Nate Jaqua was made available today but was instructed not to discuss the legal matter that involves him.

(On having 4 yellows and facing suspension) NOTE: MLS site lists him with three, looks like he had one removed for good behavior. "Well you wouldn't go in on anything rash, sort of thing, so I hold myself back on rash challenges. I don't really need to slide tackle anyways, and when I do I come in a little late so that's one of the ones where I just try not to go down, or at all. Stuff in the air and battling - you got to fight the same way."

(On which win vs. Houston he'd rather have - Open Cup or league) "That's a tough one because we're in the semis now. An Open Cup to get in the finals would be really cool for us. I think there's a good chance we could host it at home so that'd be... but this is also, I mean these are both two huge games for us, we got to look at them both equally. We need to get a win right now, they're in first place. We've been on a little bit of a roll winning, if we could keep that going, especially right now in the middle of the season, I think it's really crucial for us."

SIGI SCHMID

(On getting a win last night) "Yeah it was nice. It was good to play, it was good to play and get a game in. It was good to get some guys (time) because they had about ten days off in terms of between games for some guys like (Fredy) Montero, so they get a little antsy. So it was good to get them out there and play. It was also good to get a result and get a win. We've won four of our last five right now. I don't think we have a loss in our last five when you think Open Cup games as well. So that's good for our team confidence."

(On team depth and play) "They've played well. I don't think many teams could be missing both of their starting central midfielders and still maintain the rhythm in their game. But certainly, Stephen King and (Nathan) Sturgis yesterday did a great job. Peter Vagenas has done a good job when he's come in. Patrick Ianni has stepped in at back and it's been pretty seamless. (Sanna) Nyassi, it was good for us to get him some games where he's starting and getting some rhythm - he got out there when (Steve) Zakuani was hurt. So all of that helps us and it's like we said at the beginning - it's a 24-man squad, there's a reason and different people have to step up at different times."

(On Osvaldo Alonso's health) "Well we'll see, he pretty much did everything in training today, although we played him as a neutral player in the one game, so we're easing him back into training. We'll see how he feels now tomorrow's training and that'll determine pretty much how much we're going to go with him on Saturday."

(On the Houston Dynamo) "Houston is a good team. They'[re a well-coached team, Dominic (Kinnear) and John Spencer has been a duo together for a while there now as the head coach and the assistant coach. They're just a veteran team. They got a lot of core players that have been through a lot of battles together. I know they're missing some guys but there's still a core and there's a nucleus and there's a team belief there and that makes them a very good team."

(On Houston vs. SSFC's opponents) "I think we've played some good teams. I think D.C. has played very well this year. I think Chivas was on a good run when we played them. Chicago was on a good run, Colorado was on a good run when they came in here. I think we've played teams when they've been on good runs. I think the difference is that Houston is a team that has an extreme high level of confidence in themselves - when you win championships together, when you've been through as many things as they've been through whether it was Super Liga together or CONCACAF champions league, there's a resolve that builds within your team that probably no other team that we've played this year has. New England had that in the past, and Houston, I think have been the primary two teams that have had that. When you go back a few years, teams like the Galaxy had it, teams like D.C. United had it. But I think they've been one of the only teams over the last four years that have had sort of that swagger, and that makes them a little more difficult, that makes them better. Some teams have played as well when we've played them but they don't have that swagger."

(On Chelsea lineup being affected by two Houston games) "Probably not much. Obviously we'll have an eye towards it. Chelsea is a great opportunity - everybody wants to get on the field during that game, whether you're a starter or a reserve and so we're going to try to give guys the opportunity to get on that field and be able to play in that particular game."