Week 15 Power Rankings

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2012 Power Rankings: June 25
 RK (LW)TEAMRECCOMMENT
San Jose1 (5)San Jose10-3-3The Quakes' late-game magic continued with a midweek stoppage-time win over Colorado, and then another late winner by Chris Wondolowski against Real Salt Lake. Up next, a home derby against surging Los Angeles.
New York Red Bulls2 (4)New York Red Bulls9-4-3Brandon Barklage dished out a serious helping of revenge against former club D.C. United, scoring two goals in a 3-2 victory. Even better, his block of a Maicon Santos shot helped preserve the win.
DC United3 (3)DC United9-5-3Not even a Chris Pontius goal inside the first minute was enough for DCU to get past bitter rivals New York. On the plus side, Branko Boskovic continues to be a difference-maker, even if it's off the bench.
Kansas City4 (2)Kansas City9-4-2The coast-to-coast travel did SKC no favors, but without question, manager Peter Vermes expected more out of his team than a 4-0 pasting at the hands of a struggling Philadelphia side.
Real Salt Lake5 (1)Real Salt Lake10-5-2Manager Jason Kreis will correctly rue his side's profligacy in front of goal in losses to L.A. and San Jose. But a bigger concern is in the back, where all of a sudden RSL is leaking goals at an alarming rate.
Vancouver Whitecaps6 (6)Vancouver Whitecaps7-4-5The midweek tie to New York was bad enough given the late goal that was conceded, but in a 3-0 loss to L.A., Vancouver looked more like last year's edition of the Whitecaps: soft on defense and impotent in attack.
Chicago7 (10)Chicago7-5-3A 10-man Fire side managed to subdue Columbus 2-1, but the big question now relates to the contract status of playmaker Sebastian Grazzini, whose future looks to be in limbo as rumors swirl that Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko may be coming on board.
Columbus8 (7)Columbus5-5-4Frustration was the byword for Columbus, which couldn't make the most of being up a man for over an hour against Chicago and fell on the road to the Fire.
Houston9 (8)Houston5-5-5Not that long ago, Houston wouldn't have given up seven goal in two months. Last week, the Dynamo coughed up that many in two games, including four in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Montreal.
Seattle Sounders FC10 (9)Seattle Sounders FC7-5-4Sunday's loss to Cascadia rivals Portland no doubt stings, but alarm bells are now ringing in Seattle given that the team's winless streak has now reached seven games with the defense looking especially suspect.
Los Angeles11 (15)Los Angeles6-8-2The Galaxy team that everyone expected to see at the start of the season has shown up, and three consecutive wins now have L.A. in fifth place in the conference standings. The rest of the West has been warned.
Montreal Impact12 (12)Montreal Impact5-8-3The Impact followed up an disappointing midweek loss to Chivas by winning 4-2 against conference-rival Houston. That's eight goals in two games at the newly renovated Stade Saputo.
Colorado13 (11)Colorado6-8-1The Rapids received its second gut-punch in as many games, contriving to throw away a 1-0 lead against San Jose by conceding twice in the last 10 minutes. Repairing the team's psyche amounts to a big challenge for manager Oscar Pareja.
Chivas USA14 (14)Chivas USA5-7-4A home win against Montreal and a road draw in Dallas amounted to a solid week's work for Robin Fraser's side. Now, attention settles on Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup encounter against the Charlotte Eagles, a third-tier side.
New England15 (13)New England5-7-3The Revs showed some fight in coming back from two goals down, but the fact they were in that position against woeful Toronto FC doesn't reflect well, especially on the team's defense which looked shaky when defending crosses.
Portland Timbers16 (16)Portland Timbers4-6-4Wins don't come any bigger than Portland's 2-1 triumph over Cascadia rivals Seattle. Granted, the Timbers have lots of work to do, but with games in hand on its conference rivals, the team isn't out of the playoff race just yet.
Philadelphia Union17 (18)Philadelphia Union3-8-2Interim manager John Hackworth broke into the win column with a vengeance, as Jack McInerney's two goals helped Philly to a 4-0 romp over Sporting Kansas City.
FC Dallas18 (17)FC Dallas3-9-5There's plenty of blame to go around for FCD's team record 11-game winless streak, but Dallas is getting little help from referees either, as Fabian Castillo's legitimate penalty appeal was ignored in the team's 0-0 tie with Chivas USA.
Toronto FC19 (19)Toronto FC1-10-2Meet the new TFC. Same as the old TFC, namely the one that can't defend to save its life. Oh well, at least Danny Koevermans, with five goals in his last five games, has rediscovered his form of last year.