Donovan, Earthquakes Take Care of the Crew

Landon Donovan had a goal and an assist as the San Jose Earthquakes beat the Columbus Crew, 3-0, Wednesday night at San Jose to advance to the MLS semifinals.

Manny Lagos and Ronald Cerritos also scored as San Jose won a playoff series for the first time. The Earthquakes, who beat the Crew, 3-1, on Saturday in Game 1 of the quarterfinal series, will face the winner of Miami’s series with Kansas City.

Both matches in the series were dominated by the Earthquakes, with Donovan generating multiple scoring chances that kept the Crew on their heels. Donovan, 19, a U.S. national team star and the MLS All-Star game MVP, scored two goals in the opener and easily was the most active player in the second game.

After Lagos scored early, Cerritos got the Spartan Stadium crowd on its feet with a 68th-minute goal that put San Jose up, 2-0. Donovan put it away with a quick-strike goal in the 76th minute, and goalie Joe Cannon earned his first playoff shutout.

Kansas City 3, Miami 0--Onandi Lowe, Matt McKeon and Francisco Gomez scored first-half goals at Kansas City, Mo., as the Wizards forced a third game in the first-round playoff series.

Game 3 is Saturday in Miami, where the Fusion beat the Wizards, 2-0, last week in the opening game of the series.