Wisconsin Soccer Central

No one has created more goals in Major League Soccer this season than Ethan Finlay (Marshfield).

Finlay set up Federico Higuain's 66th-minute equalizer as host Columbus Crew SC tied the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1 on Saturday night at Crew Stadium. (Watch below)

It was his eighth assist in 15 appearances this season, one more than Sporting Kansas City's Benny Feilhaber and tops in MLS. Finlay had seven assists in 63 career appearances coming into this year, all of them coming last season.

With the Crew down 1-0 in the weather-delayed match, Finlay raced past left back Robbie Rogers to get onto a through ball from Tony Tchani on the right side. Galaxy center back Leonardo tried to tackle the ball away, but it popped right up to Finlay, who found Higuain coming through the middle of the box for the finish.

Finlay also helped Columbus advance to the fifth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, scoring what proved to be the game-winner in Wednesday night's 3-1 away victory over the Richmond Kickers from the third-division USL.

Playing up top in a new-look 3-5-2 formation – he normally is a wide midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 setup – Finlay snapped a 1-1 tie in the 42nd minute. Hector Jimenez played in a cross from the right side that Kickers goalkeeper Ryan Taylor couldn't hold, and Finlay pounced on the loose ball and finished for his third goal of the year.

In Thursday's fifth-round draw, the Crew were handed another road match, this one at fellow MLS club Orlando City on June 30.

On Twitter: @EthanFinlay13

• Andrew Ribeiro (Green Bay Notre Dame) played a key role as the Charlotte Independence upset MLS side New England Revolution 1-0 in a fourth-round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match Wednesday night in Boston. Jorge Herrera scored in the 55th minute for the Independence, the lone USL side among the final 16 teams. Charlotte coach Mike Jeffries praised the play of Paolo Del Piccolo and Ribeiro in his team's midfield. "I thought Paolo's passing was really good and he got us out of some pressure situations," said Jeffries, whose expansion team is 3-4-3 and in ninth place in the USL Eastern Conference standings. "That was important for us to release guys like Jorge and get forward. I also thought Ribeiro was good in the middle of the field to shut down a lot of their attacking play." The Independence will play the Chicago Fire of MLS in a fifth-round match on June 30 in Bridgeview, Ill. On Twitter: @Brazilribs
• Goalkeeper Patrick McLain (Eau Claire Memorial) was named to the USL Team of the Week after making six saves in Sacramento Republic FC's 2-1 victory over Arizona United on Saturday. On Tuesday, he made four saves in 120 minutes of regulation and extra time and stopped two shots from the spot, but Republic was ousted from the U.S. Open Cup 6-5 on penalties following a 2-2 draw with the host San Jose Earthquakes. McLain denied Khari Stephenson and Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi to put Sacramento in position to advance, but his counterpart, Bryan Meredith, kept the MLS side alive with a save of his own and the Earthquakes went on to prevail. On Twitter: @PatrickMcLain24
• Andrew Stadler (Wauwatosa West) and Landskrona BoIS continued their surge up the table in Sweden's Division 1 Södra, routing host Lunds BK 4-0 on Thursday night. Stadler's goal in the 19th minute gave Landskrona (4-5-2) a 2-0 lead, and they went on to their fourth win in the past six league matches and rose to seventh place in the 14-team league. Stadler is tied for eighth in the league with four goals. On Twitter: @AndrewStadler
• Hannah Kernen (Belleville/Sugar River/UW-Green Bay) scored her second goal for Swedish club Täby FK on Saturday, helping her team to a 3-0 victory over visiting IK Huge in a Division 1 Norra Svealand match. Kernen's 73rd-minute goal gave Täby FK (7-2-0) a 2-0 lead as the team went on to its sixth straight league victory – they are tied for second with Gamla Upsala SK, one point behind leader Sundsvalls DFF.