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Union need to refocus after crushing loss

Now comes the truly hard part for the Union. After a physically and emotionally draining 3-1 loss in extra time to the visiting Seattle Sounders on Tuesday in a highly entertaining U.S. Open Cup championship game, the Union must refocus on Major League Soccer action.

Union's head coach Jim Curtin is not happy with a call against his team
while playing the Seattle Sounders FC. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)
Union's head coach Jim Curtin is not happy with a call against his team while playing the Seattle Sounders FC. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)Read more(Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)

Now comes the truly hard part for the Union.

After a physically and emotionally draining 3-1 loss in extra time to the visiting Seattle Sounders on Tuesday in a highly entertaining U.S. Open Cup championship game, the Union must refocus on Major League Soccer action.

It won't be easy, especially since they will face a desperate and dangerous Houston Dynamo team at 7 p.m. Saturday at PPL Park in Chester.

The Union (9-9-10) have 37 points and are tied with Columbus for the fifth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Houston is 9-13-5 for 32 points. Even though the Dynamo have a game in hand on the Union, this is almost a must-win for Houston.

The Union put so much into trying to win the Open Cup. They even held several regulars from the starting lineup in a 2-2 MLS draw with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

Now they have to come off their most disappointing result of the year. The Union had several chances to beat Seattle in regulation, including a shot by Vincent Nogueira in second-half stoppage time that hit the post.

It was an electric atmosphere, one that will be hard to duplicate Saturday.

The Union have six MLS games remaining, all against Eastern Conference teams, with four of them at PPL Park. All six are against teams in playoff contention.

Houston, a perennial playoff contender and MLS champion in 2006 and 2007, will be a challenge. The Dynamo are 1-0-1 against the Union this season.

Houston has been boosted by the addition of defender DaMarcus Beasley, the four-time U.S. World Cup player, who signed with the Dynamo in late July. Beasley played all 90 minutes in a 2-0 win over the visiting Union on Aug. 15.

After the loss to Seattle, the Union players insisted that they can't let it linger against a Houston team that is making its traditional run for the postseason.

"It's over with, and we have to move on," defender Sheanon Williams said.

Easier said than done.

Don't be surprised if two-time Algerian World Cup keeper Rais Mbolhi gets his second start in goal for the Union. Because of national-team commitments and visa problems, Mbolhi has played just once for the Union since signing on July 30. That came in a 4-2 win over visiting San Jose on Aug. 24.

Regardless of who is in goal, the Union will have to match the intensity they had in the Open Cup final.

"We have to be ready for Houston because we're in a playoff race, and we want to be in the playoffs," said midfielder Sebastien Le Toux, who was a member of the Union's lone playoff team in 2011. "So we have to get our bodies fixed and make sure we are ready to play."

@sjnard