DAVID OCHOA

Felipe Mora and Santiago Moreno scored and the Portland Timbers advanced to the MLS Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference final on Saturday.

Christian Pulisic scored on a glancing header with his first touch of the game in the 74th minute and Weston McKennie added a goal in the 85th to lift the United States over Mexico 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier.

Another missed Olympics soccer tournament for the U.S. men. AdThe American Olympic skid is part of a trend that includes the senior national team missing the 2018 World Cup. Olympic men's soccer is limited to players both Jan. 1, 1997, and later, and clubs don't have to release players. Johnny Cardoso mis-hit an open header in second-half stoppage time. “I think the first half looked a lot like the Dominican Republic first half,” Kreis said.

Now comes the winner-take-all semifinal Sunday night against Honduras or Canada for a trip to the men’s Olympic soccer tournament. Mexico, the 2012 Olympic champion, won its 14th straight Olympic qualifier dating to 2008 and finished first in Group A at 3-0. Ad“We wanted to win the game to be at the top of our group,” American defender Mauricio Pineda said. In the first game of the doubleheader, Costa Rica routed the Dominican Republic 5-0 in a matchup of eliminated teams. Randall Leal of Major League Soccer’s Nashville scored twice, and Manfred Ugalde, Bernald Alfaro and Aaron Salazar had one goal each.