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( l - r ) Donovan Ricketts, Andy Williams
BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (CMC)
Donovan Ricketts and Andy Williams, two of Jamaica's finest footballers, will be on opposite sides for the final of the Major League Soccer Cup.
This follows the Conference Finals on Friday and Saturday, which their respective sides won to reach next Sunday's match at Qwest Field in Seattle.
On Saturday, Real Salt Lake, with Williams in their line-up, survived a penalty kick shoot-out to reach the final for the first time with a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park.
Williams missed all the excitement, after he was substituted for American international Clint Mathis in the 69th minute.
The match ended 0-0 after regulation time before late substitute Ned Grabavoy nailed his spot kick, despite Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch getting a hand on it, to give RSL the victory and the Eastern Conference title.
Both RSL and Fire had their chances in the preceding 120 minutes of playing time, but they could not penetrate the other's defence enough to find the winning goal.
In the penalty shoot-out, the Fire had the match in their hands, after they scored three in row, and Javier Morales hit the crossbar with the second kick for RSL.
But RSL keeper Nick Rimando saved John Thorrington, and watched his teammates Robbie Findley, Kyle Beckerman, and Will Johnson all nail their attempts.
With the shoot-out tied at 4-4, Rimando stopped Logan Pause and Brandon Prideaux either side of Fabian Espindola sending his attempt high before Grabavoy sealed the issue with his kick.
The previous night, the Galaxy, with Ricketts in the goal, defeated the Houston Dynamo 2-0 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California, to capture the Western Conference title, and book their sixth appearance in the MLS Cup Final.
Gregg Berhalter and Landon Donovan scored for the Galaxy in each of the two periods of extra time, after the Los Angeles side endured a late kick-off, two 18-minute power outages, and the stingiest defence in the playoffs.
Ricketts made a valuable save with a dive to his left in the 34th minute, when Brad Davis tested him with a 30-yard bomb which was pushed away safely.
Ricketts also made a timely save when Brian Ching tried to steal a late winner for Dynamo with a header in the 79th minute, but the Reggae Boyz keeper deflected it up and over the crossbar.
