A Great Saturday of Play, and More to Come

This Saturday gave of some wonderful play, and a few disappointments. First, the bad news. It just does not get any prettier for Colorado. In Saturday's match against Kansas City, the Rapids lost the services of defender Scott Vermillion to a freak accident. Chris Henderson, previously a Rapids player, was going after a poor pass. When it appeared that Vermillion was going to get there first, he choose to slide after it. Vermillion did the same. Henderson's studs caught Vermillion just above the shinguard and under the knee. The resulting laceration required 25 stitches. The Rapids are now without 5 of their starters due to injuries, and a sixth with Jorge Dely Valdes out with Panamanian National team duties. The Wizard downed the Rapids 3-0 with goals by Miklos Molnar, Mo Johnston and Chris Klein.

In a match that was not big on goals but large with action, the Miami Fusion and San Jose Earthquakes held each other to the league's first 100-minute scoreless game. San Jose keeper, Joe Cannon, who was voted as player of the week, held the potent Miami offense to an empty scoresheet dispite several excellent shots by Miami.

In a match that saw 50 fouls committed, the Fire earned a well fought road win against the Columbus Crew. Peter Nowak and Ante Razov both scored in the first half and helped keep the pressure on the Columbus defense to earn the 2-0 win. Diego Gutierrez received the only red card of the match with a hard hit late in the second half. The potent Fire offense will have the services of Hristo Stoitchkov returned to them for next week.

In a wonderful home opener, the Metrostars held off the United to take a 3-2 win. Matthaus moved to a defensive midfielder position and obviously had an impact on the match. Both Columbian strikers, Adolfo "El Tren" Valencia and Alex Comas, and quickly maturing midfielder Brian Kelly finished a wonderful combination from several Metrostars players.

Jason Kreis, the 1999 Budweiser Scoring Champion and Honda League MVP, again found the back of the net to put the Burn head of the Mutiny late in the second half, to earn the 1-0 win. Chad Deering put a well placed corner kick, right where Kreis needed it. The score came in the 69th minute in a match that saw several yellow cards and a red card.

New England, surprising everyone but themselves, forced the Galaxy to claw their way back to a 2-2 tie. Leonel Alvarez and Wolde Harris both notched first-half goals to put the Revolution up. The Galaxy scored twice in the second half, and held the Revolution to just their two first half goals, to force the match to overtime. Neither team was able to score any additional points in the overtime period.

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