Sunday's Major League Soccer Capsules

Oct 13, 2008 - 3:13 AM By PA SportsTicker

COLUMBUS 2, CHICAGO 2 ---------------------

BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Ticker) -- Brian McBride and the Chicago Fire clinched a playoff berth in the MLS Cup with a 2-2 draw against the Columbus Crew.

McBride scored a pair of goals to pace the Fire, who pulled into a tie with New England for second place in the Eastern Conference.

Columbus (16-6-6) has clinched first place in the Eastern Conference and the best record in the MLS.

The Fire (12-9-7) opened the scoring on McBride's third goal of the season. Justin Mapp delivered a corner kick to the far post, where McBride picked up the volley and used a nifty sidestep to beat a Columbus defender and send a left-footed shot past goalkeeper William Hesmer.

Columbus came back in the second half with a pair of goals over a two-minute span. Chicago's Wilman Conde tried to clear the ball out of his end, but the attempt went straight to Columbus' Eddie Gaven. The Crew midfielder fired a right-footed rocket into from 20 yards out, surprising Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch and knotting the game, 1-1.

Crew midfielder Robbie Rogers drove down toward the Chicago net in the 61st minute and sent a crossing pass to Guillermo Schelotto, who headed the ball into the net from the left side to give the Crew the lead.

Chicago tied the game on McBride's second goal of the game in the 79th minute. Cuauhtemoc Blanco sent a pass to the penalty area, where Conde headed the ball to McBride. The veteran forward took it off his chest and blasted a right-footed shot past Hesmer to tie the game.

HOUSTON 0, D.C. UNITED 0 ------------------------

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Scoring chances were hard to come by as D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo played to a scoreless draw.

United missed an opportunity to pull into a tie with three other teams for the final three playoff berths in the MLS Cup.

New York (9-10-9), Kansas City (9-10-9) and Real Salt Lake (9-10-9) are all tied with 36 points, occupying the final three spots for the postseason. United (10-14-4) sits two points back with two regular-season games left.

Louis Crayton made two saves for D.C. United, including a diving save in the final minute of stoppage time on a header by Dwayne De Rosario.

Pat Onstad made one save for Houston (11-5-11), which leads the Western Conference by two points over Chivas USA (12-10-6) with a game in hand.

LOS ANGELES 3, COLORADO 2 -------------------------

CARSON, California (Ticker) -- Brandon McDonald and Edson Buddle each scored and the Los Angeles Galaxy benefited from an own goal to notch a 3-2 triumph over the Colorado Rapids.

Josh Saunders stopped four shots for Los Angeles (8-12-8), which avoided being eliminated from postseason contention with the victory.

Tom McManus converted a penalty kick and Cory Gibbs tallied for Colorado (10-14-4), which remains two points behind Real Salt Lake (9-10-9) for third place in the Western Conference.

The Galaxy got a gift in the 70th minute from Ugo Ihemelu, who accidentally knocked in a free kick, giving the Galaxy a 2-1 lead. McDonald extended the advantage to 3-1 in the 80th minute after drilling a shot from 45 yards which sailed into the right corner of the net.

Colorado tried to rally late as McManus drilled a penalty kick into the left side to make it 3-2, but it was too little, too late.

The Galaxy, who were playing without star midfielder David Beckham (international duty), took a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute. Buddle took a feed from Sean Franklin on the right side of the box and chipped it into the right side.

But Colorado netted the equalizer just eight minutes later as Terry Cooke sent a corner kick from the left side and Gibbs' diving header found the right side of the net.