Tim Melia shuts out San Jose in shootout for Sporting KC

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – Tim Melia stopped all three of San Jose’s shootout attempts and Sporting Kansas City converted all of its tries to beat the Earthquakes on Sunday after they finished overtime tied at 3 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Top-seeded Sporting advanced to face No. 4 Minnesota. Gianluca Busio scored in the first minute of stoppage time to give Sporting Kansas City a 3-2 lead, but Chris Wondolowski scored about six minutes later, heading home a high cross to the far post by Cristian Espinoza to force extra time. In the shootout, Johnny Russell opened the tiebreaker with a goal, Melia stopped Oswaldo Alanís, and Ilie Sánchez connected for Sporting. Jackson Yueill was stopped, Khiry Shelton scored, and Melia stopped Espinoza to end it. The 34-year old Melia is 6-0 in shootouts. Kansas City’s Roger Espinoza opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Carlos Fierro answered in the 22nd, and Shea Salinas scored in the 34th minute to give the Earthquakes a 2-1 lead. Sánchez tied it off a corner kick in the 47th. FC DALLAS 1, TIMBERS 1 (FC DALLAS ADVANCES 8-7 ON PENALTIES) PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Jimmy Maurer saved Jorge Villafana’s shootout attempt and FC Dallas advanced 8-7 on penalty kicks after a draw with Portland. Dallas will face the winner of Tuesday night’s match between the defending champion Seattle Sounders and LAFC in the Western Conference semifinals. Villafana scored in the 81st minute to give Portland the lead, but 17-year-old Ricardo Pepi’s goal three minutes into stoppage time sent the match to extra time. Diego Valeri nearly scored at the end of extra time for the Timbers, but his shot hit the far post. Valeri got his 100th assist across all competitions on Villafana’s goal. MINNESOTA UNITED 3, RAPIDS 0 ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Kevin Molino scored two goals, Robin Lod added another and Minnesota beat Colorado for its first playoff victory in franchise history. Fourth-seeded Minnesota is unbeaten in its last nine games. Molino also scored twice in Minnesota’s 3-0 victory over Dallas in the regular-season finale. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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