy midfielder Chris Armas, Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis and former U.S. women's standout Danielle Slaton. Armas, among the four, is the best bet for first-year induction, although it is more likely one or more of 18 holdover join Jones (Westlake Village/Westlake HS and UCLA) and Pope in the class.

Our first choice among the holdovers: Dutch-born former U.S. star Earnie Stewart.

Others holdovers include Chivas USA head coach (and former Galaxy defender) Robin Fraser, former Galaxy midfielder Mauricio Cienfuegos, former UCLA standout (and Seattle Sounders technical director) Chris Henderson, and two local players: former U.S. national team stars Joe-Max Moore (Irvine/Mission Viejo HS and UCLA) and John O'Brien (Playa del Rey/Brentwood School).

Others on the player ballot: Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes, Philadelphia Union head coach Peter Nowak, New England Revolution VP of player personnel Mike Burns, former U.S. national-teamer Steve Trittschuh, former MLS stars Raul Diaz Arce, Marco Etcheverry, Roy Lassiter and Carlos Valderrama, indoor legend Victor Nogueira, and former U.S. women's national-teamers Shannon MacMillan, Cindy Parlow, Tiffany Roberts and Tisha Venturini-Hoch.

The 10 names before the veterans committee include San Jose Earthquakes GM John Doyle and the late, great George Best, who spent a little time with the old L.A. Aztecs; Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid (Torrance/Bishop Montgomery HS and UCLA) is one of seven men up for consideration by the builders committee.

Votes are due in by March 11 and results will be announced in early spring.

Zarek Valentin left his Major League Soccer combine sitdown with Chivas USA officials knowing where he wanted to be. On Thursday, he learned the feeling was mutual.

The 19-year-old defender, one of the big names in the MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore, went to the Goats with the fourth pick overall. A center back at NCAA champion Akron, he figures to play right back for Chivas -- and could be the starter from the beginning.

Valentin said hearing his name called at the draft was “an absolutely amazing feeling I don't think will ever be replicated.”

“After we had our individual meetings [with teams], I left that meeting [with Chivas] saying this is the team I want to be part of,” Valentin told ESPN Los Angeles. “They've got a great vision of what they want to do with the team and what my role would be. It's a very good situation for me. It's the best thing that could possibly happen for me. I couldn't be happier.”

Valentin, who signed a Generation adidas contract after two sterling seasons at Akron, figures to receive first-class instruction. New Chivas coach Robin Fraser and assistants Greg Vanney and Carlos Llamosa were U.S. national team backs. So was Jimmy Conrad, who was acquired in last month's re-entry draft.

He's also looking forward to reuniting with former Akron teammates Blair Gavin and Ben Zemanski. “Blair is the reason I went to Akron,” Valentin said. “I really wanted to play with Blair. He was my roommate [at the U.S. U-17 residency] in Florida, and I followed him to Akron.”

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GOLETA -- It's No. 1 against No. 2.

Top-ranked Louisville and second-ranked Akron offered scintillating displays in Friday's NCAA College Cup semifinals at UC Santa Barbara's Holder Stadium, but both needed a bit of fortune -- and a late goal -- to claim berths in Sunday afternoon's final.

Louisville (20-0-3) was most impressive against North Carolina, creating far more opportunities but waiting until the end to pull out a 2-1 decision. Akron (21-1-2) was far more dominant against upstart Michigan, spending huge swaths of time in and in front of the Wolverines' box, but it took a defensive miscue to pull out a 2-1 victory and gain a repeat trip to the title game.

Bests, worsts and so forth:

BEST PLAYER: Lot of candidates -- Louisville's Chris Rolfe and Ryan Smith, Michigan's Justin Meram, a whole host of guys from Akron: midfielders Michael Nanchoff, Anthony Ampaipitakwong and Perry Kitchen, forward Darlington Nagbe and defender Zarek Valentin, etc. -- but Kofi Sarkodie was sensational from start to finish.

He set the tone for nearly everything Akron did: His forays up the right flank and into Michigan's box (he spent more time there than anyone, perhaps, aside from Wolverines goalkeeper Chris Blais) drove the attack; his physical play -- not always clean, to be sure -- kept Michigan honest; and he capped the performance with the winning goal, a fine header from Nanchoff's cross in the 74th minute.

BEST GOAL: After scoring with 52 seconds to play to beat UCLA in the quarterfinals, could it get any better for Aaron Horton? Oh, yeah. Three minutes after coming on for All-American Rolfe, the Louisville freshman took a defense-splitting pass from Smith and chipped Scott Goodwin -- lifting the top-ranked Cardinals into the final … with just 51 seconds to go.

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Martin Vasquez's abrupt dismissal last month as Chivas USA head coach had nothing to do with his performance or club management's confidence in him to lead the team in the next step of its rebuilding project.

As director of soccer Stephen Hamilton said following the Goats' final game, an Oct. 23 loss to Chicago at Home Depot Center: Vasquez was their guy, and the club had every intention of heading into the second year of a three-year plan with him at the helm.

It all fell apart within days, all over Vasquez's reluctance -- his refusal -- to replace a member of his staff.

Vasquez and Chivas USA managing partner Antonio Cue provided ESPN Los Angeles identical descriptions of a 3½-hour meeting two days following the Goats' season finale, one that both sides called positive and productive -- until Vasquez was told he would need to jettison one member of his staff.

The meeting -- involving Vasquez, Cue and Cue's brother, Lorenzo, an executive with Chivas USA LLC, the company that manages the club -- was a “great meeting,” Vasquez said, with discussion covering what went right and wrong in an 8-18-4, last-in-the-Western Conference campaign and the best way to improve the club.

Lorenzo Cue mentioned bringing in another assistant coach, and Vasquez, who was given his first head-coaching job by the club last December, said he “thought it was a good suggestion, a positive suggestion.”

By the end of the meeting, Vasquez said, “we had a plan of action going forward, and we felt very positive about going forward and turning this around.” Then, as the meeting was coming to an end, Vasquez was told “somebody from my staff had to go. I was not in agreement with that. I said if somebody was coming in to be part of the group, great. But losing somebody, I'm against it. Because I have a lot of confidence in my assistants, and they have all the knowledge to help us, to help Chivas USA, turn this around.”

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