The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 33

The Burlington Free Press Sunday, October 20, 2002 11C a I i i i MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER SEMI-PRO FOOTBALL Ageless Jones leads Galaxy to final for the Cup Coast-to-coast battle The New En9land a enjuy Muma-i iew auvar uage ai me 3SBB i-W iviivj vuy wiigii uiey iaoe mo Los Angeles Angeles Galaxy, who are making their New England GALAXY second straight finals appearance. REVOLUTION Head coach Sunday, Oct. 20 1 :30 p.m. (EDT), ABC Head coach Sigi Schmid Gillette Stadium Foxboro, Mass. Steve Nicol it if Revolution will Overall Home Away (1) 20-10-3 14-1-2 6-9-1 (2) 15-15-4 9-7-2 6-8-2 Head-to-head (2002) May 25 at New England Revolution 3, Galaxy 2 Aug.

10 at Los Angeles Galaxy 2, Revolution 1 Records (seed) Players to watch Carlos Ruiz LA Can cany team. His 24 1 regular-season goals are tops in MLS. Goals 144(3) Team Los Angeles New England fl comparisons 149(1) 2002 regular (MLS rank) Goals 1 1-6 (3) game I 1.8(1) 7 chots BdXaayfasaKBfi4SSi 401 (3) mun III "I .1 II UMmmiug nco IQ 'I he Associated Press Los Angeles' Cobi Jones, who leads the Major League Soccer playoffs with four assists, takes a shot during practice Friday. The Galaxy play New England in the MLS Cup today. Lalas remains a free spirit at Defender has re-emerged with Los Angeles PMMMIallMMHMHBHHIKIIIMB Shots B9 14.3 (3) game Kms 13.1 (9) Shots BjPMSSSSl 198(1) on goal memmm 184 (2) SOG EH 7.1 (1) game E3 6.7 (2) GAA1-21 1.7(10) SOURCE: Major League Soccer year this season, Lalas said he's at the top of his game, despite his aching body.

"The things I could do 10 years ago I can't do today, so out of necessity I try to cover and not make those mistakes that I could have gotten out of just by sheer physical ability," he said. "What aches? Everything," he said after a hard practice last week. The presence of Lalas, a mainstay of the U.S. national team during the 1990s, has helped the Galaxy in many ways, coach Sigi Schmid said. "He's very good at help-.

ing the younger players. He doesn't lecture or dictate, but tells them, 'I'm not say finals and Columbus in the semis. Fan support is one reason the MLS decided before the season to hold the championship game in Foxboro for the third time. The MLS Cup record of 57,431 could be in jeopardy. It was set in 1997 when D.C.

United won at home. "I can't imagine .50,000 fans screaming everybody's name and chanting for us," Los Angeles veteran guides club against New England's youth By Howard Ulman The Associated Press FOXBORO, Mass. The dreadlocks and youthful looks remain. So does the energy he showed when he first played for the U.S. national team in 1992.

A decade later, 32-year-old Cobi Jones is a key to the Los Angeles Galaxy's pursuit of the MLS championship. "Cobi's accomplished so much in his career, this is something that he wants," Los Angeles coach Sigi Schmid said. "He's really put forth a tremendous playoff series." Jones is second to teammate and league MVP Carlos Ruiz in playoff scoring this season with one game left today against the New England Revolution for the league title in the MLS Cup. To win their first title after going 0-3 in MLS Cups, the Galaxy must beat a young, stingy goalkeeper. The Revolution are in their first final.

Adin Brown has four shutouts in six playoff games. The 24-year-old goalie's 0.64 goals-against average is the best in postseason play this year. The Revolution also have players who lack Jones' experience but can MLS Cup VII, Los Angeles vs. New England at Foxboro, 1:30 p.m. (WVNY) match his talent.

Taylor Twellman, who is just 22, scored 23 goals in the regular season, second to Ruiz's 24. And 28-year-old Steve Ralston led the league with 19 assists, many on passes to Twellman, who said he will play after missing the last game with a knee injury. "We just have to do what we've been doing the last eight weeks of the season and in the playoffs, which is to make things a little ugly for them and make it hard for them," Twellman said. "Because once they get the ball moving, they're fun to watch." Jones has been with the Galaxy since the league began in 1996. He scored their first goal, led the team in scoring the last four seasons before Ruiz topped him, and played in his third consecutive World Cup this year.

"It makes the jobs of everyone around (Ruiz) a lot easier when you can have Judging New scoring system makes its debut as season begins By Nancy Armour The Associated Press Now that Sarah Hughes is skipping Skate America, there will be even more time for figure skating's favorite sideshow: critiquing the judges. It's a new season, but the bad memories from the Salt Lake City Olympics will be hanging around Skate America next weekend in Spokane, Wash. With Hughes out with an injured leg and Alexei Yagu-din the only gold medalist competing, all eyes will be on the new judging system which will be used for the first time. Judges will be selected randomly by computer, and no one not even the judges themselves will know whose marks are being used. "I think people felt that something really needed to happen now," said Phyllis Howard, president of the U.S.

Figure Skating Association. "We did feel there was some urgency to it." 10110m octoni ii Today Ice Storm advance to final Free Press Staff Report MILTON The Vermont Ice Storm semi-professional football team scored a 20-0 win over the Nashua Predators at Phil Hughes Memorial Field on Saturday night to advance to the title game of the North Atlantic conference of the New England Football League. Vermont will play for the Double A championship at East Boston Stadium at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Vermont meets the second-seeded New England Stars of Boston, which posted a 12-0 win over the third-seeded Monadnock (N.H.) Marauders in the other semifinal game.

Vermont split with New England during the regular season winning by six in Boston and losing by three at home. Aaron Pyer's 30-yard touchdown run gave Vermont the lead on its first possession Saturday. Troy Canada tallied a 65-yard punt return for a TD early in the second quarter, while Lij Quintyne added another score on a 7-yard run just before the end of the first half. Kicker Brian Kemp was 2-for-3 on extra points. COLLEGE HOCKEY New Hampshire tops Minnesota The Associated Press DURHAM, N.H.

Lanny Gare, Kevin Truelson and Nathan Martz each netted single goals to give the University of New Hampshire a 3-1 victory over the University of Minnesota on Saturday. New Hampshire's Michael Ayers picked up 21 saves in the third period as Minnesota (1-1-1) were unable to find the back of New Hampshire's net despite being up a man for a total of 6:13 of the final stanza. Martz scored in the first and Gare and Truelson each scored goals for New Hampshire in the second. Scoring the lone goal for Minnesota was Troy Riddle. Martz put the Wildcats up 1- 0 early in the first on assists from Matt Hoppe and Tyler Scott.

Minnesota tied the game up at one apiece at 12:10 on a goal by Riddle with assists from Thomas Vanek and Joey Martin. Denver 3, Northeastern 1: At Boston, Denver took a 2- 1 first period lead and held Northeastern scoreless the rest of the way. Connor James and Aaron MacKenzie scored in the first for Denver (3-1). Lukas Dora added a third-period goal and Jon Foster added two assists. Mike Morris scored on a power play for Northeastern (1-1-1).

Providence 5, 3: At Providence, R.I., Peter Zingoni and Jon DiSalvatore scored third-period goals to give Providence a win over Minnesota-Man-kato. (0-2) took an 2-1 lead in the first period as Cole Bassett scored two power play goals. Providence (4-0) took a 3-2 lead in the second as DiSalvatore and Cody Loughlean netted goals. nA Aa A ii jtlmj It's easy! 1 Subscribe to home delivery wwBurigtonFreePr8ss.com 1 or call 865-4600 or 800-427-3126 Ej Taylor Twellman NE Ability to score in every imagin able way. Led league in scoring with 23 goals and six assists.

season Los Angeles E3 New England C3 WW AP age 32 ing you have to or anything, but it really helps to watch Schmid said. he doesn't push them. He knows that 10 years ago, he wouldn't have watched tapes, either." Lalas thought he might call it a career in 1999, but, after taking a year off, decided to sign with the Galaxy. Grinning, he explained that the long vacation not only gave him time to relax, but also to find romance. "I'm getting married in December; that was the reason I stopped playing," he said.

"It's love, man. There's always a girl involved in a story like this." Brown said. "It will be a lot of fun. The fans deserve it." The Galaxy lost championship games in 1996, 1999 and 2001. Now they have another chance in a league that many thought wouldn't last this long.

"The league has done tremendous. I think it's only moving forward," Jones said. "It's a young league. It's only 7 years old. It's going to continue to grow." think the proponents of this system feel that it's a start and feel it will remove pressure on the judges from their member federations." In years past, all judges on a panel marked every skater, and the votes were posted for the public and skaters to see.

A few calculations and it was easy to figure if votes were breaking down along cultural or geopolitical lines. Under the new system, the marks from the entire panel will be posted in ascending order, first for technical merit, then for artistry. But a computer will randomly and secretly select which scores count likely seven judges from a 10-judge panel at Grand Prix events, and nine judges of a 14-judge panel at the world championships. The marks won't be read, and no one not the skaters, the judges, the event officials, or the fans will know which judges' scores were used or how a judge ranked one skater against another. The only way to tell where a skater ranks will be to look at the standings.

"It's going to be very confusing this year, frankly," Howard said. "We're just going to have to educate people to exactly what this is. It is an interim system." i A The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Alexi Lalas no longer sports scraggly locks or goatee and even looks a bit corporate, but soccer's free spirit still has a gleam in his eyes. "I play the guitar, sing, have a studio in my house; so I still have a lot of fun doing stuff like that," he said. "I'm still the same person in many ways, but I certainly have changed on and off the field.

You grow up, you mature, you do whatever. "I've had a wonderful time being a professional someone who can hold the ball and be dangerous up top," Jones said. He received six of his 13 regular-season assists on goals by Ruiz. That assist total ranked fourth in the league, and Jones has added an MLS-best four in the playoffs. "His leadership has been excellent this year," Schmid said.

"More so than any other year, he's really grown and comes to v.f lift: Mas? soccer player and milked it for all it's worth, on and off the field, and don't apologize for it." At 32, Lalas is cleanshaven and his red hair is "cropped relatively And not only is he still playing soccer, today he will be playing for a championship. He anchors the defense for the Los Angeles Galaxy, which faces his former team, the New England Revolution, today in Foxboro, for the Major League Soccer title. Nominated as both the league player of the year and comeback player of the matured into that role. Cobi was always the young guy on the national team, just hang out and do your thing." The Revolution had to rally just to reach this year's playoffs, going 5-0-1 in their last six games and clinching a berth in their final game. But they were 1-4 in the playoffs in their first six seasons and never won a postseason series.

This year, they beat Chicago in the quarter- FIGURE SKATING forefront Russian pair Elena Berezh-naya and Anton Sikharulidze over Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. Both couples wound up with gold medals. Le Gougne later recanted her accusation, but the International Skating Union suspended her and French federation president Didier Gailhaguet for three years. When the ISU Congress met in June in Kyoto, Japan, it L. 1 at Skate America Judges watch the action during Ice dancing compulsory competition at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake in February.

The scoring scandal at the games led to the development of a new method of judging. ami The Associated Press was clear changes had to be made. The congress approved a radical reform project that would scrap the century-old 6.0 scoring scale and replace it with an X-Games-like points system. But that system isn't ready yet, so the congress approved this new scoring formula to be used in the meantime. "This is an interim proposal," said Howard, also a member of the ISU council, the sport's governing body.

"I ii4iioftn iflrm flu ii dhiflh irtf ft it t- 0t i'lft Judging shenanigans real or imagined were skating's dirty little secret for years. It wasn't a major competition without someone whining about being slighted, and plenty more grumbling was done in private. But skating and the Olympic movement were humiliated by the Salt Lake City scandal. French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne admitted she was pressured to "vote a certain way" when she put -A. A a a 1 A tAIH-f41.