Tie Keeps MetroStars, Fire Tied for First in East

Steve Jolley scored in the 86th minute to rally the Metro- Stars to a 1-1 tie with the Chicago Fire on Saturday at Naperville, Ill., in front of 14,348.

Jolley broke away from Chicago’s defense and connected on Mike Magee’s corner kick to keep the MetroStars (8-5-5) and Fire (8-4-5) tied for first place in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer.

Chicago forward Damani Ralph tied the MLS rookie record with his eighth goal this season. He sped around Jolley and bounced a shot off the far post to give Chicago the lead in the 22nd minute.

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D.C. United 1, New England 0 -- Dema Kovalenko scored off a deflection by goalkeeper Matt Reis in stoppage time to give United (6-6-6) the victory over the Revolution (5-7-7) in front of 14,374 at Washington.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Kovalenko put home a rebound of Hristo Stoitchkov’s shot for his fifth goal of the season. The last time the teams played, D.C. United scored three goals in stoppage time to win at New England.

The teams finished the game at 10 aside after D.C. United midfielder Bobby Convey and Revolution defender Jay Heaps were ejected.

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Colorado 2, Dallas 0 -- John Spencer and Mark Chung each scored a goal for the Rapids (7-8-3), who beat the Burn (3-11-4) at Denver in front of 12,264 for their seventh consecutive home win.

Colorado goalie Scott Garlick needed only two saves to post his sixth shutout of the season.

Spencer’s goal in the third minute, after the ball had deflected off the hip of Dallas’ Shavar Thomas, was the Rapids’ earliest goal this season.

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WUSA

San Diego 2, Washington 1 -- Christine Latham scored in the 58th minute and assisted on the quickest goal in team history to lift the Spirit (8-6-7) past the Freedom (9-8-4) in front of 6,858 at San Diego.

Latham sent a crossing pass to Julie Fleeting, who scored her 11th goal of the season 1:23 into the game.

The previous record for the Spirit’s fastest goal was set by Zhang Ouying when she scored in the third minute against New York last season.

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Philadelphia 1, Carolina 1 -- Philadelphia’s Kelly Smith missed a penalty shot during injury time in the teams’ season finale in front of 5,950 at Cary, N.C. Neither the Charge (5-11-5) nor the Courage (7-10-4) will advance to the playoffs.