First, my thoughts are with the folks in Santa Barbara tonight where a horrific conflagration of historic proportions is ripping through the city and thousands (including my 80-year-old mum who rents a cottage up there) have been evacuated and don’t know whether they will have homes to return to.

In light of that, the night’s soccer news is rather minor by comparison, but Sigi Schmid’s Columbus Crew did defeat the Chicago, um, Fire 2-1 tonight in the Eastern Conference semifinal to reach MLS Cup in Carson. It was a gutsy come from behind win by the Crew in front of a delirious crowd who will meet the winner of Saturday’s Real Salt Lake-New York Red Bulls Western Conference decider.

Highlights:

In college games tonight:
*USC beat Boston University 2-0 in Utah. USC will face either BYU or Virginia Tech in the next round on Saturday.

*Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills will meet Saturday in the Far West Final. CSUDH disposed of Notre Dame de Namur 3-0 with senior midfielder Kyle Holland getting his first career hat trick. Cal State L.A. advanced in a 5-4 penalty kick decision over Sonoma State.

Also: UCLA’s Tina DiMartino was named Pac-10 Player of the Year.