Preseason: Chivas USA tie Real Salt Lake 1-1 in Desert Diamond Cup finale

Chivas USA finished the Desert Diamond Cup with a respectable second-place showing, following their 1-1 draw against Real Salt Lake in one of the consolation games Saturday. Erick Torres gave the Goats the lead in the 10th minute, but Alvaro Saborio knotted the score up in the 70th minute.

Here was Chivas' starting XI:

Dan Kennedy; Eric Avila; Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Bobby Burling, Tony Lochhead; Thomas McNamara, Oswaldo Minda, Dani Fragoso, Leandro Barrera; Matthew Fondy, Erick Torres

That was close to a starting lineup. The notable players missing from the game were veterans/old guys Carlos Bocanegra and Mauro Rosales, who apparently stayed out of the game as a precaution.

Agustin Pelletieri replaced Minda in the 59th minute (he was riding the edge of a red card for much of the game). Adolfo Bautista entered the game for Fondy in the 64th minute, while Luke Moore made his preseason debut in the 71st minute, entering for Cubo. Donny Toia was the final sub for the Goats, replacing Barrera in the 74th minute.

I only got to watch the first 50 minutes of the game, but Chivas looked good once again to start the match, their final tune-up before the season begins March 9. In particular, Barrera looked very sharp in the first half, getting good balls into the box from the left flank.

Here are some highlights of the match, if you missed it:

Chivas finished the 2014 preseason unbeaten. Whether that's a good omen for the regular season or will ultimately ring false, we'll see. But spirits appear to be high heading into the season, and that can't be a bad thing, right?

What do you think? Leave a comment below!