While Preki, MLS's leading scorer in '97 (41) and over the first two seasons (90), gets all the attention, his teammate, Mark Chung, also holds an MLS record. He is the only player to start every game for the two seasons (64). Final Player Statistics No. Player GP GS Min. G A P 11 Preki 27 27 2330 12 17 41 13 Mark Chung 32 32 2871 10 8 28 10 Mo Johnston 29 29 2564 6 10 22 12 Vitalis Takawira 28 23 2153 8 6 22 14 Frank Klopas 27 24 1964 5 7 17 …

Jaime Moreno was beaten out for MLS scoring title by Preki on the last week of the season, but his 1.72 points a game average over two years leads all players. Final Player Statistics No. Player GP GS Min. G A P 9 Jaime Moreno 20 20 1725 16 8 40 21 Raul Diaz Arce 22 20 1789 15 6 36 20 Tony Sanneh 29 28 2271 5 11 21 6 John Harkes 25 23 2067 5 9 19 10 Marco Etcheverry 20 19 1696 3 11 17 17 Roy Wegerle 17 10 940 3 3 9 …

G Greg Velho (Notre Dame) (1) Posted 3 shutouts (all 1-0) D Mario Pino (FIU) (1) Defensive MVP at FIU Umbro Invitational D Mark Ryan (George Mason) (1) MVP at Black & Decker Loyola/Lotto Classic M Daniel Hernandez (SMU) (1) Scored twice and had 4 assists at SMU Nike Classic M Wade Barrett (William & Mary) (1) 3 goals, both winners, at Nike Coca-Cola Classic M Danny Vargas (FIU) (1) 4 goals and 1 assist in 3 games M Ihor Dotsenko (Wake Forest) (1) Gamewinner and an assist in win over JMU F Drew Watzka (Marquette) (1) Scored both goals …

Cozier stadiums are a start, but revenues must also be spent on better players Which comes first, the stadium or the justification thereof? Where MLS is concerned, that depends ... By the year 2000, three MLS teams ù San Jose, Columbus, and Ft. Lauderdale ù could be playing in stadiums either built or redesigned primarily to accommodate soccer. Such stadiums were a component of the league's original formulations, before the league's founding fathers realized they had no shot to float this magic balloon. Its stopgap measure, downsizing, reflected the U.S. Army's policy of spending a lot for a little. Thousand-dollar …

In its three years in the USISL, the Milwaukee Rampage had great success during the regular season and no luck in the playoffs. All that changed this year. The Rampage, which barely made the playoffs, won its second consecutive shootout to capture the '97 A-League title, beating Carolina 3-0 after the final ended 1-1 before a record crowd of 6,381 at Milwaukee's Uihlein Soccer Park. Fans filled all corners of the new soccer complex to watch the Rampage dominate the shootout, just as it had done six days earlier, beating the Vancouver 86ers by the same score in the mini-game …

G Carrie Warner (Alabama) (1) Beats Mississippi teams for SEC West leader D Lorrie Fair (North Carolina) (2) Goal, assist as Tar Heels go 2-0 in Texas D Erica Iverson (Massachusetts) (1) Her header gives UMass upset of SMU M Amy Balavac (California) (1) Sets up both goals to shock UMass M Sherrill Kester (Duke) (1) 2 goals in 3-0 win over ACC rival Virginia M Keri Nelson (GMU) (1) Hits winners vs. William & Mary, AU M Meg Sullivan (Yale) (1) Scores twice to upset Harvard F Raven McDonald (North Carolina) (1) Second-half goal beats Texas A&M 2-1 F …

Much of the demise of the North American Soccer League could be blamed on small crowds scattered amongst huge stadiums. I remember gazing around San Diego Stadium in the late 1970s, with 15,000 or so in the stands, and barely hearing the cheer that greeted a goal before the sound dissipated amongst 40,000 empty seats and drifted into the night air. Casual fans didn't get much of a buzz, no matter how good the game itself was, and dragging them back proved to be too difficult. On the other hand, I saw some rather dreadful displays at Spartan Stadium in …

Features Can Better Packaging Improve MLS Product? By Ridge Mahoney Crew Looks For Greener Pastures By Craig Merz MetroStars Begin To Pick Up The Pieces By Frank Giase 'Spiderman' Propels Revs Into The Playoffs By Frank Dell'Apa Wegerle Scores Big With Washington Move By Steven Goff Gough's Unhappy Honeymoon Comes To An End By Bob Luder Columns Soccer Talk -- Soccer's place in the suburbs By Paul Gardner Departments

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The Crew's scoring slipped badly, but it made up for the lack of punch with strong play in goal again from Brad Friedel, the '97 MLS goals-against average leader. Over two seasons, he has 12 shutouts in 36 games, or one every three games. Final Player Statistics No. Player GP GS Min. GA G A P 12 Pete Marino 28 7 1239 8 4 20 20 Brian McBride 13 13 1069 6 6 18 19 Robert Warzycha 31 31 2720 3 11 17 8 A.J. Wood 16 16 1272 3 3 9 Totals 29 21 1833 …

Offseason moves paid dividends for the Rapids, who made the playoffs after missing out in '96. Five of their six leading scorers were players picked up in the offseason, while leader Chris Henderson doubled his '96 point total. Final Player Statistics No. Player GP GS Min. G A P 19 Chris Henderson 30 29 2501 7 14 28 8 Paul Bravo 30 27 2443 8 6 22 11 Adrian Paz 25 24 2064 4 11 19 2 Peter Vermes 26 25 2207 6 4 16 6 David Patino 23 22 1733 5 6 16 23 Wolde Harris …

COLORADO Offseason moves paid dividends for the Rapids, who made the playoffs after missing out in '96. Five of their six leading scorers were players picked up in the offseason, while leader Chris Henderson doubled his '96 point total. Final Player Statistics No. Player GP GS Min. G A P 19 Chris Henderson 30 29 2501 7 14 28 8 Paul Bravo 30 27 2443 8 6 22 11 Adrian Paz 25 24 2064 4 11 19 2 Peter Vermes 26 25 2207 6 4 16 6 David Patino 23 22 1733 5 6 16 23 Wolde …

Attendance TEAM Att. Avg. 1 New England Revolution 342,762 21,423 2 Los Angeles Galaxy 330,010 20,626 3 MetroStars 270,388 16,899 4 D.C. United 267,271 16,704 5 Columbus Crew 240,680 15,043 6 San Jose Clash 217,546 13,597 7 Colorado Rapids 188,893 11,806 8 Tampa Bay Mutiny 181,323 11,333 9 Dallas Burn 154,845 9,678 10 Kansas City Wizards 144,935 9,058 TOTAL 2,338,653 14,616 OFFENSE TEAM G Avg. 1 D.C. United 70 2.19 2 Kansas City Wizards 57 1.78 3 Dallas Burn 55 1.72 - Los Angeles Galaxy 55 1.72 - San Jose Clash 55 1.72 …

Attendance TEAM Att. Avg. 1 New England Revolution 342,762 21,423 2 Los Angeles Galaxy 330,010 20,626 3 MetroStars 270,388 16,899 4 D.C. United 267,271 16,704 5 Columbus Crew 240,680 15,043 6 San Jose Clash 217,546 13,597 7 Colorado Rapids 188,893 11,806 8 Tampa Bay Mutiny 181,323 11,333 9 Dallas Burn 154,845 9,678 10 Kansas City Wizards 144,935 9,058 TOTAL 2,338,653 14,616 OFFENSE TEAM G Avg. 1 D.C. United 70 2.19 2 Kansas City Wizards 57 1.78 3 Dallas Burn 55 1.72 - Los Angeles Galaxy 55 1.72 - San Jose Clash 55 1.72 …

For the second straight year, it's an American who's led the Burn in scoring. Last year it was Jason Kreis. This year it's Dante Washington, who went from one goal last year in Columbus and Dallas to 12 for the Burn. Final Player Statistics No. Player GP GS Min. G A P 10 Dante Washington 30 25 2161 12 6 30 11 Damian Alvarez 19 19 1475 11 7 29 15 Jason Kreis 32 21 2204 8 6 22 8 Gerell Elliott 28 15 1503 7 5 19 66 Alain Sutter 21 21 1800 2 8 12 …

Note: Through games of Sept. 28 Rank/Team Record Last Week 1. North Carolina 9-0-1 1 2. Notre Dame 9-0-1 2 3. Texas A&M 9-1-0 3 4. Portland 5-3-0 5 5. Virginia 8-1-1 4 6. Santa Clara 7-0-1 6 7. Connecticut 9-1-0 7 8. Duke 6-2-0 9 9. Clemson 7-2-0 10 10. Maryland 6-1-2 8 11. Florida 6-2-1 13 12. Wake Forest 7-2-0 12 13. Nebraska 8-2-0 14 14. Hartford 6-1-0 15 15. George Mason 6-1-3 nr 16. William & Mary 7-3-0 11 17. Minnesota 8-1-1 20 18. SMU 6-3-0 16 19. UCLA 7-1-0 nr 20. Massachusetts 7-2-0 …