defacer gino: Saturday's MLS roundup

Monday, October 29, 2012

Saturday's MLS roundup

By The Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 11:34 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Chris Wondolowski tied the MLS single-season record with his 27th goal and the San Jose Earthquakes wrapped up the regular season with a 1-1 draw against the Portland Timbers on Saturday night.

Wondolowski scored in the 24th minute, matching the record set by Roy Lassiter of Tampa Bay in 1996. The 29-year-old forward booted a penalty kick into the lower left corner of the net after Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts was whistled for taking out Steven Lenhart in a race to secure the ball.

San Jose (19-6-9) has already secured its second Supporters' Shield and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Earthquakes went undefeated in their last 10 matches and lead the league with 72 goals. They will face the winner of the Nov. 1 match between Los Angeles Galaxy and Vancouver Whitecaps in first round.

The Timbers (8-16-10) appeared to be going down to defeat in the cold, steady drizzle until Bright Dike scored his fifth goal in the 67th minute to tie the score and put some life into the Portland attack.

UNITED 1, FIRE 1, TIE

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) - Lionard Pajoy scored in the 50th minute, and Bill Hamid made eight saves to help United rally to tie Chicago.

The draw gave D.C. second place in the Eastern Conference.

United (17-10-7) went 5-0-2 in its last seven matches to finish with 58 points, one more than New York and Chicago (17-11-6). New York finished third, ahead of fourth-place Chicago, on a tiebreaker.

With New York beating Philadelphia earlier in the day, the Fire needed to beat D.C. to avoid playing in the first-round one-game elimination round.

Instead, Chicago will host fifth-place Houston in that game Wednesday night. The winner plays Eastern Conference champion Kansas City in the second round.

Patrick Nyarko scored for Chicago in the 16th minute.

RED BULLS 3, UNION 0

CHESTER, Pa. (AP) - Kenny Cooper scored twice, and Thierry Henry added a goal for New York.

The Red Bulls (16-9-9) reached the playoffs for the third straight year, and the ninth time in 10 seasons. New York won all three matches this season against the Union (10-18-6), who lost their final three games and will miss the postseason for the second time in three years.

Cooper scored on a penalty kick in the 13th minute after Tim Cahill was taken down by defender Carlos Valdes in the box a minute earlier. Henry scored his 15th goal to make it 2-0 in the 35th minute.

Cooper added his team-leading 18th goal - and fifth against Philadelphia this season - in the 66th minute.

RAPIDS 2, DYNAMO 0

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) - Kamani Hill and Andre Akpan scored to help Colorado beat playoff-bound Houston.

Colorado (11-19-4) finished one of the worst campaigns in franchise history with only its second two-game winning streak of the year. The Rapids were 3-5-3 in their last 11 games.

Goalkeeper Steward Ceus posted his second shutout in his second career MLS start.

Houston (14-9-11) had already rapped up fifth place in the Eastern Conference and its sixth playoff appearance in seven years. The Dynamo will play Chicago in the wild-card game Wednesday night in Chicago.

Houston rested many of its regulars including its top five goal scorers and starting goalkeeper Tally Hall. Tyler Deric subbed for Hall and made his first career MLS start.

REVOLUTION 1, IMPACT 0

MONTREAL (AP) - A.J. Soares scored in the 89th minute to lift New England past Montreal.

Soares was inside the box to head Chris Tierney's free kick past the reach of goalkeeper Troy Perkins for an unsatisfying end to a game the Impact mostly dominated.

The Revolution (9-17-8) ended a 13-game winless run in road matches and won for the first time in Canada soil, having previously gone 0-5-3 in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

The Impact finished the season 12-16-6.

WHITESCAPS 0, REAL SALT LAKE 0, TIE

SANDY, Utah (AP) - Real Salt Lake played to the scoreless draw with Vancouver and made a little bit of history along the way in the regular-season finale.

RSL (17-11-6) became just the second MLS team to not allow a goal in the first 15 minutes of any regular-season match when it held Vancouver (11-13-10) scoreless before halftime. Houston also accomplished the feat in 2009. Both teams qualified for the playoffs.

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