W-LEAGUECENTRAL CONFERENCE First round Tuesday, July 30 Midwest Division Memphis Mercury 4 Chicago Cobras 2 Atlantic Division Northern Virginia Majestics 2 Hampton Roads Piranhas 3Semifinals Friday, Aug. 2 Midwest Division Memphis Mercury at Kansas City Mystics Atlantic Division Charlotte Lady Eagles vs. Hampton Roads Piranhas at Kansas City, Mo.Championship Saturday, Aug 3 Semifinal winners at Kansas City, Mo.WESTERN CONFERENCE Semifinals Friday, Aug. 2 Seattle Sounders Select vs. Arizona Heatwave at DenverChampionship Sunday, Aug. 4 Semifinal winner at Denver Lady CougarsEASTERN CONFERENCE Semifinals Friday, Aug. 2 Northeast Division New York Magic at Long Island Lady Riders Northern Division Toronto Inferno at …

MLS players Devin Barclay (San Jose) and Justin Mapp (D.C. United) scored 11 minutes apart to lead the U.S. U-20 national team to a 2-1 victory over the USASA East team at the annual U.S. Amateur Soccer Festival in Houston.The U-20s will play the USASA South team July 30 and Canada's U-20s Aug. 2 at Carl Lewis Stadium and Mexico's U-20s Aug. 3 at Robertson Stadium. They will host Canada and two other teams at 2003 World Youth Championship qualifying in November.The U.S. U-16 girls national team plays the USASA East July 29 and USASA West July 31 at Carl …

U.S. national team assistant coach Glenn Myernick will take the U-23 team to Huddersfield, England, for four games against professional reserve teams in seven days.The team is dominated by college players but includes three MLS players -- Kyle Beckerman and Seth Trembly of the Colorado Rapids and the Columbus Crew forward Edson Buddle -- and two English-based players -- Ian Joy of Kidderminster and Zach Whitbread of Liverpool.Not included are World Cup stars Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, who are eligible to play on the 2004 Olympic team as U-23s. The U.S. U-23s (born on or after Jan. 1, 1981) …

Four freshmen-to-be at the University of North Carolina and three Santa Clara University sophomores were among the 18 players U.S. under-19 women's coach Tracey Leone named on Monday to her roster for next month's first FIFA U-19 World Championship in Canada.Leone used 57 players in game situations over the past two years in preparing for the Aug. 17-Sept. 1 championship in Edmonton and two cities in British Columbia, Victoria and Burnaby. The Americans will play Group C matches in Victoria against England on Aug. 17, Australia on Aug. 19 and Chinese Taipei on Aug. 21.The title game is slated for …

Eight of the 10 MLS teams earn a playoff spot, regardless of which conference they are in. Therefore, the MLS playoff race looks like this:Team (wins-losses-ties) points (goal difference) 1. San Jose (12-7-2) 38 pts (+14) 2. Dallas (8-4-7) 31 pts (+2) 3. Colorado (9-9-3) 30 pts (-5) 4. Los Angeles (9-7-3) 30 pts (+1) 5. MetroStars (9-9-2) 29 pts (+2) 6. Kansas City (7-6-7) 28 pts (0) 7. Chicago (8-8-3) 27 pts (+5) 8. Columbus (7-9-4) 25 pts (-4) ------------------------------------ 9. New England (7-12-1) 22 pts (-7) 10. D.C. United (6-11-2) 20 pts (-8) Note: Colorado holds the first …

By Ridge Mahoney, Senior EditorGOAL OF THE WEEK: A classic counterattack goal by the Metros in their 3-1 win over Kansas City last Wednesday takes the prize.A cleared free kick from near the corner flag was played out to Andy Williams, who from his own half of the field flighted a long ball to Faria. In stride and without letting the ball touch the ground Faria nodded it into the path of Mamadou Diallo, who touched it once and then ripped it past Tony Meola for the winning goal. Six different Metros touched the ball in the attack that went …

Leading ScorersPLAYER (TEAM)GPGAPTwellman (New England)2015434Ruiz (Los Angeles)1816032Graziani (San Jose)2112428Razov (Chicago)1611426Kreis (Dallas)1912226Diallo (MetroStars)1611325Ralston (New England)2051525Chung (Colorado)208723Henderson (Colorado)219422Cunningham (Columbus)199321

Standings EASTERNGPWLTPGFGAMetroStars20992293331Chicago19883273025Columbus20794252731New England207121223542D.C. United196112201927WESTERNGPWLTPGFGASan Jose211272383420Dallas19847312826Color ado21993303136Los Angeles19973302726Kansas City20767283030

July 27 in Naperville, Ill.Chicago 3 MetroStars 0. Goals: Curtin (Wolff, Razov) 6, Razov (Wolff, Kovalenko) 49, Razov 57.Chicago -- Thornton, Brown, Curtin, Bocanegra, Perez, Walsh (Gray, 67), Marsch, Kovalenko, Beasley (Stoitchkov, 67), Razov (Moore, 80), Wolff.MetroStars -- Howard, Ziadie, Petke, Jolley, Addo, Moore (Alvarez, 77), Paule (Lisi, 77), Williams, Chronopoulos, Faria, Diallo (Sheppard, 41).Yellow cards: Chicago -- Walsh 14; MetroStars -- Petke 40, Paule 47.Referee: Kevin Stott.Att.: 14,576.July 27 in Washington D.C.D.C. United 0 New England 1. Goal: Heaps (Fuller, Ralston) 16.D.C. United -- Rimando, Reyes, Nelsen, Prideaux, McKinley (Alegria, 66), Villegas, Williams, Etcheverry, Convey, Lassiter (Olsen 46; Pope, …

Far West teams dominated the U.S. Youth Soccer National, winning eight of 12 age-group titles at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md.Region IV teams won all six girls finals and two boys finals. California-South produced six champions, with California-North and Colorado teams winning one title apiece.The San Diego Surf (U-19 girls) won their second national championship in three years with a 7-2 win over their archrival Michigan Hawks. The Houston Texans were the only team to win back-to-back titles, beating the San Bernardino Blast, 4-1, in the U-19 boys final for the McGuire Cup.The Texans and FC Delco of Pennsylvania …

By Scott French, Senior EditorSTRETCH DRIVE: Nobody's backing down in the battle for the final two playoff spots -- with two weeks to go, we're conceding semifinal berths to Philadelphia and Carolina -- as Washington, Atlanta and San Jose scored home victories on Saturday.The Freedom picked up just four of six available points with a 1-1 tie Wednesday against Boston and a 1-0 triumph Sunday over San Diego, giving it 29 points with games remaining at Carolina, at home against Atlanta and at New York. Rookie Abby Wambach scored both goals, her eighth and ninth of the season, and Siri …

UNDER-19 BOYSHouston Texans 4 (Mupier 8, Gbandi 28, Rota 65, Storey 70) San Bernardino (Calif.) 1 Blast 1 (Gregorio 69).UNDER-18 BOYSFC Delco Arsenal (Pa.) 5 (Chambers 11, Kozicki 17, Coleman 43, Larentowicz 49, Poplizio 69) Houston Texans 1 (Tenede) 56.UNDER-17 BOYSIrvine (Calif.) Strikers 5 (Long 32, Bornstein 43, 65, Basin 50, Salinas 75) Chicago Magic 0.UNDER-16 BOYSAtlanta Fire 2 (Howie 39, Leathers 76) FC Delco Dynamo II (Pa.) 1 (Raimo 53).UNDER-15 BOYSRochester (N.Y.) Junior Rhinos Elite 1 (Loucks 11) Aiken (S.C.) Fire 0.UNDER-14 BOYSLa Jolla (Calif.) Nomads 2 (Bernstein 3, Leon 47) Maryland Bays 0.UNDER-19 GIRLSSan Diego Surf 7 (Own …

Stanford University forward Marcia Wallis scored two goals Sunday and the United States' under-21 women's team claimed the Nordic Cup title for the fourth successive year with a 3-1 victory over Germany in Turku, Finland.Wallis scored in the 21st and 47th minutes and North Carolina defender Cat Reddick tallied in the 63rd for the Americans, who went 3-1-0 in Finland to claim their fifth championship in six years at the world's premier U-21 women's tournament.Martina Mueller scored Germany's goal seven minutes into the second half.Wallis powerfully headed home a cross from Penn State's Joanna Lohman for the first goal, then …

All three contenders for the WUSA's final two playoff berths captured victories Saturday, but Boston was eliminated from the postseason chase despite rallying to tie first-place Philadelphia.Washington and Atlanta, in the best position to join Philly and Carolina in the semifinals, gutted out 1-0 home wins. The Freedom beat San Diego on rookie Abby Wambach's ninth goal of the season, and the Beat toppled Carolina on Charmaine Hooper's ninth of the campaign.Katia grabbed the top spot in the WUSA scoring race with two goals and an assist as San Jose scored twice within a minute to turn a tight game …

In Germantown, Md.Sunday, July 288 a.m.Under-14 Boys: Maryland Bays vs. La Jolla (Calif.) Nomads, Field 8.Under-14 Girls: Newport Beach (Calif.) Slammers vs. Bethesda (Md.) Eclipse, Field 119 a.m.Under-15 Boys: Rochester (N.Y.) Junior Rhinos vs. Aiken (S.C.) Fire, Field 10Under-15 Girls: Laguna Hills (Calif.) Eclipse vs. Chantilly (Va.) Milan, Field 1310 a.m.Under-16 Girls: West Valley Samba (Calif.) vs. Busch (Mo.) Field 8Under-16 Boys: Atlanta Fire vs. FC Delco Dynamo II (Pa.), Field 11NoonUnder-17 Girls: Tsunami Sota (Minn.) vs. Pleasanton (Calif.) Rage, Field 10Under-17 Boys: Irvine (Calif.) Strikers vs. Chicago Magic, Field 131 p.m.Under-18 Boys: FC Delco Arsenal (Pa.) vs. Houston Texans, …