Diaz Arce's goal streak ends, he still sparks D.C. win

WASHINGTON (Sunday, July 6, 1997) -- Striker Raul Diaz Arce's Major League Soccer record goal-scoring streak ended at seven games, but he was still instrumental in D.C. United's 3-2 come-from-behind Major League Soccer victory over the Tampa Bay Mutiny today before 18,126 at RFK Stadium.

Diaz Arce assisted midfielder Ben Iroha's winning goal in the 80th minute as Washington completed its comeback from a 2-0 halftime deficit. Fifteen minutes earlier, his quick restart initiated the sequence that led to Roy Wegerle's tying goal.

"Hopefully, against Los Angeles I will score again," said Diaz Arce, who also netted the game winner in Friday night's 3-2 triumph in Dallas. "The important thing is to win. It doesn't matter who scores. All I want to do is bring the effort to the team, (but) I'm pretty happy about the weekend."

Diaz Arce is second in MLS with 24 points with 10 goals and 4 assists, one point behind Kansas City's Preki. His eight consecutive matches with a point constitute the second longest streak in the league's brief history, three behind Preki's mark.

Tampa Bay (9-9) remained in second place in the MLS Eastern Conference, but fell 10 points behind Washington (13-4) despite having played one more match.

With the score tied at 2, defender Eddie Pope intercepted a Mutiny pass and quickly fed Diaz Arce in the center circle. The El Salvador national team star quickly fed Iroha breaking down the left flank. Iroha carried into the top left of the penalty area and fired a low shot past goalkeeper Mark Doughtery just inside the far post.

In the 65th minute, Tampa Bay defenders Frank Yallop and Joao Batista converged on Diaz Arce. Diaz Arce was knocked off the ball, but the two Mutiny players violently collided. With both opponents sprawled on the ground, Diaz Arce quickly took his free kick, The ball was worked to John Maessner in the right corner before sending a cross that Jeff Agoos dummied so the ball could go to a wide open Wegerle three yards from the left post. Wegerle calmly pushed home the tying goal.

Wegerle made his first start since being acquired from Colorado for Steve Rammel.

Mutiny midfielder Steve Ralston had an opportunity to tie the match in the 84th minute, but he drilled his wide-open shot from the penalty spot right at keeper Scott Garlick.

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead after Roy Lassiter stole Richie Williams back pass and beat Garlick 1-on-1 in the 15th minute. Moments before intermission, Guiseppe Galderisi intercepted a Williams' pass and quickly fed Gilmar for a breakaway goal.

Williams gained some measure of redemption assisting Maessner's goal in the 55th minute. "In the first half, I didn't see Lassiter and tried to push it back to one of my teammates, but no one was there," said Williams, usually United's most consistent player. "The second one, I guess I lost the ball on that one and they built it up and we got beat on the offside trap. We just weren't playing well in the first half. We turned around in the second half. We came out, battled, got the ball forward like we had to and got the goals we needed to."

Washington completed a six-game period without stars Marco Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno with a 5-1 record. The pair was absent to play with the Bolivian national team in World Cup qualifying and Copa America, where the Bolivians advanced to the final before losing.

"I would have been happy splitting the six games," said United coach Bruce Arena. I think when they come back, we're going to fall off a little bit and then quickly improve. Whenever you put new players on the field, you're going to fall off a little bit, but then you improve. We're going to have to make adjustments when Marco and Jaime get back and it's not going to happen in one game."

D.C. United 3, Tampa Bay 2