BURN POSTS 4-0 VICTORY OVER COLUMBUS

Burn Rides Three-Goal Second Half to Largest Victory Since 1999

DALLAS - The Dallas Burn erupted for three second half goals en route to a 4-0 victory over the Columbus Crew before 14,087 fans tonight at the Cotton Bowl.  After a scoreless first 45 minutes, the Burn tallied the game-winner in injury time in the first half.  With time running down on the half, Burn midfielder Oscar Pareja was pulled down in the box by Crew defender Ansil Elcock, resulting in a penalty kick.  Jorge Rodriguez slotted the penalty into the lower right corner of the goal for his team-leading fourth goal of the year and a 1-0 Burn lead at the half.

The Burn doubled the lead in the 58^th minute as Lubos Kubik freed Jason Kreis along the right side of the box.  As Crew 'keeper Tom Presthus charged out and slid in front of Kreis, he chipped the ball over Presthus, with the ball just crossing the goal line just before an attempted clearance by Mike Clark.  Dallas took a 3-0 lead in the 77^th minute with Bobby Rhine finding a wide-open Richard Farrer just to the right of the goal.  With only Presthus to beat, Farrer blasted the shot to the upper right corner of the goal.  The Burn rounded out the scoring in the 82^nd minute when Kreis slipped a ball to Rhine at the right of the box.  Rhine's low cross was one-timed into the right corner of the goal by the outside of Ariel Graziani's left foot.

"I felt that we have been moving the ball good but our finishing has been off," said Burn Head Coach Mike Jeffries.  "Today we got the breaks, we got an early goal which took some of the pressure off of us and our finishing was much better than it has been."

BURN NOTES:

• The four-goal victory was the Burn's largest margin of victory since a 5-0 win over Kansas City on July 10, 1999.
• The Burn has now won six straight games over Columbus at the Cotton Bowl.
• Seventeen-year-old Edward Johnson saw his first action for the Burn, playing the final three minutes.
• Jason Kreis has registered at least one point in four of the five games he's played in this year.
  

SCORING SUMMARY:
DAL - Rodriguez - 4 (PK) 45+
DAL - Kreis - 2 (Kubik - 2, Farrer - 1) 58^'
DAL - Farrer - 2 (Rhine 2, Graziani - 2) 77'
DAL - Graziani - 2 (Rhine 3, Kreis 4) 82'

LINEUPS

Cautions:
DAL - Pareja (32^nd minute)
CLB -  Elcock (41^st minute)
CLB - Clark (48^th minute)
CLB - Lapper (52^nd minute)
DAL - Rhine (64^th minute)

Attendance: 14,087

Referee: Brian Hall     Referee's Assistants: Jon Wilson, David Bragg