A Busy First week of July
You don't usually see this amount of action in a one week period, but you do over the 4th of July in MLS. This was a "everyone plays" kind of week.
Lets begin with the Metrostars. They started their tour of Florida with a match in Tampa Bay on the 4th. Because of the amount of information to get out there I'm not going to go into a lot of detail. The Mutiny started the scoring in the 27th minute when Steve Trittschuh headed a ball to Mamadou Diallo who tapped the ball in for the lead. It stayed that way until late in the game when Daniel Hernandez stepped up for a freekick which was redirected into the net by Billy Walsh in the 85th minute. In stoppage time Hernandez broke down the right side of the field and crossed into Michael Butler who headed home the game winner.
On the 7th the Metros visited the high-riding Fusion in Miami. But the game was not be as one would have expected this season from the Fusion. The game went into halftime 0-0, but the Metros came out to play in the second half. Adolfo Valencia fed a wonderful pass to Petter Villegas who worked around Nick Rimando to net the first goal of the match in the 56th minute. In the 67th minute Hernandez stepped up to a freekick that was redirected into the net by Valencia. Mark Chung started the third goal in 73rd minute when he made a penetrating pass that left the Miami defense standing, and let Valencia in on Rimando one-on-one, and Valencia made no mistake.
Speaking of Miami, they had travelled to San Jose on the fourth to face the then hot Earthquakes. In a match that saw each team draw out the best of each other, the score would end in a 1-1 tie. In the 21st minute, Miami got on the board first. Preki knotted the goal after making a great run down the center of the field and working a give-and-go with Tyrone Marshall. With the ball back at his feet Preki buried a low shot in the right-hand corner. Making his first start for the Quakes, Ramiro Corrales slammed home a one-time shot after the ball had been bouncing around the Miami penalty area.
San Jose would then travel to Colorado on Saturday to face the new look Rapids. The resurgent Rapids got on the board early when John Spencer fed Raul Diaz Arce who then back-heeled a pass to Marcelo Balboa. Balboa slammed home the shot to open the scoring in the 6th minute. In the 21st minute, Carlos Valderrama and Diaz Arce worked together to send in a great feed to Christ Carrieri who then headed the ball home to get the second goal. In the 48th minute Imad Baba sent in corner kick which found the ball at the feet of Diaz Arce. The second highest scorer in MLS history made no mistake and sunk the shot. San Jose got one back in the 89th minute when Landon Donovan made a run through the Colorado defense and then passed of to Ronald Cerritos who tapped in the shot.
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