MEXICO CITY (AP) Argentine striker Mariano Pavone scored a hat trick to lead Cruz Azul to a 5-1 win over Sporting Kansas City to become the third Mexican team to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals Wednesday.
Pavone scored in the 2nd, 22nd and 55th minutes as Cruz Azul secured a 5-2 aggregate victory over Kansas City in the quarterfinals series. Cruz Azul will play fellow-Mexican side Tijuana in the semifinals.
Toluca is the other Mexican team in the final four after defeating the San Jose Earthquakes earlier Wednesday.
Argentina's Mauro Formica scored in the 65th minute and Christian Gimenez added a goal four minutes later for Cruz Azul, a runner-up in the 2009 and 2010.
Benny Feilhaber scored in the 43rd for the Sporting, the reigning MLS champions.
