Orlando, San Jose boost playoff hopes with wins
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Orlando City kept its playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 home win against New York City on Friday, with Cyle Larin scoring twice in an 8-minute span in the second half.
The Florida club has won five straight games to move within a point of sixth-place Montreal for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Orlando has one game while Montreal has two, and the Canadian club can seal its spot if it wins at New England on Saturday.
San Jose also boosted its playoff chances with a 1-0 home win against Sporting Kansas City, moving into a three-way tie for fifth place in the Western Conference.
New York City's Kwame Watson-Siriboe gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in first-half stoppage time when Mix Diskerud's shot from distance deflected off a crowd in front of goal and Watson-Siriboe one-touched the loose ball into the back of the net.
Larin equalized in the 62nd minute after heading in Corey Ashe's cross. Eight minutes later, Larin made it 2-1 on a counter-attack. Larin fed Adrian Winter on a two-on-one, his shot was blocked but Winter was first to the loose ball and found an open Larin in front of goal for an easy tap-in.
San Jose's Anibal Godoy slid in a goal early in the second half to give the Earthquakes a 1-0 win against Sporting KC.
San Jose is tied with Portland and Seattle with 47 points, while Sporting is alone in fourth place with 48 points. The Earthquakes have played one more game than all those rivals.
In the 47th minute, Shea Salinas sent a cross to Chris Wondolowski, who one-touched it across goal to an open Godoy at the far post.