FRISCO, Texas -- Columbus scoring leader Dominic Oduro had a goal and an assist to lead the Crew to a 4-2 victory over FC Dallas on Sunday night. The Crew (12-14-5) moved into a tie with New England for sixth place, a point away from the Eastern Conferences final playoff berth with three matches remaining. "The balls in our court, putting pressure on those teams ahead of us," interim Columbus coach Brian Bliss said. FC Dallas (10-10-10) remained eighth in the Western Conference, five points out of fifth. "I think our results are deserving (of criticism)," FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said, "and not just tonight. At the end of the day, its all about results. "Our fans have to hold us higher, as we should be holding ourselves higher." Columbus took a 2-0 lead on goals by Federico Higuain (his 11th) and Jairo Arrieta (third) within the first 17 minutes. Higuain moved in alone to manoeuvr FC Dallas keeper Raul Fernandez out of position. Defender George John moved in to the goal and stopped Higuains shot, but the ball bounced off of him and into the net in the ninth minute. Oduro set up Arrieta with a crossing pass in the 17th. He put the ball on his left foot and lifted it over Fernandez and off the crossbar. The ball bounced down, then back up into the top of the net. FC Dallas came back four minutes later when Blas Perez took a long pass from Mauro Diaz. Goalkeeper Matt Lampson came out, but Perez booted the ball past him into the right corner for his 11th goal. The Crew restored their two-goal margin in the 44th minute when Oduro picked up the ball from Chad Barson near midfield, beat two defenders and moved into the penalty area to send a shot past Fernandez. Oduros 12th goal was unassisted. "Six of (Oduros) goals have come from the wide right midfield and six up top. That shows ourselves, the team and the league he can score from anywhere," Bliss said. FC Dallas moved within 3-2 during the 54th minute when Diaz dribbled past a defender and Lampson to chip the ball in from near the left goalpost. Columbus Bernardo Anor put the game away with his fourth goal in the 86th minute, assisted by Ethan Finlay. "It was pretty relieving for the team," Anor said. "We were ahead just 3-2 in the second period, but that goal gave us a little more space." Spud Webb Hawks Jersey . -- DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and 16 rebounds to help the Sacramento Kings snap a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Chicago Bulls 99-70 on Monday night. Pete Maravich Jersey . According to a report from ESPN, Lynch wants a new contract from the Seahawks, and will likely skip all off-season workouts until he can renegotiate his deal with the Seahawks. https://www.thehawkslockerroom.com/Cam-R...Edition-Jersey/. -- Cordell Cato scored his first goal of the season and the San Jose Earthquakes survived a full half playing a man down to beat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night. Damian Jones Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Bruno Fernando Jersey . After the loss, White refused to make good on the bet, instead offering Hoyt tickets to a Bears game.HUMBLE, Texas -- Phil Mickelson has never shied away from suspense, though its usually limited to his play. The four-time major winner, who withdrew from last weeks Texas Open after pulling a muscle in his right side, waited as long as possible to end the guessing about whether he would play this week ahead of the Masters. Mickelson finally announced his intentions to indeed play at this weeks Houston Open on Wednesday afternoon through a post on his website. The decision came after two days of "light practice" at Augusta National, where Mickelson said his side "felt sore as opposed to hurting." "I feel that to give myself the best chance at the Masters I have to play in Houston," Mickelson said. "If I thought I would injure myself further I would have withdrawn from the tournament, but the last few days have been good." Mickelson didnt play in Wednesdays pro-am, fueling speculation that he might withdraw from the tournament he won in 2011. However, tournament director Steve Timms said that had been planned for six weeks -- long before his injury. Timms said Mickelson had already agreed to take part in a sponsor dinner rather than play in the pro-am. The worlds No. 5 player helped solidify the Houston Opens spot as a preferred Masters tuneup by committing to play in 2008 and every year since. He finished 16th last year. Mickelsons return to the 7,441-yard Golf Club of Houston -- formerly known as Redstone Golf Club before an ownership change -- highlights a stellar field that features the winners of 34 major championships. Its a field that includes Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, among others, as well as defending champion D.A. Points. First and foremost, theyre after the winners share of the $6.4 million event -- while also using the courses slick greens and tight rough to prepare for the Masters. After a schedule change last year, the tournament is back in its normmal slot.dddddddddddd And thats just fine with McIlroy, who tied for 45th at the event last year while still in the infant stages of a club change. "Its brilliant," McIlroy said. "They get the fairway heights the same, the rough heights the same, the runoff around the greens ... Its perfect for that." McIlroy finished 19th at the Houston Open in 2009 before missing the cut a year later. The former world No. 1 was winless on the PGA Tour last year, though he has been trending upward since -- including a win over Adam Scott in the Australian Open in December. He finished second at the Honda Classic last month before tying for 25th at Doral. McIlroy took the last three weeks off leading into the Houston Open-- a big change from last year when he decided to play the Texas Open only days ahead of time. Even with Augusta National looming, McIlroy said hes fully focused on competing this week. "I think its important to finish well," McIlroy said. "I dont think theres any better way to prepare than getting yourself into contention and playing golf under pressure, because thats ultimately what you want to do next week." Points sank a 13-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to win last year, winning by one stroke over Stenson and Billy Horschel. The American hasnt finished higher than 28th this year, including missed cuts in each of his last two tournaments, but his confidence is high this week. "Knowing that Ive had success here, and its cool to be out there," Points said. "Makes you feel like, Hey, I can do that again." Mickelson tees off Thursday morning with Webb Simpson and Keegan Bradley, with the threesome of Texas native Jimmy Walker, Stenson and Matt Kuchar behind them. McIlroys threesome with Dustin Johnson and Luke Donald begins in the afternoon, followed immediately by a group including Jordan Spieth, Garcia and Steve Stricker. ' ' '
