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One more for the road: FC Tucson 1, Chivas USA 0

A late goal sinks the Goats once again.

By Alicia Rodriguez
Melia got the start in goal Friday.
Melia got the start in goal Friday.
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Chivas USA concluded their on-field soccer activities for the 2013 calendar year Friday, when they faced FC Tucson in a friendly at the new North Stadium in Arizona, to an over-capacity crowd. The hosts inaugurated their field with a 1-0 victory, courtesy of a goal in the 88th minute scored by substitute and local high schooler Sadam Ali.

The Goats were led in the match by assistant coach Marco Fabian, who apparently did not follow Jose Luis Real back to Guadalajara just yet. Using a mix of first team starters, reserves, and trialists, Chivas did not really set themselves apart from their opponents, despite sitting substantially higher up the American soccer pyramid. Still, it was a friendly, and we can't get too worked up over friendly results, win or lose.

Here was Chivas' starting lineup for the match:

Tim Melia; Lyle Martin, Andrew Ribeiro, Carlos Bocanegra, Donny Toia; Carlos Borja, Carlos Alvarez, Carlo Chueca, Eric Avila, Jorge Villafana; Erick Torres

In our Three Questions feature Thursday, Ted Prezelski told us about Toia, a former Real Salt Lake homegrown signing, being on trial with Chivas. The 21-year-old never made a competitive appearance for RSL, instead previously featuring for both FC Tucson and Phoenix FC.

Ribeiro is a member of Chivas USA's U-23 team, and Martin is a former Chivas USA Supplemental draft pick (from all the way back in 2007) who was also listed as a trialist. He's 28, but he spent time playing in China, which is a pretty unique thing to have listed on one's resume.

Subs in the match for Chivas were Matthew Fondy in for Borja, and Gabriel Farfan in for Alvarez in the 59th minute; Bryan de la Fuente replaced Toia in the 63rd minute.

Another trialist, Fejiro Okiomah, came into the game for Martin in the 67th minute. Okiomah, 24, last played for USL-PRO side Charlotte Eagles.

Homegrown signing Caleb Calvert entered the match in the 76th minute for Chueca. The club sent out this tweet:

We'll have to see if any of the trialists are back in the picture come preseason. My hunch is probably not, as they were likely recruited to help make up the numbers for this game, but we'll have to see.

So that's it for game action for the Goats this year. Although the games may be through, we'll have all of the Chivas USA coverage you can handle in the offseason…and then some.

What do you think? Leave a comment below!

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