D.C. finishes strong

Adu helps United beat MetroStars in preview of playoff series

MLS Scoring Champions Year Player (Team) Points (Goals, assists) 1996 Roy Lassiter (Tampa Bay) 58 points (27 goals, 4 assists) 1997 Preki (Kansas City) 41 points (12 goals, 17 assists) 1998 Stern John (Columbus) 57 points (26 goals, 5 assists) 1999 Jason Kreis (Dallas) 51 points (18 goals, 15 assists) 2000 Mamadou Diallo (Tampa Bay) 56 points (26 goals, 4 assists) 2001 Alex Pineda Chacon (Miami) 47 points (19 goals, 9 assists) 2002 Taylor Twellman (New England) 52 points (23 goals, 6 assists) 2003 Preki (Kansas City) 41 points (12 goals, 17 assists) 2004 Amado Guevara (MetroStars) Pat Noonan (New England) 30 points

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mike Petke headed in Freddy Adu's corner kick in the 64th minute, and D.C. United beat the MetroStars 3-2 Sunday night in a tuneup for their first-round playoff series.

Adu had two assists, and Christian Gomez scored twice to help United (11-10-9) finish the regular season in second place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the MetroStars (11-12-7). The teams will start a home-and-home series Saturday in East Rutherford, N.J.

D.C. extended its home unbeaten streak to 10 games.

"[Our season is] not complete," said United coach Peter Nowak. "The team is capable of doing great stuff. It's all great to achieve what we want to achieve.

"This is the difference between a good team and a great team. Everyone is talking about it, but there is only one who is going to get it. I think it is going to be different in New York next week."

The MetroStars scored first in the 14th minute when Eddie Gaven eluded defender Bryan Namoff and found John Wolyniec, who scored his 10th goal of the season on a diving header at the near post.

Gomez answered with two goals in six minutes to put United ahead 2-1. He tied it by finishing Ben Olsen's cross, then beat goalkeeper Jonny Walker with a nifty chip in the 29th minute. Jaime Moreno had his league-leading 14th assist on the go-ahead goal.

Ricardo Clark scored from 35 yards away in the 50th minute to make it 2-2, but Petke followed with his first goal of the year to help D.C. win the final MLS game of the regular season.

Adu finished the regular season with 13 points. United had a scare, however, when he went up for a header in the second half and was undercut by Craig Ziadie.

Adu came down on his neck and was down for several minutes before walking off the field under his own power. Ziadie received his second yellow card of the game for an ejection and a suspension for the first game of the playoffs.

MetroStars midfielder Amado Guevara (10 goals, 10 assists for 30 points), who came on at the start of the second half of Sunday's game, did not figure in the scoring, thus failing to break a tie with New England Revolution forward Pat Noonan (11 goals, 8 assists for 30 points) in the scoring table. They will share the crown awarded to the player with the highest point total at the end of the regular season (two points for a goal and one point for an assist).

It marks the first time in MLS history that the scoring title is shared and the lowest point total to ever secure the honor in league history.

Summary

Scoring:

MET -- John Wolyniec 10 (Eddie Gaven 7) 14
DC -- Christian Gomez 3 (Ben Olsen 4, Bryan Namoff 2) 23
DC -- Christian Gomez 4 (Jaime Moreno 14, Freddy Adu 2) 29
MET -- Ricardo Clark 1 (Mike Magee 4) 50
DC -- Mike Petke 1 (Freddy Adu 3) 64

MetroStars -- Jonny Walker, Jeff Parke, Eddie Pope (Kenny Arena 62), Chris Leitch, Craig Ziadie, Joselito Vaca (Amado Guevara 46), Ricardo Clark, Mike Magee, Eddie Gaven, Sergio Galvan Rey (Pablo Brenes 70), John Wolyniec.
Substitutes Not Used: Cornell Glen, Zach Wells.

TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Ricardo Clark 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Ricardo Clark 2); FOULS: 16 (John Wolyniec 4); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 2 (Amado Guevara 1, Mike Magee 1); SAVES: 4 (Jonny Walker 4)

D.C. United -- Nick Rimando, Bryan Namoff, Ryan Nelsen, Mike Petke, Earnie Stewart, Brian Carroll, Christian Gomez (Ezra Hendrickson 87), Ben Olsen, Freddy Adu (Brandon Prideaux 70), Alecko Eskandarian, Jaime Moreno.
Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Ara, Tim Lawson, Troy Perkins, Santino Quaranta, Eliseo Quintanilla, David Stokes, Jason Thompson.

TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Christian Gomez 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Christian Gomez 3); FOULS: 24 (Christian Gomez 4, Earnie Stewart 4); OFFSIDES: 3 (3 tied with 1); CORNER KICKS: 6 (Christian Gomez 4); SAVES: 1 (Nick Rimando 1)

Misconduct Summary:

MET -- Ricardo Clark (caution; Reckless Foul) 10
DC -- Earnie Stewart (caution; Reckless Foul) 20
MET -- Craig Ziadie (caution; Reckless Foul) 30
DC -- Mike Petke (caution; Reckless Foul) 61
MET -- Craig Ziadie (caution; Reckless Foul) 68
MET -- Craig Ziadie (ejection; Second Caution) 68
MET -- Amado Guevara (caution; Dissent) 93+

Referee: Kevin Terry

Referee's Assistants: -George Gansner; Kermit Quisenberry

4th Official: Abiodun Okulaja

Attendance: 19,832