By Ridge Mahoney, Senior Editor

No goals in the showdown of the conference leaders; D.C. is stunned at home by the 10-man Metros in overtime; the Galaxy remains unbeaten in its new home; and the Rapids win again on the Fourth of July.

BEST GOAL: Eddie Gaven ran down a long pass from Amado Guevara, fended off a challenge by Ryan Nelsen, and struck a rising shot past Nick Rimando from a sharp angle to give the Metros a 3-2 overtime win over D.C. at RFK. The MetroStars had been playing a man-down since Kenny Arena's 35th-minute red card.

STAT: Gaven, at 16 years, 253 days, became the second youngest scorer in MLS history, behind D.C. United's Santino Quaranta, who struck when he was 16 years and 217 days old in May 2001.

GOOD GOALS: Hristo Stoitchkov rifled home a 37-yard free kick in stoppage time of United's 3-1 win in Dallas Wednesday, and it was his pass down the right wing that sprung Ben Olsen, whose pass set up Dema Kovalenko for a left-footed blast in the 3-2 loss to the Metros.

TAYLOR MADE. Both of the Revs' goals in their 2-2 tie with the Galaxy revolved around Taylor Twellman. He switched play to Steve Ralston, then darted into the box to head home the return cross for the first goal; he played a clever wall pass to Jay Heaps to set him up for the second goal.

DEPOT. The Galaxy is 3-0-2 at the Home Depot Center.

BEST ASSIST: Midfielder Mark Lisi set up Clint Mathis for his second goal of the game in their amazing 4-4 tie with San Jose Wednesday by intercepting a headed clearance, slipping past an opponent, and slicing a perfect pass to Mathis with the outside of his right foot.

BEST SAVES: Tim Howard, sprinting toward his goal, punched a lob by Quaranta over the bar just before he landed in the net. Crew keeper Tom Presthus helped keep Dallas off the board in a 0-0 tie by saving a Jason Kreis free kick that was deflected. Presthus' dive had lost its momentum but as he landed he reached up to parry the shot with his left hand.

WORST GOAL: The Rapids toppled Kansas City, 3-2, before a crowd of 60,142 despite conceding a weak equalizer to Stephen Armstrong. Keeper Scott Garlick let Armstrong shoot low between him and the near post from a sharp angle after Preki had quickly taken a free kick as some of the Rapids argued. That goal came a minute into stoppage time, yet there was still enough time for Mark Chung to score his second goal of the game.

STATS: The Rapids have won seven of the eight games they've hosted on the Fourth of July.

DEADLOCK, PART DEUX: A week after playing a scoreless tie at home against Kansas City, the Quakes battled to a 0-0 decision with Chicago in a matchup of conference leaders. In between, San Jose tied the Metros, 4-4, at Giants Stadium on Wednesday.