Bermuda Hogges play the first game of a three-leg tour of the US tonight, knowing that a win over Harrisburg City Islanders would go a long way to rescuing their season.

The Hogges have had a mixed year by anyone's standards, but are still in with a slim chance of securing a mid-table finish.

With just six points separating the Hogges in ninth and Western Mass Pioneers who are sixth, a couple of wins could change the Hogges' campaign.

While Kyle Lightbourne's side have four games in hand on the Pioneers, and a couple on the sides directly above them, they will have to beat two good teams if they are to finish the year on a high. First up tonight are Harrisburg, a side they failed to beat in three attempts last year, then they face Crystal Palace Baltimore tomorrow and again on Wednesday, before playing their last game of the season against Harrisburg again at the National Sports Centre on August 8.

Palace and Harrisburg lie fifth and sixth in the table, but both have struggled in recent weeks with Harrisburg managing to win just two points from their last three games and Palace nearly throwing away a two-goal lead against bottom-club Real Maryland Monarchs on Thursday.

The Hogges will certainly fancy their chances of taking something away from the last four games of the season, but will have to be at their best to do so, and while Hogges are looking to finish their season on the up, the lure of the play-offs is Harrisburg's main motivation.

After draws against Pittsburgh and Western Mass, and a defeat at the hands of Palace, any hopes that Harrisburg had of finishing in the top two have gone, but with three games of their regular season left, head coach Bill Beacher is looking to finish strongly and take some momentum into the play-offs that begin on August 13.

"We're not happy about finishing the regular season outside first or second place, but we can't worry about that now," he said.

"Our task is Bermuda twice and Pittsburgh. If we can get a rhythm going into these last three games and enter the play-offs on a roll I think we'll be a handful for any team that we get matched up with. It all starts now with Bermuda though.

"The focus then is on the play-offs and getting the team ready for the challenges ahead. A challenge that has been made harder after the results of recent weeks."

"We've had a few difficult results in the last outings that have end our chances of finishing in the first or second spot in the regular season, so now we have to prepare ourselves for the first round game, home or away," said assistant coach Steve Widdowson.

nBermuda Under-17s drew against Trinidad and Tobago Under-17s 1-1 in their opening match of the World Cup qualifiers.

Damali Bell equalised for Bermuda against the host nation with 14 minutes of Thursday's match remaining.

The Gombey Warriors will be confident of victory when they play against Aruba today.

n Khano Smith's New England Revolution have reached the final of the SuperLiga after beating Mexican giants Atlante 1-0 on Wednesday. They will now play Houston Dynamo in Tuesday's final.

Smith came on as a substitute after 64 minutes.