The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 46

Boston Sunday Globe OCTOBER 23, 2005 ilJiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Fan's Guide NEXTGAME Revolution take wrong turn ml 1 a 11 They hit roadblock in playoff opener C2 Sports By Frank Dell'Apa GLOBE STAFF OCT. 30, 8:30 P.M. Buffalo at New England ESPN, WBCN (104.1) TOMORROW, 7 P.M. Boston at Torutito ALSO ON THE AIR AUTO RACING time TV Radio NASCAR Nextel: Subway 500 1p.m. Chs.7,10 970 PRO BASEBALL World Series: Astros at White Sox 8 p.m.

Chs. 25, 64 890, 1400 PRO FOOTBALL San Diego at Philadelphia 1p.m. Chs. 4, 12 Dallas at Seattle .4 p.m. Chs.

25, 64 Denver at New York Giants 4 p.m. Chs. 4, 12 970 CFL: Calgary at Saskatchewan 4 p.m. NESN GOLF European: Mallorca Classic (final rd.) 8:45 a.m. TGC PGA: Funai Classic (final rd.) 3 p.m.

Chs. 5, 6, 9 Champions: SBC Championship (final rd.) 5 p.m. TGC PRO HOCKEY AHL: Lowell at Portland 4 p.m. 980,1440 SOCCER Women: Mexico at US 1 p.m. ESPN2 MLS playoffs: San Jose at Los Angeles 3 p.m.

ESPN OTHER LOCAL EVENTS PRO HOCKEY AHL: Wilkes-Barre at Bridgeport IIIMIIIIIIIIIMIIllllllllinMIIIIHIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIMftMIMIIIIIMIIIIIIItllllillllMIMIIIIIIItl Sports EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. The Revolu tion are becoming accustomed to role reversal. In past seasons, the Revolution earned an underdog label and a reputation for rallying in the playoffs. But after compiling the best record for an MLS Eastern Conference team during the regular season, the Revolution got off to a negative start in the playoffs with a 1-0 loss to the Metro-Stars at Giants Stadium last night, The teams will be rematehed in the two-game, total-goal series at 8 p.m. Saturday at Gillette Stadium.

"It is halftime in the whole scheme of things," Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis said. "Now comes the fun part. It's crunch time, and we will see what we are made of. We all know if we are bounced in the first round we will be disappointed and view the season as a loss. We have to make sure that doesn't happen." The Youri Djorkaeff-Amado Guevara combination produced a 34th minute goal off a throw-in.

Guevara's low shot skidded past Reis and just inside the near post. The Revolution produced several opportunities in the opening half, then controlled possession in the second half, but struggled to break through a packed defense. The MetroStars essentially have duplicated the Revolution's 2004 performance, qualifying for the playoffs on the last day of the regular season, then taking the opening playoff match, played on a rainy night on artificial turf. The Revolution attacked confidently, but lacked precision and failed to exploit the wings, partly because of MetroStars coach Mo Johnston's alignment adjustments since he replaced Bob Bradley Oct. 4.

"We are disappointed, especially considering the amount of the ball we had," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "We didn't use the ball well and it didn't have anything to do with them. We were off and our passing wasn't sharp. "We had three or four guys who hadn't had a week's training behind them, and that went against us because the surface is so quick, that passes have to be bang on. But we are still in it.

We are pretty certain what we didn't do right and it's not difficult to work it out. It is an advantage to be on our BILL KOSI ROUNASSOCIATfcD PKSS to head with MetroStars midfielder Mark Lisi in the second half. kick after Stammler's two-foot tackle on Ralston, who then played a give-and-go with the ball rolling into the goal area for Marshall Leonard to poke wide in the 17 th minute. Djorkaeff took a Stammler throw-in and backheeled for Gue- vara to run onto the ball from 25 yards, the only goal the Revolution, have surrendered in the opening, playoff game in the last four years. The Revolution kept possess sion in the MetroStars' end of the" field for much of the second half Ralston was offside as he finished in the 58th minute, Meola was forced to come out of the goal area! to punch away clearances, but thej Revolution failed to have an offi-; cial shot on goal in the second' half.

"We are disappointed, definitely, in the way we played," said Reis. "It was not a typical Revolution game. We were a little slow on the ball and too direct We played into their hands." WINTERSPORTS Two speedskating wins for Rodriguez Jennifer Rodriguez won twice, and Olympic champion Casey Fitz-Randolph and Shani Davis set course records in the US Long Track Speedskating competition in West Allis, yesterday. Rodriguez, the Miami skater who won bronze medals at 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters in the Salt Lake City Olympics, took the 500 in 39.01 seconds and the 1,500 in 1 minute 59.97 seconds. FitzRandolph skated through in 35.56 to take the men's 500, the same distance at which he won a gold medal in Salt Lake City.

He broke the Pettit National Ice Center mark of 35.59, set last December by Tucker Fredricks. Davis won the 1,500 in 1:46.44 to smash the record of 1:47.73 he set last December. Maze nabs season-opening GS event Tina Maze of Slovenia won the season-opening World Cup giant slalom, and this time she was alone on the top of the podium. She shared her maiden World Cup victory in 2003 with Austria's Nicole Hosp and Norway's Andrine Flemmen in an unprecedented three-way tie. "This is my hill," Maze said after completing her two runs in 2:24.59 in Soelden, Austria.

Croatia's Janica Kostelic, the Olympic giant slalom champion, was second in 2:24.93, moving up from fifth after the opening leg. Sweden's Anja Paerson, the overall World Cup champion, was third in 2:25.03. The fastest US skier was Kristina Koznick in 17th place. Larsson takes first cross-country race Sweden's Peter Larsson captured the season opener in World Cup cross-country skiing in the rain in Dusseldorf, Germany, winning for the fourth time at this site. Norway's Marit Bjoergen, the overall World Cup champion, won the women's 800-meter freestyle sprint.

Larsson finished the 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint in 3:04.5, edging Norway's Tor Arne Hetland by 0. 1 seconds. Among the women, Bjoergen was timed in 1:47.07 American snowboarder Nate Holland got his second career World Cup victory in Saas Fee, Switzerland. Holland chose an inside line in the final and took the lead when he saw Frenchman Xavier Delerue fly off the first hip jump. Marie Lais-sus of France won the women's event.

World champion Lindsey Jaco-bellis of the United States was third. I- FIGURE SKATING Belbin and Agosto win ice dance Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto won Skate America in Atlantic City with a flashy flamenco free dance. It was a fast-paced routine featuring some stunningly difficult footwork very impressive for the opening Grand Prix series event. The winners earned 190.45 points to outdistance France's Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, who had 184.47. Third were Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, who collected their first senior Grand Prix medal Russia's Elena Sokolova, skating a clean but somewhat lackluster free skate, had little trouble beating a second-level field in the women's event.

American Alissa Czisny, who won the long program, was third in the short program and couldn't catch Sokolova despite a personal best free skate. Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao of China used a technically difficult free program to beat Americans Rena Inoue and John Bald-" win Jr. in pairs. Russia's Julia Obertas and Sergei Slavnov were third. Clint Dempsey (left) goes head imtllHHMIMMIIHI MIHHMI Mill IHIIIIHtl MetroStars 1, Revolution 0 at Giants Stadium MetroStan.

-1 I Scoring: Amado Guevara 12 (Youri Djor-kaeff 8, Seth Stammler 2) 34th minute. Shots: Met 14. NE 11. Corner kicks: Met 3. NE4.

Offsides: Met 5. NE5. Fouls: Met 24, NEW. Yellow cards: Mel. Seth Stammler 41st: NE.

Shalrie Joseph 43d; Met. Youri Djorkaeff 74th. Saves: Met Tony Meola NE. Matt Reis 6. Attendance: 10,003.

Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela. lineups NEW ENGLAND Matt Reis: Jay Heaps. Michael Parkhurst, Joe Franchino: Steve Ralston, Daniel Hernandez, Shalrie Joseph, Clint Dempsey, Marshall Leonard (Khano Smith 78th); Pat Noonan. Taylor Twellman. METROSTARS Tony Meola: Jason Hernandez, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Agoos; Eddie Gaven, Mark Lisi, Amado Guevara.

Michael Bradley. Seth Stammler; Youri Djorkaeff, Sergio Galvan Rey. turf, and know exactly what we have to do, we will have the crowd behind us and that will make it hard for the MetroStars." This was the MetroStars' first playoff victory since a 4-1 decision over Los Angeles, Sept. 26, 2001, and the first time the Revolution have lost their playoff opener since were able to sneak one in an Amado Guevara goal in the 34 th minute and then pack it in. I don't see the advantage in that.

"Now, we need to come out flying and get on them early. Our first touch wasn't quite right and we were sloppy at times and, especially on this field, the ball will run away from you. We have to do a better job with the final ball and getting it to the forwards. We could have gotten the ball wide a little more. They got numbers behind the ball, and got in passing lanes.

But we had a few chances in the first half, and if we put one of those away it would have been a whole new game." They rank up there The Revolution's regular-season record of 17-7-8 (59 points) ranks sixth-best in MLS list history and the best yet for an Eastern Conference team. The best MLS finishes: Los Angeles 1998, 32 games-68 points (2. 13 points per game). Miami 2001, 26-53 (2.04). Home-field advantage nothing 2000.

Daniel Hernandez hip flexor and Pat Noonan left calf strain returned to the Revolution starting lineup, but were mostly neutralized by the MetroStars or they self-destructed. The MetroStars set a physical tone. Early in the game, a late tackle by Michael Bradley floored Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph right ankle, who had been listed as probable after being injured in practice. Noonan broke through in the second minute, chipping goalkeeper Tony Meola, the ball cleared over the end line by Jeff Agoos. Noonan had other chances blocked or just off target in the 28th, 33d, and 45 th minutes.

The MetroStars inserted Seth Stammler on the left wing to counteract Steve Ralston. The tactic slowed Ralston but almost led to an early Revolution goal. Referee Ricardo Valenzuela awarded a free San Jose (2.0). Los Angeles '01, 26-52 (2.0). Chicago '01, 27-53 (1.96).

Revolution '05, 32-59 (1.84). Los Angeles '02, 28-51 (1.82). Tampa Bay '96, 32-58 (1.81). D.C. United '98, 32-58 (1.81).

The Miami Fusion won the Central Division title in 2001, the league splitting into three divisions, then folded as the league contracted to 10 teams. But, despite improvement during the regular season, the Revolution have had better playoff starts the last three seasons. Before last night, the Revolution had a 3-0 record in playoff openers since 2002. Late bloomers This was the first time in five meetings this season between the MetroStars and Revolution that the game was not decided by a goal scored from the 86th minute on. In previous meetings at Giants Stadium, Twellman headed in a Khano Smith cross in the 89th By Frank Dell'Apa GLOBE STAFF EAST RUTHERFORD, N.

J. -Conference leaders are awarded home-field advantage in the playoffs, but the Revolution were questioning that designation after a 1-0 loss to the MetroStars on the artificial turf at Giants Stadium last night. "That is a home-field advantage, going away to play on that surface?" striker Taylor Twellman said. "It should be one game at the home of the team with better record. But we have had our backs against the wall many times and we know what we have to do." The Revolution host the Metro-Stars at 8 p.m.

Saturday at Gillette in the two-game, total-goal series. If the Revolution advance, the Eastern Conference final will be Nov. 6 at Gillette Stadium (3 p.m.). "There is no home-field advantage in the first round," midfielder Steve Ralston said. "They REVOLUTION NOTEBOOK of the sort Youri Djorkaeff slammed a shot off Matt Reis in the 86th minute of a 5-4 MetroStar victory Sept.

1 and at Gillette Stadium, Ralston capitalized on a defensive turn-over to score his only goal of the season in the 86th minute and Pat, Noonan added his final goal of the regular season in the 90th minute of a 4-2 Revolution win June 25, and James Riley made a clearance off the line on Djorkaeff, then finished a Noonan-Twellman combination in the 86th minute of, a 1-0 Revolution win Sept. 24. Referee redux Ricardo Valenzuela had refer' 1 eed two previous MetroStars i victories over the Revolution at Giants Stadium: a 4-2 decision June 17, 2000, when Valenzuela ejected both the MetroStars' Dan- Hernandez (now with the -i Revolution) and the Revolution's Leonel Alvarez, and a 2-1 win April 7, 2001, when Adolf oVa- 1 lencia converted the tie-breaking goal in the 92d minute. 6 1 (3-1 conference). Do you cori- to have a productive first season? FOOTBALL iiiiiiiiiiiititiftiiiiiitiitiaii.iiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiftittiiiiiiiiiiiriitiiiiittiiiiriiiaitititiiitiittafiiiiiiittiiititiiitittiiiiiitiit(titiititiittiatiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiitiiititiiiiijjitattiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiirrJrt Halfway through its first ACC season Boston College is sider that a success, or does it need to accomplish more Rams add QB Smoker to active roster I The St.

Louis Rams moved quarterback Jeff Smoker from the practice squad to the active roster for today's game against the New Orleans Saints. Smoker, who was cut in training camp and then resigned last week to the practice squad, got a second chance when Marc Bulger injured his shoulder in a loss last Monday night to the Colts. The Rams released offensive tackle Matt Willig The Minnesota Vikings released punt returner Keenan Howry and signed linebacker Heath Farwell off the practice squad. i i BASKETBALL Raptors release Pack, Brown, Matthews The Toronto Raptors released guards Robert Pack and Tierre Brown, and forward Bryant Matthews. Pack, a 15-year journeyman, totaled 4 points and 4 assists in four games, while Brown averaged 9.8 points and 2.5 assists.

Matthews, who played for Virginia Tech, averaged 4.3 points in three games Lou Rossini, the New York University basketball coach from 1959-71 who led the Violets to the 1960 Final Four, died at 84. MISCELLANY Dallas, Rapids open with scoreless tie Scott Garlick made a diving save in the final minutes and helped FC Dallas preserve a 0-0 tie with the Colorado Rapids in the first game of a Western Conference semifinal playoff series in the MLS in Denver. Game 2 of the home-and-home aggregate goal series is Saturday in Dallas Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport routed Anastasia Myskina, 6-0, 6-4, to reach the Zurich Open final, where she will face Swiss star Patty Schnyder, who beat 17-year-old Ana Ivanovic of Serbia-Montenegro, 6-2, 6-1 Top-seeded Rafael Nadal reached his first Madrid Masters final, edging Robby GineprL 7-5, 7-6 (7-1). Nadal will play eighth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Argentina's David Nalbandian Dick Galiette, who spent 33 seasons as the voice of Yale football and also served as an early anchor at ESPN, died at St. Raphael's Hospital in New Haven, the school said.

He was 72. ft QuickSEiots MARK BLAUDSCHUN: There is no question that Boston College has had a productive season already, and barring a total collapse, the Eagles can consider their first year in the ACC a rousing success. But this raises another issue. Had the Eagles stayed in the Big East, they would have been a big fish in a much smaller pond and a BCS bowl contender every year. In the ACC, they will be competitive, but are still long shots for a BCS berth with Virginia Tech, Miami, and Florida State all in the same pool.

JACKIE MacMULLAN: Considering the injury to Quinton Porter and the schedule that accompanies a switch to the ACC, I'd say Boston College should be very pleased with where it stands. The Eagles are already bowl-eligible, and they were in a position to win the one game (Florida State) that they lost. Tom O'Brien has put BC football back on the map, and he's done it Notre Dame's return to glory; well, BC is ranked ahead of the Irish in the USA Today poll. They are bowl-bound-Again. Now if they'll just stop parking the cars on the base-ti' ball field on game day, they'll have it all put i together.

MICHAEL VEGA: Seven games do not a season: make. The fact that BC already has six wins -w: half against ACC opponents and is bowl- eligible for a school-record seventh consecutive season speaks volumes about its ability to i compete in its new conference. The Eagles, i i winners of 18 of their last 22 games, have made quite an impression on the ACC with their mental and physical toughness. If BC sticks to those core attributes, an eight- or nine-win season provided Mathias Kiwanuka stays healthy and Quinton Porter sharp is pos- sible. without anyone named Flutie.

BOB RYAN: The writer in me, theoretically impartial, says that 6-1 with road triumphs over BYU and Clemson and a highly respectable loss to Florida State is more than acceptable. The alum in me, not terribly pleased with the manner in which BC left the Big East, is downright proud. They're looking at possibly 8-3, maybe even 9-2. That's a pretty good rookie season. BC in the top 15? What's not to like? DAN SHAUGHNESSY: BC's season is a tremendous success thus far, and it's obvious that ACC.

football isn't going to scare the Eagles. They went to Clemson and won. They took care of Wake Forest and Virginia at home. And they had a second-half lead against Florida State in the nationally televised conference opener. Everyone's talking about Charlie Weis and i.