Michael Dwyer/Associated PressThe New England Revolution's Sainey Nyassi, left, battles Real Salt Lake's Will Johnson for the ball during Saturday's MLS game in Foxborough, Mass.

Soccer-specific stadiums are popping up all over Major League Soccer these days, but that doesn't mean teams are able to establish a home-field advantage right away.

That will be something to watch Thursday night when Real Salt Lake plays its inaugural game at Rio Tinto Stadium, its new facility in Sandy, Utah, against the Red Bulls. Game time is 10 o'clock, and the match will be televised on ESPN2.

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerThe Red Bulls' Jeff Parke goes up to head the ball with D.C. United's Santino Quaranta in the 2nd half of a match in August at Giants Stadium.

Maybe losing to a team that had the fewest points in Major League Soccer at a time when the Red Bulls should be peaking for the playoffs prevented the players from understanding what was really happening.

And you can't blame them. With all the roster upheaval the past few years, the majority of the players fail to realize that late-season swoons are the norm around here.

Al Bello/Getty ImagesTim Howard of the United States blocks a shot by Julio Cruz of Argentina during their match at Giants Stadium on June 8.

Ballots for the 2008 Honda Player of the Year award are due Wednesday, and in a year of transition, when the U.S. national team played very few important games, one game and one performance stand out above the rest.

And on this ballot, that became the deciding factor.

Tim Howard's amazing effort in goal in the scoreless tie against Argentina June 8 at Giants Stadium was the year's shining moment and earned him the first-place vote on this ballot.

Bill Kostroun/Associated PressIreland defender Niamh Fahey, left, battles for control of the ball with U.S. forward Natasha Kai during the second half of Wednesday's friendly at Giants Stadium.

The New Jersey entry in Women's Professional Soccer next year was allocated the free-spirited Kai, along with Garden State natives Christie Rampone and Heather O'Reilly, on Tuesday.

Rampone and O'Reilly were bankable commodities, but there were concerns that Kai, a 25-year-old forward who sports 18 tattoos, might not connect to the fan base the team was trying to attract.

Wednesday night Kai scored the only goal, then ran to the sideline, grabbed a Sky Blue FC scarf and held it aloft for the fans to see, and the United States women's national team went on to beat Ireland, 1-0, before a crowd of 4,227 at Giants Stadium.

Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerRed Bulls goal keeper Jon Conway is making the most of his opportunity as a starter.

"I never really thought of myself as a No. 2," Conway said after practice Wednesday at Montclair State University. "I've always trained and my mind-set was always that I was the No. 1 guy. It was just the coach's decision to play someone else.

"It feels good to play week-in and week-out. You get more confident with the more games that you play."

Matt Stanley/Burlington County TimesOlympic champion Carli Lloyd of Delran waves to fans from atop a fire engine during a parade in her honor in Delran Monday.

But the truck just kept going. And a few hundred people turned into a few thousand. At that point, Lloyd, who scored the winning goal in the championship match against Brazil on Aug. 21, realized just how many lives were touched by that moment -- and how her life will never be the same.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerEast Brunswick's Heather O'Reilly carries the ball past two Brazilian defenders during the Olympic women's soccer final in Beijing last month.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerPoint Pleasant native and Team USA captain Christie Rampone charges out onto the field with an American flag as time expires and the United States defeats Brazil in the gold medal women's soccer game at the Beijing Olympics last month.

The Star-Ledger has learned that New Jersey natives Christie Rampone and Heather O'Reilly, as well as free-spirited forward Natasha Kai, were the three United States national team players allocated to Sky Blue for the league's inaugural season in 2009.

THIS WEEK IN MLS

There are seven weeks remaining in the season, but I don't have to see any more. Just give me my Most Valuable Player ballot right now so I can write in Guillermo Barros Schelotto's name.

The Columbus Crew midfielder/forward has been the league's dominant player in a year filled with outstanding individual performances. And at 35, he doesn't look like he'll be slowing down anytime soon.

Wednesday night's World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago in Bridgeview, Ill., will be an interesting litmus test for the Bob Bradley regime.

Will we see the same grind-it-out mentality that produced a pair of unattractive yet effective 1-0 victories at Guatemala and Cuba, or will we see more of an attacking posture that comes from playing at home against a team it should beat?

With the comfort of six road points and a friendly Toyota Park atmosphere, the Americans should have no trouble with a team they haven't lost to since 1994.

Andy Mills/The Star-LedgerCarli Lloyd, from NJ, holds up her gold medal as the United States celebrates its win over Brazil in the gold medal women's soccer game .

Lloyd is looking for a different challenge.

THIS WEEK IN MLS

One of the problems that Major League Soccer must deal with in the offseason is whether to suspend league play on weekends the national team plays a World Cup qualifier, like most leagues around the world do.

This weekend is a perfect example. There's a full slate of seven games ranging from Thursday to Sunday, but 32 players - including star players and a number of big gate attractions - will be with their respective national teams instead.

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerJuan Carlos Osorio not likely to get a warm reception in Chicago on Saturday

The parting was not amicable. Most divorces aren't, especially when the marriage lasts less than a year.

The Chicago Fire brought in Juan Carlos Osorio to rescue their floundering season midway through last year. The club had just fired Dave Sarachan and Osorio, who was coaching in Colombia but had Major League Soccer experience as an assistant with the MetroStars, was the man to jump-start a 4-7-4 club.

He did just that, as the Fire went 6-3-6 down the stretch to sneak into the playoffs as the eighth seed. Once there, the Fire knocked off top-seeded D.C. United in the Eastern Conference semifinals but lost the conference final at New England, 1-0.

Still, the turnaround was accomplished. And the Fire, with a history of sticking by their coaches, were ready to commit to Osorio.

WASHINGTON -- Jaime Moreno finally paid his debt to the MetroStars.

In his 13 years in Major League Soccer, the one black mark on the D.C. United striker's Hall of Fame career was his one injury-plagued season with the MetroStars in 2003, when he scored just two goals in 11 games.

He then returned to D.C., got healthy and rediscovered the form that has made him the league's all-time leading scorer with 121 goals.

Star-Ledger soccer writer Frank Giase takes a look at MLS action this week:

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The Red Bulls came into the month of August in last place, hampered by a thin bench, desperate for a sec­ond scoring option and facing three must-win games at home or the season might be lost.

Since then, defender Gabriel Cichero was signed, some injured players have returned, Mike Magee has scored three goals in three games and the team swept D.C. United, Toronto FC and the Houston Dynamo at Giants Stadium.

Mission accomplished, right?