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With Portland leading 1-0 through Liam Ridgewell's 23rd
minute goal, Asprilla jinked inside Victor Ulloa and unleashed a
vicious curler from 25 yards out that found the far top corner
of the Dallas net.
“I can’t believe that went in,” said Portland's Nat Borchers,
who added a third in added time to reestablish the home side's
two-goal cushion after David Texeira had pulled one back for
Dallas.
“It’s big for us,” Borchers said. “You go (to Dallas) up 2-1 and
you worry about giving up that first goal. A two-goal cushion
means they have to come out and get after us.”
In the Eastern final, the Crew got off to a sensational start
when Justin Meram scored with 10 seconds on the clock, then
subdued the top scoring side in MLS before Kei Kamara made it
2-0 with five minutes remaining.
“It was a credit to everyone, we did well tonight,” Kamara told
reporters after his third goal of the postseason. “We knew they
were going to press us. We just kept pushing each other.”
Crew coach Gregg Berhalter said he had told his team not to sit
back.
“We were urging the players to keep going and keep making those
runs,” he said. “I thought there was space that we could
exploit."
The second legs of both games will be played next Sunday.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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