| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2009 
MLS' Crew, Mexico's Pachuca get CONCACAF Champions Wins
 Sports Illustrated
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September 17, 2009
The defending MLS champion Columbus Crew accomplished what the U.S. national team has never been able to do and won at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in Costa Rica on Wednesday night.
The Crew moved into second place in Group C of the CONCACAF Champions League with a 1-0 win over Deportivo Saprissa.
The Crew, who rested Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Alejandro Moreno and four other starters from their 2-1 win over Houston on Sunday, stunned Saprissa with an Eddie Gaven goal in the fifth minute and staved off the Costa Ricans the rest of the game.
With two wins and six points in three games, Columbus is a point behind group leader Cruz Azul, which it hosts next week. Saprissa remained in third with three points, and the Puerto Rico Islanders of USL-1 are last with one point.
Columbus scored with a string of passes that covered three-quarters of the field, with Jason Garey and Brian Carroll springing Gaven from midfield. Gaven shook off a challenge by defender Andres Nunez to control the bouncing ball and rolled it past keeper Keilor Navas a yard inside the far post.
Walter Centeno headed home from an offside position midway through the first half, Duncan Oughton cleared a shot off the line a few minutes later, and two minutes before halftime keeper Will Hesmer tipped away a shot bound for the top corner.
Hesmer saved again early in the second half when he covered a shot by Jairo Arrieta, and Saprissa fluffed a great chance for an equalizer late in regulation when Olman Vargas got free just outside the goal area but shot wide. -Soccer America
Pachuca 2, Houston 0
The Houston Dynamo, the only MLS team to get so much as a tie on the road against a Mexican team in competitive play, came up two goals and a man short Wednesday night.
Edgar Benitez and Paul Nicholas Aguilar scored for Pachuca as it posted a 2-0 victory over Houston, which played the second half a man down following a second caution issued to forward Dominic Oduro in first-half stoppage time.
Of the 18 matches MLS teams have played against Mexican clubs south of the border, there is only a 4-4 tie earned by Houston against Pumas in the CONCACAF Champions League nearly a year ago. MLS teams have been outscored 60-14 in Mexico.
Houston didn't start eight starters from its 2-1 loss at Columbus on Sunday. They include recent Mexican signing Juan Angel Landin, who is cup-tied. U.S. international Jose Francisco Torres started for Pachuca.
Pachuca applied pressure from the kickoff and after twice threatening the Dynamo goal, Benitez scored in the 26th minute. He ran onto a long ball and outpaced the Dynamo defense long enough to shoot past keeper Tally Hall from just inside the penalty area. Hall foiled Benitez later in the half by using his arm to block a shot and then snuffed Juan Carlos Chaco's follow-up attempt.
Shortly before the goal, Oduro had been cautioned, and when he tackled playmaker Christian Gimenez from behind in the final minute of the first half, referee Elmer Bonilla pulled out the yellow card and then the red.
Aguilar added an insurance goal in the 74th minute to highlight a second half dominated by the host. Gimenez played him a pass and Aguilar evaded tacklers at the edge of the penalty area to hit a shot that took a deflection and skipped past Hall.
Houston, which sits in third place with four points from three games, hosts group leader Arabe Unido of Panama (seven points) next Tuesday at Robertson Stadium. Pachuca, in second with six points, next plays pointless and goalless Isidro Metapan in El Salvador. -Soccer America
W Connection 2, Pumas 2
Marabella, Trinidad (Associated Press) - Three goals in the last four minutes left Trinidad's W Connection and Mexico's Pumas at 2-2 in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday.
W Connection, winless after two matches, scored first in the 21st minute with a fine goal from Jonathan Fana Frias in the Group D clash at Manny Ramjohn Stadium. The Dominican Republic striker received a right cross from Hughton Hector, chested it and rounded his marker before firing beyond goalkeeper Odin Patino.
Fana Frias had two chances to double the lead in the 60th and 80th but shot wide of Patino's right post on both occasions.
The drama began in the 87th minute when a right corner caused chaos in the Connection defense with the ball ricocheting and finally falling to the feet of Victor Rosales who rifled his shot home.
W Connection thought they'd won it just two minutes later when Renato Pereira rose highest to a left corner and sent a looping header into the Pumas net to regain the lead.
But it was heartbreak for the home side in the first minute of injury time as a right corner was flicked on at the near post and unmarked Francisco Palencia at the far post turned the ball home.
Pumas have endured a miserable domestic season, losing seven of eight games in the Mexican Apertura, but led CONCACAF Group D going into the third rotation after winning their opening two games.
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