Big First Half Sparks Fire
The Chicago Fire scored three goals in the first 13 minutes Saturday night and defeated the visiting San Jose Earthquakes, 4-1.
Dema Kovalenko drove home a pass from Diego Gutierrez five minutes into the game, Lubos Kubik made it 2-0 in the 12th minute, and San Jose’s Mauricio Wright put the ball into his own net on an errant clearing attempt before a crowd of 11,467.
League scoring leader Ante Razov, fresh off a three-goal performance against Miami, added another goal to his total before the close of the first half.
Razov stripped the ball from a San Jose player at the edge of the penalty area and immediately turned to shoot. The quick blast caught San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon flat-footed, and Chicago (5-4-1) held a 4-0 halftime lead.
San Jose (2-2-2) scored with 20 minutes left, when John Doyle and Richard Mulrooney set up Harut Karapetyan’s goal.
Kansas City 2, New York/New Jersey 0--Tony Meola posted his league-leading seventh shutout as the Wizards (7-0-2) remained unbeaten with a victory over the MetroStars (3-4) before 9,705 at Kansas City, Mo.
Meola has gone 435 minutes without allowing a goal, breaking his league record of 414 minutes.
Matt McKeon had a goal and an assist for the Western Division-leading Wizards, who moved four points ahead of the Galaxy, which tied the Burn at Dallas.
New England 3, Washington 1--Imad Baba, Mauricio Ramos and Wolde Harris scored on free kicks as the Revolution (3-2-4) defeated D.C. United (2-7-1) in front of 18,493 at Washington.
New England, despite being outshot, 18-5, took a 2-1 lead when Ramos bent a free kick around the right side of the United wall and past a diving Tom Presthus in the 66th minute.
D.C., which played without injured midfielder Marco Etcheverry, missed a chance to tie in the 79th minute when Jaime Moreno was awarded a penalty kick, but Revolution goalkeeper Jeff Causey made the save.
Miami 2, Colorado 1--Jay Heaps and Roy Lassiter scored in the final 16 minutes as the Fusion (3-3-4) defeated the Rapids (4-6) before 16,582 at Denver.
Five minutes after Heaps tied it, Miami goalkeeper Nick Rimando cleared the ball the length of the field. Lassiter caught up with it and sent it past sliding goalkeeper Adin Brown.
Tampa Bay 3, Columbus 1--Mamadou Diallo produced his second consecutive two-goal game as the Mutiny (6-4) remained undefeated at home with a victory over the Crew (3-6-1) before 10,212.
The Mutiny’s 6-0 start at Raymond James Stadium is two behind D.C. United’s MLS record of eight consecutive home victories to start the 1998 season. Dominic Kinnear scored his first goal since Aug. 29, 1998, in the 48th minute, and Carlos Valderrama had two assists.
