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Jun 16, 2009 - 8:31 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

D.C. (5-2-7) at Seattle (5-3-5), 10:30 p.m. EDT

A pair of home victories over two of their biggest rivals pushed D.C. United to the top of the Eastern Conference. They'll attempt to carry that momentum into a stretch of three consecutive road games Wednesday night when they face expansion Seattle Sounders FC for the first time.

United (5-2-7) leads the East by one point over Chicago, which is idle until July 4 due to its participation in SuperLiga.

D.C. overtook the Fire in the standings Saturday, beating them 2-1 as goalkeeper Josh Wicks saved a potential tying penalty kick from Brian McBride in the second half. The win followed a 2-0 victory over last-place New York on June 4 that ended United's 0-1-4 stretch.

D.C.'s last three-game winning streak came during a four-game run June 7-29, 2008.

"(Saturday) we beat the conference leader so we're feeling good about ourselves to go on the road and play these next games coming up," said United midfielder Christian Gomez, who scored the winner on a free kick against Chicago.

D.C.'s stretch of three consecutive road contests starts at Seattle (5-3-5), which is expecting another sellout crowd at Qwest Field. United then visits Colorado on Saturday before ending the stretch July 4 against Columbus - the reigning MLS Cup champion.

United is 1-2-3 away from the nation's capital after going 2-11-2 as a visitor last year. Their only road win this season was 3-2 over the Red Bulls on April 26, and they've gone 0-1-2 since.

D.C., though, will have Luciano Emilio back following a one-game suspension Saturday. He was issued a red card against New York for throwing water bottles onto the field after being substituted out of the game.

Emilio is tied with fellow forward Jaime Moreno with a team-high five goals. However, he hasn't found the net in three consecutive games and has one goal in his last seven.

The Brazilian netted 31 goals in 56 games over the previous two seasons and was the 2007 MLS MVP after joining D.C. from Olimpia of Honduras.

He'll likely find himself paired with Moreno at forward Wednesday. The league's all-time leader with 127 goals, Moreno has scored in each of the last two games. Both goals - and three of his five on the year - have come on penalty kicks.

The Sounders are 4-1-2 at home, outscoring opponents 11-4. They won there again Saturday, beating San Jose 2-1 on goals from Fredrik Ljungberg and Fredy Montero after falling 1-0 on the road to Chivas USA a week earlier.

That defeat capped an 0-1-5 stretch.

"When you're on a streak when you're not getting wins, right now, we'll take the win," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "In Chivas, we came away with a loss and probably played a better 90 minutes than we played (against the Earthquakes). But at the end of the day, it's a good, solid win."

Seattle could use some consistency from Montero, who has scored twice in the last nine games after netting three goals in his first two games of the season. Four of the Colombian forward's five goals have come at home.