Pachuca advances in SuperLiga

FRISCO, Texas -- Damian Alvarez scored in the fourth minute to help Pachuca tie Santos Laguna, 1-1, on Sunday night and advance to the semifinal rounds of the SuperLiga tournament.

Pachuca is the defending SuperLiga champion and only needed a tie to finish second to New England in the Group B qualifying phase. Pachuca will travel to Houston to face the Dynamo, the Group A winner, on July 29. New England will play host to Atlante FC on July 30 in the other semifinal.

Alvarez scored an unassisted goal after he curled a shot from outside the top of the arc, over the head of Santos Laguna goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez and into the right corner of the net. Alvarez almost added another goal in the 32nd minute after his shot from inside the penalty box bounced off Sanchez and hit the crossbar. Santos tied it in the 71st minute after Christian Benitez fired a shot into the center of the net from six yards.