No sooner has RSL constructed a promising four-game unbeaten streak than it will come up against another tough challenge — playing short-handed for much of the next month.

Although the team blasted Toronto over the weekend without midfielder Will Johnson (and Jean Alexandre), it will have to juggle the lineup to account for even more absences when it plays San Jose at Rio Tinto Stadium on Friday night. Not only has midfielder Kyle Beckerman been called away to play for the United States in the Gold Cup — that's the tournament for which Johnson and Alexandre already had been called away, preparing to play for their native Canada and Haiti, respectively — but midfielder Javier Morales is questionable with the ankle injury he suffered late in the game against Toronto.

If Morales can't play and injured striker Robbie Findley still isn't back from his sprained ankle, RSL could have some big holes to fill against the Earthquakes.

On the bright side, however, midfielder Andy Williams has elected not to join Jamaica for the Gold Cup so that he can remain with RSL and closer to his wife, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia in Seattle. And if Morales and Findley can't play this weekend, they figure to have plenty of time to get healthy before the next league game July 18. RSL has only an exhibition with Club America of Mexico in the 14 days between its league games.