6:0 New York Salt Lake Buddle 3 Cila Dunivant Wolyniec 08.26.06 · League

In an unexpected display of gigantic proportions, Metro scored six goals in the second half to destroy Salt Lake to give Bruce Arena his first win and set a number of team records in the process, including one for largest win ever. The much-maligned Edson Buddle was benched, and then came on at halftime and promptly scored the game's first three goals, Jordan Cila and Todd Dunivant scored their first Metro goals in league play, and John Wolyniec rounded out the scoring for his first since his return.

Buddle's initial benching for Wolyniec was not the only change from last week's league match. Dema Kovalenko shifted to the right as Danny O'Rourke assumed his regular role in defensive midfield; Seth Stammler was not even on the bench, so an injury is the assumption there.

Just eight minutes in the game, John Wolyniec broke through on goal, but was floored by Salt Lake's Jack Stewart right in front of the penalty area. A proper red card was given, and although Amado Guevara's free kick was parried by Salt Lake keeper Jay Nolly, the Metros now had a man advantage which they would have been foolish to dismiss.

The insertion of Wolyniec seemed to liven the attack, as he combined well with Youri Djorkaeff, and just missed tucking in the Frenchman's shot to the far post late in the first period. But it was the insertion of Buddle at the break that completely changed the game.

Edson scored the first in the 54th off a pin-point Dunivant long pass; the ball crossed the goalline and was kicked out by a Salt Lake defender, but the referee stopped the match, correctly awarding Metro the goal. Seven minutes later, a beautiful Marvell Wynne cross was met by Buddle's head and neatly tucked into the upper left corner. Then, in the 72nd, he received the ball close to the net, fooled Nolly with a turnaround, and made it 3:0 over the diving helpess Salt Lake keeper.

But Metro was not done. Cila, who entered the game in the 76th minute, scored seconds later with a one-timer blast, with Nolly was sprawled on the ground after a Guevara corner kick. It was his first Metro goal in league play after scoring his first for the team in the Open Cup. Just two minutes after that, Dunivant got his first, tapping in a John Wolyniec goal-mouth cross at the far post. His goal was the first for a Metro defender since Kenny Arena scored one with his behind in June of 2004. Then, with four minutes left in regulation, Wolyniec got his after a bad giveaway by a defender, a much-deserved ending for the returning fan favorite.

The six goals scored by Metro marked only the second such occasion in club history; the first was a 6:4 win in Dallas, six years ago to the day, in which Clint Mathis scored five. The six-goal margin is also the largest ever, topping the 5:0 scoreline from a win over LA in 2002. And in a record that will not get much publicity, Wolyniec became the first Metro to score a goal in five different seasons with the club.

But let's remember that although this was a great historic win, it was one over a bad team with 10 men and a backup goalkeeper. And that in 2002, the five-goal victory didn't matter at the end as Metro missed the playoffs. But hell... this was a nice one. Let's hope they keep it up in the next game.

Lineup: Meola, Dunivant, Mendes, Parke, Wynne, O'Rourke, Henderson, Kovalenko, Guevara, Djorkaeff, Wolyniec. Subs: Buddle, Cila, Jolley.