MIAMI 2 KANSAS CITY 1 (Miami wins series) Miami coach Ray Hudson: "Tremendous locker room. Spectacular. Mayhem. It's like the last days of Pompeii. They earned every moment. I'm so pleased for those lads in there. I'm so very delighted for the unit. This was a great win. This [Kansas City] was a very, very proud champion who did not want to let go their crown and they fought and scratched and battle for everything." Kansas City coach Bob Gansler: "On behalf of the Wizards, I would like to congratulate Miami for a great season. As far as our …

Three Game 3 encounters in the MLS quarterfinals on Saturday settled the semifinal matchups. It will be: Miami vs. San Jose and Chicago vs. Los Angeles. Los Angeles, which had a man ejected for the third time in its series, prevailed over the MetroStars with a 3-2 win in a thrilling Game 3 -- on two Sasha Victorine goals -- and a 1-0 win in the mini-game. Mauricio Cienfuegos scored the mini-game decider on a deflected free kick. Dema Kovalenko and Chris Armas struck for Chicago in its 2-0 decider over Dallas, which saw Oscar Pareja sent off. Preki and …

9/24 ... TEAM (RECORD) ... 9/17 ... 9/10 1 SMU (7-0-0) 1 1 9/27 at TCU (3-1). 2 Virginia (6-0-1) 2 2 9/26 William & Mary (1-0), 9/30 at N.C. State. 3 St. John's (4-0-1) 3 3 9/26 Rutgers (1-1), 9/29 Villanova. 4 Furman (5-0-0) 4 4 9/25 at College of Charleston (4-0), 9/28 VCU, 9/30 Cal Poly. 5 Saint Louis (5-0-0) 8 8 9/26 SW Missouri State (2-1). 6 Washington (4-1-0) 10 10 9/28 UNLV, 9/30 Air Force. 7 Indiana (4-2-0) 11 11 9/28 Penn State. 8 South Florida (7-0-0) 14 15 9/25 at Florida Atlantic (2-1, OT), 9/29 …

China has all but clinched its first berth in the World Cup with a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi. Qi Hong's goal in the 42th minute gave Bora Milutinovic's team the three points to open up a five-point lead on third-place Qatar with three games to play in Group B. Group A RESULTS Sept. 22 in Bangkok Thailand 1 (Suksomkit 38) Iraq 1 (Ridha 63). Sept. 21 in Manama Bahrain 0 Saudi Arabia 4 (O. Al-Dossari 26, Al-Shaihan 28, Al-Waked 40, Al-Jaber 89). Sept. 15 in Bangkok Thailand 1 (Senamuang 30) Saudi Arabia 3 (Al …

Semifinals Sept. 27 in Port of Spain France 2 (Le Tallec 56, Berthod 58) Argentina 1 (Tevez 49). Sept. 27 in Malabar Nigeria 1 (Opabunmi pen. 4) Burkina Faso 0. Quarterfinals Sept. 23 in Port of Spain France 2 (Sinama Pongolle 38, Le Tallec 40) Brazil 1 (Alberoni 70). Nigeria 5 (Opabunmi 24, 69, 79, Mohammed 81, Temile 85) Australia 1 (Engele 86). Sept. 24 in Malabar Argentina 2 (Rodriguez 38, Fanari 96) Mali 1 (D.Diarra 35) (OT). Burkina Faso 2 (Gorogo 56, Sanou 84) Costa Rica 0. Group A Sept. 13 in Port of Spain Trinidad & Tobago 1 …

With the San Jose Earthquakes being the only team to sweep its quarterfinal opponent (Columbus), the other three series will be decided in SaturdayÆs Game 3 encounters. Saturday, Sept. 29 Los Angeles vs. MetroStars in Pasadena, Calif., 3:30 pm ET (ESPN2) Game 1: Los Angeles 1 MetroStars 1 Game 2: MetroStars 4 Los Angeles 1 MetroStars lead series, 4 points to 1. With a Game 3 tie, the MetroStars take it. A Galaxy win forces a 20-minute mini-game, and PKs if the mini-game ends in a tie. Suspended: Greg Vanney (Los Angeles) Did you know?Rookie Rodrigo Faria, 24, has scored …

Iran moved back into the driver's seat in Asia's Group A when it tied Saudi Arabia, 2-2, in Jeddah on Sirous Dinmohammadi's goal in the 58th minute. The Saudis lead Iran by two points, but the Iranians have a game in hand. The deciding game for Iran may be a match with Iraq Oct. 12 in Tehran. Group A RESULTS Sept. 28 in Baghdad Iraq 1 (E.Mohammed 11) Bahrain 0. Sept. 28 in Jeddah Saudi Arabia 2 (Al-Waked pen. 20, Al-Hassan Al-Yami 58) Iran 2 (Daei 42, Dinmohammadi 82). Sept. 22 in Bangkok Thailand 1 (Suksomkit 38) Iraq 1 (Ridha …

The Columbus Crew has loaned forward Jeff Cunningham to Bayer Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga for the MLS offseason. The agreement stipulates that Cunningham will return to Columbus three weeks prior to the start of the 2002 MLS season. Cunningham, 25, became the first player in Crew history to record double-figure totals in both goals (10) and assists (13) in the same season in 2001, totaling 33 points, which placed him fourth in the league in scoring. "This is a great opportunity to play alongside some of the best players in the world," Cunningham said. "I think it will help …

Ohio State walk-on Connor Senn died at Akron City Hospital after he collapsed during the second half of the No. 16 Buckeyes' game at Akron Wednesday night. Senn collapsed making a slide tackle with 19:06 to play in the second half. The freshman defender from Granville, Ohio, was attended to by the medical staffs from both schools and then transported to the hospital by ambulance. The match was terminated with the Zips leading 2-1. The official time of death was 11:50 p.m. Cause of death is an unspecified cardiac event. Said Buckeyes coach John Bluem: "Connor was an unheralded walk-on …

San Jose became the first team to advance to the MLS semifinals when it beat Columbus, 3-0, to take the series, 6 points to 0. Miami, first in the regular-season standings, not only fell to Kansas City, 3-0, but has lost Diego Serna and Pablo Mastroeni on red cards for Game 3 Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale. The MetroStars beat Los Angeles, 4-1, rallying from a 1-0 deficit with four late goals. The Galaxy had lost Greg Vanney on a red card early in the second half. Sept. 26 in East Rutherford, N.J. MetroStars 4 Los Angeles 1. Goals: Faria (Valencia, …

9/24 ... TEAM (RECORD) ... 9/17 ... 9/10 1 SMU (6-0-0) 1 1 9/27 at TCU. 2 Virginia (6-0-1) 2 2 9/26 William & Mary (1-0), 9/30 at N.C. State. 3 St. John's (4-0-1) 3 3 9/26 Rutgers (1-1), 9/29 Villanova. 4 Furman (5-0-0) 4 4 9/25 at College of Charleston (4-0), 9/28 VCU, 9/30 Cal Poly. 5 Saint Louis (5-0-0) 8 8 9/26 SW Missouri State (2-1). 6 Washington (4-1-0) 10 10 9/28 UNLV, 9/30 Air Force. 7 Indiana (4-2-0) 11 11 9/28 Penn State. 8 South Florida (7-0-0) 14 15 9/25 at Florida Atlantic (2-1, OT), 9/29 at …

9/24 ... TEAM (RECORD) ... 9/17 ... 9/10 1 SMU (6-0-0) 1 1 9/27 at TCU. 2 Virginia (5-0-1) 2 2 9/26 William & Mary, 9/30 at N.C. State. 3 St. John's (4-0-0) 3 3 9/26 Rutgers, 9/29 Villanova. 4 Furman (5-0-0) 4 4 9/25 at College of Charleston (4-0), 9/28 VCU, 9/30 Cal Poly. 5 Saint Louis (4-0-0) 8 8 9/26 SW MIssouri State. 6 Washington (4-1-0) 10 10 9/26 Johns Hopkins, 9/28 UNLV, 9/30 Air Force. 7 Indiana (4-2-0) 11 11 9/28 Penn State. 8 South Florida (7-0-0) 14 15 9/25 at Florida Atlantic (2-1, OT), 9/29 at …

Three of the four quarterfinal matchups enter Game 2 this evening (Wednesday, Sept. 26). Miami and San Jose, because of the Game 1 wins, can clinch passage into the semifinals. The MetroStars' tie at Los Angeles last weekend makes a Game 3 in that series necessary for one team to gain the five points needed to win. (Chicago leads Dallas 4 points to 1; they meet in the Game 3 decider Saturday in Chicago) SAN JOSE-COLUMBUS CREW in San Jose (10 pm ET/FOX Bay Area/Shootout package: DISH Net: 460; DirecTV: 796) San Jose leads, 3 points to 0. The Quake's …

Because MLS has created a playoff system unique to anything we've seen elsewhere, here's a review of how the series are settled: ò Quarterfinal and semifinal series consist of a maximum of three games, two of which the higher seeded team would host (if a third game is necessary). ò During the series, teams accumulate points as they do in the regular season: win = 3 points, tie = 1 point, loss = 0 points. ò The standard 10-minute, sudden-death overtime will be played following EACH game if the score is tied after regulation time. ò The winner of the …

The coaches' darkhorse pick HOW THEY BEAT YOU: The Metros have been revamped since injuries knocked Clint Mathis out for the season and hobbled Adolfo Valencia and Tab Ramos. Gilmar and Ross Paule are wild cards. Their abilities have yet to be incorporated into the Metros' system, which relies on Mark Chung and Petter Villegas scorching teams on the flanks. Villegas' pace also has been utilized up top alongside rookie Rodrigo Faria, who can slash his way into scoring positions on the dribble and is getting the hang of how to angle and time his runs. …