Messi and Inter Miami finish with best record in MLS history, roll past New England 6-2

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have put together the best regular season in Major League Soccer history.

Messi had three goals and an assist in the second half alone, Luis Suarez had a pair of first-half goals and Inter Miami beat the New England Revolution 6-2 on Saturday night, finishing the season with an MLS-record 74 points — one more than the Revolution had in 2021.

It was Messi's first hat trick for Inter Miami, the team the Argentine superstar joined midway through the 2023 season in a huge victory for Major League Soccer.

At 22-4-8 in league play, Inter Miami finished the season with a .765 winning percentage for another MLS record. There were four teams — D.C. United (24-8) and the LA Galaxy (24-8) in 1998, LAFC (21-4-9) in 2019 and New England (22-5-7) in 2021 — that finished an MLS season with a .750 winning percentage, which was the top spot until Saturday night.

Now, the top spot is Inter Miami's by any measure, both in terms of points and best won-lost-tied mark. Inter Miami also became the eighth team in MLS history to get through a regular season with only four losses, tying another record.

Messi — who played about 35 minutes and still scored three times Saturday — finished the regular season with 20 goals and 16 assists in 19 matches.

Suarez got to 20 goals in his first MLS season, his strikes — coming about three minutes apart — helping Inter Miami erase an early 2-0 deficit. Luca Langoni and Dylan Borrero had the goals for New England.

The rest of the match was all Miami. The team had a stage pulled onto the field after the match to recognize the Supporters Shield win, which the team claimed on the road earlier this month, and fired pink confetti into the air when time expired.

Suarez's brace pulled the hosts into a tie by halftime and Benja Cremaschi scored the go-ahead goal in the 58th minute. Messi had an assist on Cremaschi’s goal, one that came just seconds after the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner subbed into the match.

There had been some question about whether Messi would play at all, especially since Inter Miami had already wrapped up the Supporters' Shield and No. 1 seed in the MLS Cup playoffs. All that was at stake for Inter Miami on Saturday was the record.

And there was a scare in the 74th minute when Messi was fouled, yelled in pain and grabbed at his right ankle as he was on the ground. He’s missed 15 of Inter Miami’s MLS matches in 2024, either because of commitments to Argentina’s national team or the two-month absence that he needed to recover from a badly injured ankle — an injury that happened during his nation’s run to the Copa America title in July.

It was just a scare.

Messi scored about two minutes apart in the second half, turning a 3-2 lead into a 5-2 rout and it was only a matter of time before the record would belong to Inter Miami. And the capper came in the 89th minute, Suarez flipping the ball to Messi for an easy score that finished off the hat trick.

Next up for Inter Miami: Game 1 of a best-of-three first-round series, at home Friday night. It will be the first home playoff match in club history.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Inter Miami midfielder Robert Taylor heads the ball during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the New England Revolution, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The ball gets past Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender on a goal scored by New England Revolution forward Luca Langoni during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez (9) runs with the ball as New England Revolution midfielder Brandon Bye (15) defends during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

New England Revolution forward Luca Langoni (41) celebrates after scoring a goal during the first half of an MLS soccer match against Inter Miami, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

New England Revolution forward Giacomo Vrioni (9) goes for the ball over Inter Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets (5) during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

New England Revolution defender Xavier Arreaga, right, controls the ball as Inter Miami midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, left, defends during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi watches from the bench during the first half of an MLS soccer match against the New England Revolution, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi arrives for an MLS soccer match against the New England Revolution, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Authorities said at least seven people were killed Saturday when part of a ferry dock collapsed on Georgia's Sapelo Island, where crowds had gathered for a fall celebration by the island's tiny Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.

Multiple people were taken to hospitals, and crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, the McIntosh County Fire Department, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and others were searching the water, according to Natural Resources spokesperson Tyler Jones. The agency operates the dock and ferry boats that transport people between the island and the mainland.

Jones said a gangway at the dock collapsed, sending people plunging into the water.

“There have been seven fatalities confirmed,” Jones said. “There have been multiple people transported to area hospitals, and we are continuing to search the water for individuals.”

Helicopters and boats with side-scanning sonar were used in the search, according to a Department of Natural Resources statement.

Among the dead was a chaplain for the state agency, Jones said.

Jones said he did not know what caused the gangway to collapse, but officials believe there were at least 20 people on it at the time. The gangway connected an outer dock where people board the ferry to another dock onshore.

Sapelo Island is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of Savannah, reachable from the mainland by boat.

The deadly collapse happened as island residents, family members and tourists gathered for Cultural Day, an annual fall event spotlighting the island’s tiny community of Hogg Hummock, home to a few dozen Black residents. The community of dirt roads and modest homes was founded after the Civil War by former slaves from the cotton plantation of Thomas Spalding.

Small communities descended from enslaved island populations in the South — known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia — are scattered along the coast from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say their separation from the mainland caused residents to retain much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets.

in 1996, Hogg Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock, was put on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the United States’ treasured historic sites.

But the community's population has been shrinking for decades, and some families have sold their land to outsiders who built vacation homes.

Tax increases and zoning changes by the local government in McIntosh County have been met by protests and lawsuits by Hogg Hummock residents and landowners. They have been battling for the past year to undo zoning changes approved by county commissioners in September 2023 that doubled the size of homes allowed in Hogg Hummock.

Residents say they fear larger homes will lead to tax increases that could force them to sell land their families have held for generations.

FILE - The sun rises over Sapelo Island, Ga., a Gullah-Geechee community, on June 10, 2013. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)