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EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- Brek Shea didnt expect to get off the bench Tuesday night. When he did, he grabbed the role of hero for the United States. Shea, who struggled in an earlier Gold Cup appearance, scored his first international goal off a feed from Landon Donovan in the 82nd minute, giving the United States a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica and the top spot in its group. Seconds after Sean Johnson made a brilliant save off a corner kick, Joe Corona cleared the ball, setting up the winning sequence. The veteran Donovan, trying to work his way back into a starring role on the national team after a self-imposed hiatus, took the ball on the right side. He quickly spotted Shea, who came on just five minutes earlier, streaking down the middle. Donovans pass hit Shea in stride, and the Stoke City player sent a left-footed shot from 15 yards off goalkeeper Patrick Pemberton for the winner, the Americans eighth straight victory, a team record. "Its good," Shea said, downplaying his massive contribution after struggling earlier in the tournament. "First U.S. goal, only goal of the game, it wins the group. Really good. "I still prepare the same way, but honestly, no," he added when asked if he thought coach Jurgen Klinsmann would use him. Klinsmann did call on Shea, showing faith in a player who has had his ups and downs in the national program. "We have a lot of young players coming through the ranks," Klinsmann said. "All these players, we need to carefully build them and support them when things go wrong. Eventually, it will pay off." The Americans will play El Salvador in the quarterfinals Sunday in Baltimore, while Costa Rica meets Honduras in the knockout round. Sheas goal broke a 785-minute string without being scored upon for Costa Rica. It followed Johnson, considered a fourth-stringer at best in the net for the United States, making a clutch stop on Carlos Johnson. "Once I made the save, we just tried to get it out of there," Sean Johnson said. "Then I saw it cleared and were breaking the other way. It created an opportunity and we finished it." The match was played in slightly different conditions than the last time the nations met. That was in a blizzard in Denver, with the United States edging Costa Rica 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier. Tuesday night, there was plenty of moisture on the pitch just before kickoff, but it came from sprinklers trying to keep the turf in shape during a northeastern heat wave. With both sides already having clinched moving on in the CONCACAF championship, not much happened offensively until late in the match in front of 25,432. Early in the second half, Costa Rica captain Pemberton came out of his net, collided with a teammate outside the area and then had the ball hit him squarely in the hands. He was given only a yellow card, however, then immediately made saves on Jose Torres curling free kick and Donovans shot off a rebound. That sequence opened up play for a while, but then it deteriorated into sloppiness and some roughness in midfield between teams with no love lost. U.S. captain DaMarcus Beasley took a nasty spill and was run over by Rodney Wallace early in the match. A woozy Beasley sat out three minutes before returning -- and almost immediately stripped the ball from Wallace. His teammates struggled to link up, showing their lack of familiarity with each other, through the first 20 minutes. Klinsmanns charge is to find the right combinations to get the Americans into the World Cup -- they lead CONCACAF qualifying through six games with 13 points, while Costa Rica is next with 11 -- and then perform well in Brazil. Hes using the Gold Cup to test as many players as possible, while giving most of the national team regulars who have done so well in qualifying a breather. "Its good giving them a taste of these kind of battles," Klinsmann said of using multiple lineups. "Well keep on building this and giving them opportunities whenever possible." Neither goalkeeper was particularly threatened until U.S. defender Clarence Goodson got free on the left side of the box late in the first half. His left-footed drive was deflected out of bounds by the defence. Costa Rica played a tightly packed defensive style for much of the match, but coach Jorge Luis Pinto felt his players handled themselves well. "The only thing we lacked was getting the goal," Pinto said. "The United States got the goal, we didnt." Notes: The other quarterfinals have Mexico vs. Trinidad and Tobago, and Cuba vs. Panama on Saturday in Atlanta. ... Costa Rica had won eight straight internationals. ... The shutout was the first against the Ticos in 12 Gold Cup matches. ... The United States is 13-12-6 all-time against Costa Rica. Where To Buy Cheap Kyrie Shoes . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Air Max 95 Clearance Sale . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-max-270-shoes/fake-air-max-270-black.html . Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. Air Max 95 Replica . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Cheap Nike Vapormax China . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Perry Hills leads the Big Ten in completion percentage and has proven to be invaluable for Maryland as a passer, rusher and senior leader.All of those positives are wasted on Hills, who cant help lamenting the injuries that prevented him from thoroughly enjoying his final season with the Terrapins.Hills has missed two games and was knocked out of two others. Thats his takeaway from a season in which he has thrown 10 touchdown passes and carried Maryland (5-6, 2-6) to the brink of bowl eligibility.Its been pretty rewarding, Hills said Tuesday, but the frustration sets in because you keep saying, `What if? What if?Coming off a season in which he threw 13 interceptions compared to eight TD passes, Hills won the starting job over the summer for first-year coach DJ Durkin. The Terrapins got off to a 4-0 start before Hills hurt his right shoulder in the first half at Penn State.Maryland lost that game, then fell at home to Minnesota with an injured Hills watching from the sideline.Hills returned to beat Michigan State, but two weeks later was injured at Michigan. He started the following week against Ohio State but left in the first quarter with a left shoulder injury.I went in the locker room and said, `Man, God must not want me to play. Im already going through one bad shoulder and hes going to go out and try and give me another, Hills said. It was definitely heart-wrenching. Its like, anything that can go wrong has gone wrong. What on earth?Hills could not recover to face Nebraska last week , and his status for Saturdays home game against Rutgers (2-9, 0-8) is uncertain.I look for Perry to continue to improve this week, get him back healthy and hopefully go out there and help our senior class go get a win, Durkin said.All five of Marylands victories this season have come with Hills in the starting lineup, whicch says as much about his effectiveness as his 66.dddddddddddd7 percent completion percentage.As goes Hills, so go the Terps. Three other quarterbacks have stepped in during his absence, combining for three TD passes, five interceptions and nary a victory.If Hills had stayed healthy, who knows? Maryland probably would have already sewn up a bowl berth and Hills could look back on his final college season with no remorse.Hes certainly fought through a lot of things, Durkin said. You wish he was healthier throughout the whole year. His year would be way more reflective of the type of player and young man he is. In many ways our team and our season would have reflected that, too.Funny thing is, with the exception of a torn ACL as a freshman, Hills has been impervious to injury at Maryland -- until this year.Its definitely been frustrating, he said. Last year I took a lot more hits and didnt really get injured.On a day Maryland bids farewell to its seniors and seeks to earn a bowl berth, his teammates want Hills in the huddle.I came in with Perry and Ive seen him grow so much over the past five years, offensive lineman Michael Dunn said. Hes been through a lot over that time. To have the opportunity to finish his career off with a win over Rutgers and go to a bowl game, that would be a special moment.Hills heads toward the weekend uncertain exactly when his career will end -- or if hes already taken his last snap in a game situation.Nothings given, he said. So you just have to go out and enjoy every second that you get in practice and workouts. Even though it can be really hard sometimes, Im going to really miss it.---More AP college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. ' ' '