The win moves the Crew (12-12) to within two points of the second-place MetroStars (14-12) with two games in hand in the race for home-field advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Both Columbus and the MetroStars are one regulation win away from clinching a playoff spot
Crew forward Stern John recorded his fifth multiple-goal game of the season, finding the back of the net with his 16th and 17th goals of the season. John, the reigning Fujifilm Player of the Week after his hat trick last Sunday versus Kansas City, narrowly missed his fourth three-goal performance of the '98 campaign, as a 54th-minute header banged off the crossbar and Mutiny goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli kept most of John's nine shots at bay with some spectacular saves.
After Brian McBride assisted on John's equalizer in the 59th minute, John scored his league-leading sixth game-winning tally of the season in the 76th minute. On that goal, Jamaican international Andy Williams tied a league record with an assist in five consecutive games, giving the young midfielder a point in every MLS game he has played.
In the 84th minute, McBride and John combined to assist on Williams' first-ever MLS goal to determine the game's final margin. Mutiny midfielder Dominic Kinnear gave the Mutiny its brief 1-0 lead in the 40th minute, as former Crew member Jorge Salcedo and U.S. World Cup star Frankie Hejduk assisted on the play.
Scoring Summary:
TB --Kinnear (Hejduk, Salcedo) 40
CLB--John (McBride, Sommer) 59
CLB--John (Warzycha, Williams) 76
CLB--Williams (John, McBride) 84
TAMPA BAY MUTINY--Thomas Ravelli, Frank Yallop, Jan Eriksson, Chris Houser, Frankie Hejduk, Dominic Kinnear (Paul Dougherty 59), Jorge Salcedo, Steve Ralston, Mauricio Ramos, Alan Prampin, Roy Wegerle
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Ramos 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Hejduk 2, Ramos 2); FOULS: 16 (Houser 4); OFFSIDE: 0; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: Ravelli 7; CAUTIONS: Eriksson 34, Houser 41, Salcedo 54; EJECTIONS: none; POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 47%
COLUMBUS CREW--Juergen Sommer, Michael Clark, Thomas Dooley, Ansil Elcock, Todd Yeagley, Billy Thompson (Jeff Cunningham 65), Rob Smith, Andy Williams, Jason Farrell (Robert Warzycha 24), Stern John, Brian McBride (Scott Cannon 85)
TOTAL SHOTS: 27 (John 9); SHOTS ON GOAL: 10 (John 4); FOULS: 13 (Smith 4); OFFSIDE: 6; CORNER KICKS: 9; SAVES: Sommer 4; CAUTIONS: Yeagley 47; EJECTIONS: none; POSSESSION PERCENTAGE: 53%
Referee: Ali Saheli; Referee's Assistants: Zekai Akbay, Richard Eddy
Attendance: 15,110; Weather: Overcast, Humid, 85 degrees
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