MLS roundup

Ruiz shakes slump, sends Galaxy to 2-1 triumph over San Jose before 55,234 at Rose Bowl.

PASADENA, Calif. (Thursday, July 4, 2002) – Striker Carlos Ruiz shook off a four-match scoring drought, finding net twice, including netting the game-winner in the 87th minute to lead the Los Angeles to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes before 55,234 at the Rose Bowl tonight.

Ruiz, who last scored on June 1, is tied for the Major League Soccer lead of 12 goals with the Dallas Burn’s Jason Kreis and New England Revolution’s Taylor Twellman.

"This was a six-point game,'' Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said. "They were nine points ahead of us going into the game. They could've been 12 ahead of us.''

The two teams meet again Sunday in San Jose. "We are not going to get to desperate after tonight," earthquakes coach Frank Yallop said. "We are disappointed with the result, but we are going to go back home and get ready for another big game on Sunday. We want to go out and get three points at home and keep ourselves in a good position in the standings."

With three minutes remaining in regulation, Galaxy defender Danny Califf sent a throw-in into the penalty area from the right flank. A flick-on header by reserve forward Chris Albright and a heel pass from by defender Alexi Lalas brought the ball to Ruiz who knocked it home from the top of the six-yard box for the 2-1 lead..

After Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman saved a powerful Wade Barrett blast from outside the area in the 29th minute, San Jose (9-5-2, 29 points) struck to take a 1-0 advantage one minute later. On a play which originated from a free kick, the ball made its way to midfielder Ramiro Corrales on the left side. His cross into the box was redirected into the net by the head of midfielder Manny Lagos.

Ruiz, who had an apparent goal called back because of a foul in the 22nd minute, tied matters in the 33rd. Defender Ezra Hendrickson sent a cross near the penalty spot and the Guatemalan nodded a through the legs of goalkeeper Joe Cannon bring Los Angeles (7-6-2, 23) level at 1-1.

Los Angeles 2, San Jose 1

Lineups: Los Angeles - Kevin Hartman, Tyrone Marshall (Danny Califf 79), Alexi Lalas, Adam Frye, Ezra Hendrickson, Simon Elliott, Peter Vagenas, Sasha Victorine, Cobi Jones, Carlos Ruiz, Gavin Glinton (Chris Albright 60). San Jose - Joe Cannon, Jimmy Conrad, Troy Dayak (Devin Barclay 46), Ramiro Corrales, Wade Barrett, Landon Donovan, Manny Lagos, Ronnie Ekelund, Ian Russell (Eddie Robinson 24), Dwayne DeRosario (Zak Ibsen 67), Ariel Graziani.

Scoring:
San Jose --Lagos (Corrales, Ekelund) 30.
Los Angeles - Ruiz (Hendrickson, Glinton) 34.
Los Angeles - Ruiz (Lalas, Albright) 87.

Total shots: Los Angeles 13 (Ruiz 4), San Jose 13 (Graziani 4). Shots on goal: Los Angeles 9 (Victorine 3, Ruiz 3), San Jose 8 (Graziani 3). Saves: Los Angeles - Hartman 7; San Jose - Cannon 5. Fouls: Los Angeles 15 (Marshall 3, Victorine 3, Ruiz 3), San Jose 12 (Lagos 5). Offside: Los Angeles 3, San Jose 0. Corner kicks: Los Angeles 3, San Jose 2. Yellow card cautions: Los Angeles - Marshall 35, Elliott 58; San Jose - Conrad 26.

Referee: Kevin Terry. Assistant referees: Roger Itaya, Fabio Tovar. Attendance: 55,234 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, calif. Weather: Sunny, 71 degrees, warm, fair.

DALLAS -- Jason Kreis assisted a tally by fellow striker Bobby Rhine then added a goal of his own, lifting the Dallas Burn over the MetroStars 2-0 before 16,055 at the Cotton Bowl.

Dallas (7-3-5, 26) is unbeaten (4-0-3) in its last seven home matches and has captured its first two meetings of the season with the MetroStars (6-7-2, 20).

Kreis moved into a tie with Carlos Ruiz of Los Angeles and Taylor Twellman of New England for the league lead with 12 goals. With his two assists, he leads MLS in scoring with 26 points.

Kreis also became MLS's all-time leading scorer for the first time in his career with 78 goals and 59 assists for 215 points, three more points than Preki who did not get into the scorebook in the Kansas City Wizards 2-1 defeat of D.C. United tonight.

In the 38th minute, Dallas midfielder Oscar Pareja withstood a challenge by defensive midfielder Jeff Moore and passed to Kreis who took advantage of the MetroStars’ failed attempt at an offside trap. Kreis centered from the right side of the penalty area to Rhine who beat goalkeeper Tim Howard for his fifth goal and a 1-0 lead.

Dallas keeper Matt Jordan protected the lead two minutes later when he dove to his right post to block Rodrigo Faria’s penalty kick. The penalty was awarded when Jose Vaca brought down Ted Chronopoulos in the box as he made a cutting run into the left side of the area.

In the 83rd minute, Kreis carried past by two defenders through the heart of the MetroStars defense and his sliding shot from 15 yards out caromed off the left post and then the right post before rolling in to make it 2-0.

The MetroStars played without striker Mamadou Diallo, suspended because of a red card. "The Dallas Burn made the most of their chances to score two goals and beat us tonight," said MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano. "It hurt not to have Diallo available and to miss a penalty kick.

Lineups: Dallas - Matt Jordan, Ryan Suarez, Tenywa Bonseu, Paul Broome, Jorge Rodriguez, Joselito Vaca (Carl Bussey 65), Chad Deering, Antonio Martinez, Oscar Pareja (Ronald Cerritos 81), Jason Kreis, Bobby Rhine (Jordan Stone 78). MetroStars - Tim Howard, Ted Chronopoulos (Birahim Diop 90), Mike Petke, Steve Jolley, Craig Ziadie (Sam Forko 87), Jeff Moore (Andy Williams 76), Ross Paule, Mark Lisi, Brad Davis, Clint Mathis, Rodrigo Faria

Scoring:
Dallas - Rhine (Kreis, Pareja) 38.
Dallas - Kreis (Martinez, Cerritos) 83.

Total shots: Dallas 16 (Rhine 6), MetroStars 13 (Faria 4, Mathis 4). Shots on goal: Dallas 7 (Rhine 3), MetroStars (Faria 1, Lisi 1, Davis 1). Saves: Dallas - Jordan 3; MetroStars - Howard 5. Fouls: Dallas 22 (Suarez 4), MetroStars 8 (Faria 2, Jolley 2). Offside: Dallas 4, MetroStars 2. Corner kicks: Dallas 5, MetroStars 4. Yellow card cautions: Dallas - Vaca 48; MetroStars Ziadie 13.

Referee: Ali Saheli. Assistant referees: Paul Scott, Misail Tsapos. Attendance: 16,055 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Weather: Humid, 87 degrees, clear.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Midfielder Steve Ralston scored a pair of goals and striker Taylor Twellman tied for the league lead with his 12th, helping the New England Revolution roll to a 4-1 rout of the Columbus Crew before 10,903 at CMGi Field.

Twellman put New England (5-9-1, 16) ahead to stay with his 12th goal in the in the 11th minute for a 1-0 advantage. On the attempted clearance, Revolution defender Brian Kamler moved in to intercept, sparking a run into the left side of the penalty area. Kamler sent the ball to Twellman who dodged his defender with an artful spin move on the ball before sending a sharp, right-footed shot past goalkeeper Tom Presthus.

Ralston extended the lead to 2-0 in the 31st minute, capping off a well-played corner kick with a diving header. Kamler sent the curling into the box for Ian Fuller who rose over his marker to snap the ball down to a charging Ralston.

Leo Cullen scored the second goal of his MLS career with a deft touch to loft the ball over Presthus' head eight minutes later to make it 3-0.

In the 65th minute, Fuller set Ralston up for a left-footed shot that zipped past Presthus, giving the Revs a commanding 4-0 advantage.

Striker Brian McBride, making his first appearance since returning from the World Cup, ruined Revs keeper Adin Brown’s shutout in the 82nd minute, outracing New England defenders to a long ball from midfielder John Harkes. McBride hammered his drive home from the top of the penalty arc, allowing Columbus (5-7-3, 18) to finalize the score at 4-1..

New England 4, Columbus 1

Lineups: New England - Adin Brown, Carlos Llamosa, Rusty Pierce (Daniel Hernandez 71), Joe Franchino, Jay Heaps, Steve Ralston, Brian Kamler, Leo Cullen (Nick Downing 71), Jim Rooney, Taylor Twellman, Ian Fuller (Wolde Harris 67). Columbus - Tom Presthus, Chad McCarty, Mike Clark (John Wilmar Perez 46), Brian Dunseth, Daniel Torres, Eric Denton, Brian Maisonneuve, Kyle Martino (John Harkes 27), Brian West, Brian McBride, Jeff Cunningham (Edson Buddle 65).

Scoring:
New England - Twellman (Kamler) 11.
New England - Ralston (Fuller, Kamler) 31.
New England - Cullen (unassisted) 39,
New England - Ralston (Fuller) 65.
Columbus - McBride (Harkes) 82.

Total shots: New England 12 (Ralston 4, Heaps 4), Columbus 13 (McBride 4). Shots on goal: New England 11 (Ralston 4), Columbus 7 (McBride 3). Saves: New England - Brown 4; Columbus - Presthus 7. Fouls: New England 19 (five players with 3), Columbus 13 (Torres 4). Offside: New England 1, Columbus 3. Corner kicks: New England 3, Columbus 3. Yellow card cautions: New England - Llamosa 22, Rooney 68; Columbus - Dunseth 13, McCarty 18.

Referee: Alex Prus. Assistant referees: Richard Eddy, Bahji Salman. Attendance: 10,903 at CMGi Field in Foxborough, Mass. Weather: Hot, humid, 96 degrees.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Striker Dario Fabbro and defender Carey Talley scored three minutes apart midway through the first half and the Kansas City Wizards were never headed in defeating D.C. United 2-1 before 19,641 at Arrowhead Stadium.

D.C. United keeper Nick Rimando, the reigning MLS "Player of the Week," made several sensational saves in the contest, but he made life easy for Fabbro in the 17th minute. K.C. keeper Tony Meola sent a punt to forward Igor Simutenkov past midfield. Simutenkov then led Fabbro for a run to the edge of the penalty area. Rimando prematurely came about 12 yards off his line, with no chance to get to the ball, leaving him in no-man’s. Fabbro easily chipped the ball with the outside of his right foot over the keeper’s head into the net to make it 1-0.

Kansas City (5-5-5, 20) stretched its lead to 2-0 in the 20th minute after midfielder Francisco Gomez sent a corner kick into the six-yard box where Talley leapt and won a battle with United defender Eddie Pope. As the ball dropped, Talley half-volleyed a shot to Rimando's left for his second goal of the season.

"This was a tale of two halves," said K.C. coach Bob Gansler. "We played extremely well in the first half and did exactly what we wanted to do in terms of pressing them in their end and moving the ball quickly and getting our opportunities and finished them well. The second half, it looked like we had lead in our legs and we couldn't get anything going as far as fluidity. Having said that, with a 2-0 lead you really need to score the next goal and not give them one early. We had the possibility in the 47th or 48th minute, but we didn't put it away."

United (6-7-1, 19), the lowest scoring team in MLS with 18 goals, managed only two shots on frame for the match. One came when a wide-open striker Ali Curtis calmly headed a right-side cross from Jose Alegria six yards into the near corner. Both Curtis and Alegria came on as reserves after Jaime Moreno (21st minute) and Bobby Convey (halftime) left with injuries.

United seemed to create several dangerous chances late in the game, but could not put shots on goal.

"As lethargic and uninspired as we were in the first half, both individually and as a team, I was ecstatic at our bravery and character in the second," United coach Ray Hudson said. "To dominate as we did late in the game, it is a shame that we couldn't come away with a point."

Kansas City 2, D.C. United 1

Lineups: Kansas City - Tony Meola, Chris Klein, Nick Garcia, Carey Talley, Diego Gutierrez, Kerry Zavagnin, Francisco Gomez (Chris Brown 79), Stephen Armstrong, Preki, Dario Fabbro (Matt McKeon 76), Igor Simutenkov. D.C. United - Nick Rimando, Brandon Prideaux, Milton Reyes, Ivan McKinley, Eddie Pope (Orlando Perez 69), Lazo Alavanja, Petter Villegas, Bobby Convey (Jose Alegria 46), Richie Williams, Jaime Moreno (Ali Curtis 21), Roy Lassiter.

Scoring:
Kansas City - Fabbro (Simutenkov, Meola) 17.
Kansas City - Talley (Gomez) 20.
D.C United - Curtis (Alegria, Williams) 55.

Total shots: Kansas City 19 (Simutenkov 6), D.C. United 15 (Curtis 5). Shots on goal: Kansas City 9 (Armstrong 2, Fabbro 2), D.C. United 2 (Alegria 1, Curtis 1). Saves: Kansas City - Meola 1; D.C. United - Rimando 7. Fouls: Kansas City 11 (Fabbro 7), D.C. United 12 (McKinley 3). Offside: Kansas City 3, D.C. United 4. Corner kicks: Kansas City 9, D.C. United 4. Yellow card cautions: Kansas City - Zavagnin 57, Simutenkov 63, Meola 93+; D.C. United - McKinley 42, Alegria 51, Williams 57.

Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela. Assistant referees: George Gansner, Richard Huber. Attendance: 19,641 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Weather: Overcast, sticky, wet, 75 degrees.