Noonan's game-winner lifts Revs past Wiz

Soccer Betting Lines

08/03/2007 - Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England striker Pat Noonan missed most of last season after hernia surgery and after having a similar procedure done this spring, got off to a slow start to the 2007 Major League Soccer season.

Thursday night Noonan continued his torrid scoring pace as of late - five goals in his last eight games - to score the game-winner in a 2-0 win over visiting Kansas City in a top of the Eastern table clash with the Wizards.

It's safe to say now that Noonan is back.

Noonan - whose game-winner was a perfect 27th birthday present to himself as well as 31st birthday present to teammate Jay Heaps - teamed up with fellow striker Taylor Twellman on the goal, something New England fans are getting pretty used to seeing. The two St. Louis natives have combined for four goals and four assists in the past three games, each having a hand in every goal scored by the other.

With the win, New England takes firm control of the Eastern Conference - opening up a four point lead on the Wizards with a game in hand - while also closing Houston's MLS lead to one point.

The game between the league's two highest scoring teams Thursday had plenty of offense in the first half, but the play of veteran goalkeepers Kevin Hartman and Matt Reis - both 2007 all-stars - kept the game scoreless until after the break. Hartman was the most active of the two in the first half, collecting four saves for Kansas City while Reis had two for New England. Hartman finished the game with eight saves to Reis's five while the latter collected his seventh shutout of the season.

Noonan had a chance to give his team the early lead, just two minutes in, after a Steve Ralston rebound found him in the box, but his low, hard shot was saved by Hartman, keeping the game scoreless.

The league's leading scorer, Eddie Johnson, had a chance in the 16th minute for the visitors, but his left-footed rocket from just outside the penalty area went just wide of the near post.

About five minutes later, Wizards defender Jack Jewsbury blasted a Carlos Marinelli pass from the right side on goal, but Reis came up big, making the save. The Wiz earned the first corner kick of the game on the play, but were unable to do much with it.

The Wizards' best chance of the game came just five minutes later when Argentinean playmaker Marinelli fired a left-footed shot from just outside the area. The shot was deflected by a defender before Reis dove to get a hand on it to deflect it off the post.

New England just missed going up five minutes after the break when Twellman received a through-ball and drove to the goal line before centering into the box to midfielder Shalrie Joseph. Joseph blasted a shot on goal that was saved by Hartman and was tripped up while going for the rebound. Referee Brian Hall said play on so the damage was averted by Harman and the Wiz defense.

Five minutes later there was nothing Hartman could do when Noonan scored his fifth goal of the season. A Khano Smith cross from the left side found Twellman on the right side of the box and he headed down to Noonan who buried the chance to make the score 1-0.

Hartman did well about a minute later to stop consecutive shots by Revs midfielder Andy Dorman, who leads MLS midfielders with seven goals this season.

The New England defense tightened the rest of the way, and after a free kick by the Kansas City in stoppage time, the home side was able to put the nail in the Wizards' coffin.

Matt Reis saved the kick and quickly threw an outlet pass to Adam Cristman, who had come on for Noonan in the 85th minute. Cristman dished to Ralston on the right side and continued his run through the Wizards' area. Ralston, the MLS career assists leader, then bent a perfect pass around the Kansas City defense and hit Cristman in stride. The rookie did well, beating Hartman on the chance for his fourth goal of the season. Ralston earned his league- leading ninth assist of the season while earning his all-time best 116th career assist.

With the win, New England improved to 5-0-2 on turf this season while Kansas City remained winless in its past four matches away from Arrowhead Stadium. The Wizards last road win was at Gillette Stadium against the Revs in a 4-3 offensive explosion.

New England (9-3-6) has little time to savor the victory as it prepares for another Eastern power, D.C. United, who comes to town on Sunday. Kansas City (8-6-5), on the other hand, is off until Aug. 19th when it has a chance for some revenge as it hosts the Revs in the rubber match of the three-game season series between the two squads.

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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

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