Evans showing goal-scoring touch

COLUMBUS -- That there is a goal scorer's mentality lurking inside of Brad Evans is no coincidence.

The second-year Columbus Crew center midfielder has a goal in each of the past two games and four for the season to help his squad into a first-place tie in the Eastern Conference with New England heading into Saturday's match at FC Dallas.

He has scored on the counterattack and with driving headers that would make a forward proud. In fact, that's where he played for the University of California-Irvine, netting 31 career goals.

When Evans gets around the box, he knows what to do.

"I've been there before through college. I scored a few goals," he said.

Crew coach Sigi Schmid drafted him last year but wasn't sure what role Evans would fill.

"I had him with the [U.S.] under-20 team and saw him quite a bit in college," said Schmid, whose son Kyle is senior defender for UC Irvine while another son, Kurt, is now an assistant for the Anteaters. "I felt at that time in the draft when he was still available, he was a good athlete. I didn't know what position he was going to play because he was a forward in college and in the under-20s I played him at center back a little bit and outside back. Eventually I figured he would end up somewhere in the midfield."

Evans recalls playing one game at center back for the U-20s, "I also played right back at the under-20 championships. I think I even played left back at one time. It's good. It puts you on the field but you like to find your niche. Center mid is where I'll be playing."

In many respects, Evans is still finding his way through the pro game after an aborted first year. He appeared in four matches but missed the final 16 games because of a strained left hip flexor.

"I look at this as my rookie year because I was healthy for about two months total," Evans said. "I'm looking at this as a fresh start and blessed to be healthy right now. You're healthy all through college, you get a shot and you're all excited. You come in and things happen. You work hard to get back. I didn't touch a ball until January. I'm super happy to be healthy."

His offensive skills are one reason the Crew is third in league scoring with 34 goals. Finding openings has been important for Evans and the other midfielders, said forward Alejandro Moreno.

"The way we play I'm going to be up high with a lot of mobility, working side-to-side. In order for us to create some spaces there has to be some second runs from either Guillermo (Barros Schelotto) or the midfielders and we've been getting that," Moreno said. "As you see when we get that from Brad or Brian Carroll they're usually open at the top of the box with late runs. If we get good balls into them they've got a good chance to score. They're taking advantage of the opportunities."

Evans notched his first score in the second half at San Jose on May 10 on the end of a counterattack. The goal proved to be decisive in a 3-2 win.

"He always scored goals in college. He's had that capability. He's good in the air. He strikes the ball well," Schmid said. "I'm not surprised by his scoring. He and (Adam) Moffat and Carroll and the outside midfielders have given us goals. That's important to the offense.

"With Guillermo dropping off the front line a little bit and the outside forwards really getting into the attack, the defensive attention is on those four guys and sometimes the fifth guy is coming in. We've talked a lot about not getting in in advance of the play, coming in late. It's a lot harder for the defense to pick you up if you're running toward the box late. If you're there early they can sort it out."

Goal No. 2 for Evans ignited the Crew to rally from a 2-0 deficit at Los Angeles on June 21 into a 3-3 tie. Against FC Dallas on Aug. 16, his header off a Schelotto free kick in the 65th minute earned the Crew three points in a 2-1 victory. Last week he drilled another header for the third goal in a 3-0 win against Real Salt Lake.

He's not guaranteeing a continuation of his goal streak Saturday in Pizza Hut Park but, "If the service is there hopefully I'll be there. You always hope for goals but if they don't come, no problem, there's next week," he said. "I think I've found my niche in the middle. I guess it's a little knack for scoring and for me to get some points."

Hartman closing on MLS save mark

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Once again, 11-year MLS goalkeeper Kevin Hartman is on the verge of setting an all-time MLS record. If the former member of the Los Angeles Galaxy and the current Kansas City Wizards netminder makes 33 more saves on the season, giving him 1,137 for his career, he will eclipse idol Tony Meola at the head of a long line of talented MLS shot-stoppers.

The all-time save mark will stand next to his all-time shutout mark and his all-time win mark, and add to Hartman's already incredible career.

"I have ton of respect for Tony, somebody that was so successful here in Kansas City and played in the league. I always looked up to him, even when he was at [the University of Virginia] and playing in the Marlboro Cup. I think I watched it in New Jersey when they played on turf, I think in '90. Even in '89, I was watching a game, and I was pretty excited by Tony Meola," said Hartman. "To be mentioned along with him is something I'm humbled by."

But those marks are not the biggest story about Kevin Hartman and his career. Neither is his humble attitude nor his longevity -- Hartman ended last Saturday's game with 26,325 career minutes played, passing former Wizards midfielder and coach Chris Henderson for second place on the all-time MLS list in the eighth minute.

The story lies in why he does what he does.

"Every game that I go into, I try to make as many saves as I possibly can," said the UCLA product. "It's nice to know that [the record] is out there, but I want to keep my teams in games and give them an opportunity to win."

Hartman has won two MLS Cups in his time, and he knows the glory it brings. Thankful to Wizards head coach for having brought him to Kansas City, he wants to help bring that glory to others.

"You run out of opportunities to win championships, and that's what it's all really about. [Former Galaxy teammate] Danny Pena one time said to me, 'This might be my last opportunity [to win a championship].'" said Hartman. "As a friend of his, I wanted to do it for him. It's something I get excited about. But I feel like I'm always trying to help other people out and to prove myself, so it's always a constant battle."

And after a moderate 2007 season, Hartman used the offseason to get himself in top shape to help the Wizards reach the next level after gaining the Western Conference final last season. As a result, Hartman has played every minute this season and, more importantly, has been reborn as a top clutch shot-stopper in the league.

"[This year] he's been very steady. He's made the saves we've needed him to make at the right times. He's been making timely saves," said team captain Jimmy Conrad. "You just can't put a price on how valuable that is. He's been clutch for us this year, and we're going to have to continue to have him playing at a high level for the rest of the year."

In the 48th minute of the second half against FC Dallas last Saturday, the 34-year-old Hartman made his best save of the night as he extended high to his left to knock away a long-distance drive from 13-goal scorer Kenny Cooper to keep the Wizards to within one goal. It wasn't until stoppage time when Conrad pulled Kansas City level, but the job had been done.

"I have this huge sense of responsibility ... I felt like I owed it to the guys because the [Andre Rocha] goal in the first half was, I know the guy hit it well, but at the end of the day, it was from 100 yards out," said Hartman. "I feel like, if I can keep them close, sooner or later we're going to get it done."

The Wizards have nine matches left on the season to earn a playoff spot, and they can count on their stalwart in goal.

"I want to win a championship for these guys because maybe it's their last time. I want to win a championship because maybe this is my last time. I want to win a championship because maybe some of these young guys are going to be thrown down to the A-League if we're not successful," he said.

"As somebody that has been put in this unbelievable situation where I get to be the goalkeeper for a Major League Soccer team, and there's only 14 of them, I have this great responsibility," Hartman continued. "It's a challenge that I accept all the time."

Dynamo pleased with dominant show

HOUSTON -- The Houston Dynamo were well aware that Chivas USA had a depleted squad coming into Wednesday night's midweek match at Robertson Stadium.

They were also quite ready to quash the memory of allowing a season-high tying three goals, despite a 4-3 win against Real Salt Lake last Saturday at home.

That victory got the Dynamo into first place, but it was harder to enjoy. They scored four goals in the first half, but they had to come back and stave off a desperate Real team that wanted nothing to do with giving up their lead in the Western Conference standings.

So they zeroed in on Chivas USA, a team missing many key players including Ante Razov, who has always been the proverbial thorn in the Dynamo's side when the two teams meet.

And the result was a masterful first-half performance that resulted in four goals in the first 45 minutes for a second consecutive match. That hadn't happened in MLS in 10 years, since the L.A. Galaxy turned that trick in the 1998 season.

Brad Davis, who assisted on Stuart Holden's goal in the 11th minute, said the team was more than happy to take advantage of the Chivas lineup troubles.

After all, Houston was missing three key players of its own to international duty (Brian Ching, USA; Dwayne De Rosario and Pat Onstad, Canada).

"There is no question they are going to hurt when (Razov) and a guy like Maykel Galindo are out of the lineup," Davis said. "Seeing those guys out, there is no question we were happy. You are never going to complain when you not having to play against those guys."

In his post-game comments, Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear praised his team for a dominant first half and preserving the shutout in the second 45 minutes. Kinnear found nothing to complain about, even though his team has failed to score in the second half in two consecutive games.

"I thought the play, the movement in the first half especially, was just fantastic," Kinnear said. "The finishing and the defense were very good too. The attitude to win the ball back as soon as we lost it was impressive, and all around the finishing was there in all forms. There is not much more we could ask for tonight and we kept the shutout."

Kinnear said last weekend's performance wasn't necessarily the reason for keying in on the shutout. His team, he said, is good for a goal a game for the most part and getting a shutout should be good enough for three points.

"Anytime you want to keep it at zeros you give yourself a chance," Kinnear said. "The first thing we mentioned at halftime was that we have done enough to win the game, let's not do anything silly to let them back in it. I thought we were pretty disciplined in that aspect and we did what we needed to do."

Richard Mulrooney, playing for the first time since June 12 against New England said it was still important for the team to recover from the three goals allowed performance against Salt Lake.

"It was just one of those games the other night," said Mulrooney, who played in the team's reserve match last Sunday. "I can't really describe it, but we did make a few mental errors that we haven't made in awhile. But having said that I think we made up for it."

The Dynamo blew the game open with arguably the most dominant 24-minute span in team history.

Holden got things started in the 11th when he chipped the ball past Zach Thornton. Kei Kamara scored the first of his two goals 11 minutes later when he spun around a defender at the top of the area and slotted home after taking a pass from Richard Mulrooney.

Nate Jaqua cleaned up a rebound in the 28th minute and Kamara rounded out the scoring in the 35th minute when he took a perfect cross from Jaqua and headed past a helpless Thornton.

Kamara now has three goals overall since joining the team in a trade from San Jose last month. He also scored in the SuperLiga final at New England on Aug. 5.

"I am really just glad to be here right now," Kamara said. "I am playing with -- every game now -- the best players in the league. This is my third year now and I have been around a lot of good players, but now, being around these guys, they are making me better every time I step on the field."

Kamara nearly upped his Wednesday output to his first career hat trick, but he hit the post in the second half. He didn't need to be reminded after the game, and he actually looked sad when it was brought up.

"It was just meant to be that I was only going to score two goals tonight," he said. "But it was a good game overall by the team. Right now winning is all that matters and we got a really good victory tonight."

Real Salt Lake go back to drawing board

COLUMBUS -- It's back to the drawing board for Real Salt Lake after a second consecutive road loss.

The Columbus Crew took a 2-0 lead in the opening 25 minutes and never looked back for a 3-0 win that avenged a 2-0 loss to RSL in Rice-Eccles Stadium on July 12.

"We've got to take a couple of steps back quickly and sort things out defensively," RSL coach Jason Kreis said.

In the first match, the Crew were never able to gather themselves in the midfield because of constant pressure. In the rematch, Columbus had its way, going through the middle of the park and finding gaps behind the defense.

"This is another game where defensively I don't think we were quite there. We didn't have the energy or the commitment level that I've seen out of this group for a long time," Kreis said. "We started off that game like we had already played 45 minutes before the whistle blew. I was really disappointed in our guy's commitment level in the first half and against a team like Columbus, which is a very good team right now, they punished us."

RSL fell to 1-8-1 on the road and where it has been outscored 20-7.

"Every team goes through some tough times so this is it for us," captain Kyle Beckerman said. "We have to somehow get it together and find a result whatever way it comes. Pretty. Ugly. It doesn't matter. We've got to stick together and have to come out of it."

His words are foreboding since RSL plays four of the next six on the road.

"For a while I was saying our team was playing at a higher level on the road but with these last two road games it's hard to feel that way just because of the number of chances were giving away," said Kreis, alluding to the 4-3 loss at Houston on Aug. 16. "It's not even the number of goals were allowing. That game tonight could have been six or seven."

The Crew opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Guillermo Barros Schelotto was fouled to the left of the penalty area by defender Robbie Russell. Schelotto, 25 yards from goal, sent an arcing cross to the far post where defender Chad Marshall headed the ball past Nick Rimando.

Just 10 minutes later, Eddie Gaven got free in the right side of the box, cut back and was taken down by defender Nat Borchers. Schelotto calmly deposited his fourth penalty in as many tries this season.

"They had two set pieces. They really got us on our heels from the start," Beckerman said. "We never really seemed to get going and that set the tone for the game and we couldn't get out of it.

"They came out with good intensity that we didn't match. In the beginning they pushed us in, didn't let us out. It seemed to work to their advantage. They kept us in their half then the two set piece goals. Chad Marshall has been known to score off set pieces. He's very dangerous. He got a sniff tonight and put it away. On the PK, Eddie Gaven is a shifty player. He's a gifted player."

Real Salt Lake had five midfielders and only Kenny Deuchar up top but weren't able to contain the third-highest scoring team in the league. Brad Evans scored the third goal in the 55th minute after Gaven sent a service from the right flank.

"I thought we worked on (the formation) enough during the week but it seemed like some guys didn't know what they were supposed to do so it definitely hurt us because we weren't able to keep possession," Beckerman said. "We weren't able to get behind them. We expected to do better with that. It was more that we didn't keep the ball and we gave it away very cheaply and it hurt us."

He thought going into the match that his team was ready.

"We felt pretty confident coming in. We almost came back on Houston last week. We felt we scored some good goals. We can't really put our finger on it," he said. "Columbus had a good mentality to come at us and get on us right from the beginning and see if they could get an early goal, which they did. We were chasing the game after that."

Red Bulls stay hot, stun Dynamo

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Houston Dynamo strutted into Giants Stadium as the hottest team in Major League Soccer, having won four consecutive matches during a seven-match unbeaten run, including a comprehensive drubbing of Chivas USA at midweek.

But it's the New York Red Bulls who leave the Meadowlands with that distinction following a 3-0 victory Sunday against the two-time defending MLS Cup champions.

The Red Bulls played without three starters for a variety of reasons, but it didn't seem to matter as New York claimed their third victory in a row and is now undefeated in five matches.

Juan Pablo Angel and Dane Richards put the Red Bulls two goals up before the game was a half-hour old, then Mike Magee continued his goalscoring streak on the hour mark to finish off the match.

Angel opened the Red Bulls' account in the eighth minute, powering a header at the edge of the six-yard box past Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad. Magee laid the ball off to Dave van den Bergh, who whipped the cross into the box that led to Angel's sixth goal in six games.

Angel nearly made it a brace before the game was 20 minutes old, but his attempted chip of Onstad off a defensive miscue went off the top netting.

For the second week running, a long ball by Seth Stammler led to a goal. After freeing Magee last week for a 50-yard run and goal, Stammler sprung Dane Richards down the right side. The speedy Jamaican blew past Wade Barrett, who missed on an attempted slide tackle, and slotted the ball past Onstad from eight yards out to make it 2-0 in the 27th minute.

Magee continued his tear on the hour mark as he latched onto a long ball from Diego Jimenez, who made his first MLS start, took a touch around Onstad and scored his fourth goal of the year and third in as many games to put the Bulls in front 3-0.

Danleigh Borman, who came on for van den Bergh in the 64th minute, should have added a fourth goal, but he put a pass from John Wolyniec wide of the net. Ten minutes later, Seth Stammler attempted to feed Wolyniec, who came on for Angel in the 64th minute, but the pass just eluded the veteran striker from Staten Island and rolled past the far post.

An apparent 85th-minute goal by Wolyniec was called back for offside.

With the win, the Red Bulls move into a fourth-place tie with rival D.C. United in the Eastern Conference. And having outscored opponents 9-1 in the last three games, the Red Bulls are now level on the year in goal differential. The Red Bulls are now 7-1-3 at home this year, while Houston drops to 2-4-5 away from Robertson Stadium.

With starters Jeff Parke (sprained ankle), Gabriel Cichero (suspension) and Jorge Rojas (visa issues) unavailable, Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio went with a 4-4-2 formation with Jimenez, the former Mexican youth international, making his Major League Soccer debut. Also playing in front of Jon Conway, who made four saves to earn his sixth shutout of the year, was Andrew Boyens, Kevin Goldthwaite and Chris Leitch.

Richards, who came off the bench to set up Angel's late insurance marker against Toronto FC last weekend, got the start in the midfield, joined by holding midfielders Juan Pietravallo and Stammler and van den Bergh on the left. Mike Magee, who has scored in three consecutive games for the first time in his career, partnered up front with Angel.

Sinisa Ubiparipovic replaced Magee in the 79th minute for Osorio's final substitution.

Houston had Pat Onstad, Dwayne De Rosario and Brian Ching back from midweek national team call-ups, but only the Canadian internationals started against the Red Bulls with Ching held out of the match as a precaution because of the artificial surface.

Stuart Holden, who scored in a 4-0 thrashing of Chivas USA on Wednesday night, was Dominic Kinnear's first change, coming on for De Rosario in the 56th minute. Geoff Cameron replaced Eddie Robinson in the 62nd minute and Corey Ashe came on for Craig Waibel in the 75th minute for Houston's final change.

The Red Bulls head to RFK Stadium Saturday night for a critical Eastern Conference clash with D.C. United while Houston, which suffered its first league loss since a 2-0 defeat by the New England Revolution June 12, returns home to take on the Chicago Fire next Sunday.

Preki, Chivas dissatisfied with effort

HOUSTON -- Chivas USA extended their winless streak to five games with a disappointing 4-0 loss to Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Chivas head coach Preki was extremely dissatisfied with his team's performance.

"I don't think we had any strong points tonight," Preki said. "The better team won, they were sharp from the first minute, and that's the end of that."

"Tonight was a bad night overall for all of us," Chivas defender Shavar Thomas said. "We let them get on top of us very early, we didn't get a chance to play our usual game, get the ball down and play around."

The Red-and-White managed only five shots during the contest, compared to 13 launched by Houston. Backup Dynamo goalkeeper Tony Caig was forced into only two saves.

"I thought in terms of our chances, we didn't create very much," midfielder Jonathan Bornstein said. "When we did, it was a half-chance, if that. Basically, we didn't play very well and it didn't go our way."

Chivas also struggled defensively, allowing all four of Houston's goals in the space of 25 minutes during the first half. That total matches the most goals the Red-and-White have allowed in one half of play this season, tied with the four allowed during the second half of Chivas' April 26 match against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

"We came out in the beginning, and they jumped on us right away," Bornstein said. "I think the first two plays of the game were in our half. From the beginning, I don't think we defended very tightly."

"We weren't defending as a team properly," Thomas said, "and as a back four we need to start doing some of the things we did last year to protect the goal, because four goals in one half is not good."

The team felt that some encouragement could be taken from their second-half performance.

"I think in the second half we showed a little pride, we didn't give up much," Thomas said. "We came out there and we pressed in the second half."

"In the second half, we tightened down a little bit more," Bornstein said. "It was like defense first, don't give them another one because that would look pretty bad. We tried to get one to lift our spirits a little bit. We just played hard, and I thought we did a good job of not letting them score again."

While disappointed in his team's overall effort, Preki also complimented the Dynamo on their play, who lengthened their lead atop the Western Conference to five points.

"They were better," Preki said. "They came on the field ready to play, they were aggressive and they made plays when they needed to make plays.

Moving forward, the Red-and-White are focused on improving their play for the match against the San Jose Earthquakes this weekend. With 10 games remaining in the season, Chivas are sitting in sixth place in the West -- but are just two points out of third and the automatic qualification spots for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

"We have to move on," Bornstein said. "We have a game on Saturday we have to prepare for. We need a result, that's all there is to say."

Goal barrage leads Houston past Chivas

HOUSTON -- For the second time in as many weeks, the Houston Dynamo found the back of the net four times and came away with three points in the MLS Western Conference standings.

Kei Kamara recorded the first two-goal game of his career and Stuart Holden and Nate Jaqua added tallies as the Dynamo scored all four goals in the first half on their way to a 4-0 victory against Chivas USA. The Dynamo became the first time since the 1998 L.A. Galaxy to score at least four goals in the first half of two consecutive games.

Kamara narrowly missed what would have been a third goal in the 77th minute, but his shot hit the left post.

Backup goalkeeper Tony Caig made two saves and won his second match of the year filling in for Pat Onstad, who played in a World Cup qualifying game for Canada Wednesday. For Caig, it was his second shutout of the season and the Dynamo's eighth overall in league play, which ties them with the Chicago Fire in that category.

Richard Mulrooney played for the first time since June 12 and recorded two assists. Mulrooney was out with a knee injury, but did play in Houston's 4-1 reserve match win against Real Salt Lake last weekend.

With the win, the surging Dynamo increased their lead in the standings to five points ahead of Real Salt Lake. Playing without Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario, also away from the team playing in World Cup qualifying matches, the Dynamo extended their winning streak to four matches.

Houston is unbeaten in its last seven overall and the Orange have improved to 6-1-3 at Robertson Stadium.

Holden got things started in the 11th minute when he took a pass from Brad Davis and streaked down the left side toward Chivas 'keeper Zach Thornton. Cutting into the area completely unmolested, Holden scored his first league goal of the year when he chipped a shot over a diving Thornton for a 1-0 lead.

Kamara scored his first of the game 11 minutes later when he took a pass from Mulrooney, and with Shavar Thomas, spun around the Chivas defender and found some room in the area. After settling the ball, he snuck his rolling shot just inside the far post for a 2-0 margin.

In the 28th minute, Jaqua scored his second MLS goal in a Dynamo uniform when he converted a rebound just moments after Ricardo Clark hit the crossbar off a corner kick by Brad Davis. At first, it didn't appear that Jaqua's final touch crossed the line, but the linesman was perfectly placed to see the ball cross the line.

Kamara, Jaqua and Mulrooney teamed up again just 12 minutes later for the prettiest goal of the night when Mulrooney pushed the ball ahead to Jaqua who found some room just outside the left side of the box and fed Kamara with a perfect cross. Kamara was unmarked and sent a header by the outstretched hand of a helpless Thornton for a four-goal lead.

The Red-and-White had their best chance of the game in the 56th minute when Kraig Chiles got by the Houston defense and challenged Caig with the fourth Chivas shot of the match. Caig dove to his left, but Chiles pushed the ball too much to the right and the shot missed the near post by less than a foot.

With the win, the Dynamo improved to 4-1-4 all time against Chivas USA and avenged a scoreless tie against the Red-and-White at Robertson Stadium on May 3.

Chivas USA has only scored five goals in 12 all-time meetings against the Dynamo and have not found the back of the net against Houston since 2006. The Dynamo now have not allowed a goal to their Western Conference rivals in the last 573 minutes.