By Dylan Butler

WASHINGTON - Santino Quaranta struck in the 75th minute to beat Honduran goalkeeper Donis Escobar inside the near post, lifting the United States to a 2-0 win against Honduras in a clash of Group B titans Wednesday night at RFK Stadium.

Brian Ching headed home an insurance goal four minutes later for the United States, which moved to the verge of the quarterfinals with six points atop Group B.

"We knew this would be a good challenge tonight," U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. "Honduras is a good team. This was a game that was going to go a long way toward determining who would finish first in our group and I thought the response from our team was quite good."

It was the fourth victory for the United States in as many meetings against Honduras in Gold Cup history. The Americans also defeated Honduras in a World Cup qualifier 2-1 a month ago at Chicago's Soldier Field, the site of the Gold Cup semifinals.

"I think it was what we expected, a very intense game," Honduran coach Reinaldo Rueda said through a translator. "Honduras had a good game, but we made a mistake that cost us the game. It's a great lesson for the future. We need to know what we can fix."

The atmosphere at RFK Stadium was electric, as long before the opening kick the partisan Honduran crowd chanted and waved flags. The majority of fans sung in unison when the national anthem of Honduras was played.

But nobody knows RFK better than Quaranta, the D.C. United midfielder who broke a tense scoreless tie with his first international goal. Benny Feilhaber fed Charlie Davies inside the box and the forward laid the ball square to Quaranta, who ran onto the ball and struck from the top of the area to beat Escobar with a low, hard shot.

"There were a million things went through my head when I scored," Quaranta said. "I was more proud to have done it here. Anywhere you score for you country it's special, but to do it here at RFK where it all started for me is special."

Four minutes later, Ching took a cross from Steve Cherundolo and powerfully headed it into the net from eight yards to seal the win for the United States and send the American fans into a frenzy.

While there was no scoring in the first half, there was plenty of drama.

Quaranta missed a diving header from 12 yards, sending it wide of the far post in the 15th minute.

Four minutes later, Walter Martinez was played in on Troy Perkins with a long ball over the top, but the American goalkeeper did well to come off his line and snag the attempt.

In the 22nd minute, Kyle Beckerman played Ching through and the forward had Escobar beat, but his chip was cleared off the line by a Honduran defender.

Martinez had the best chance of the first half on the half-hour mark, getting behind the U.S. backline and running in alone on Perkins. But the Honduran captain took a touch and went near post, putting his shot off the outside netting from 14 yards.

"Even if you're not in the right position, you make him think and you don't give him too much," Perkins said. "You just get set and if he beats you, then OK he did his job. But if not, you did your job."

Four minutes later, Heath Pearce lofted a cross from the left and found an unmarked Freddy Adu, but his downward header from eight yards was saved.

The United States nearly capitalized on a Honduran defensive gaffe when Pearce pounced on a ball after Honduran defender Nery Medina tripped. The American left back crossed into the box, where Adu took a touch before Ching missed with a side volley in the 51st minute.

In the 64th minute, Bradley made a pair of changes, bringing on Feilhaber for Logan Pause and Davies for Adu. Some 11 minutes later, those moves would prove quite fruitful.

Davies nearly had an unusual winner in the 71st minute as he leapt to block Escobar's attempted clearance and the ball spun toward the open net before the Honduran goalkeeper recovered and pounced on it.

Both teams travel to Boston and will play the final game of the group stage on Saturday with Honduras facing Grenada in a must-win match and the U.S. taking on Haiti at Gillette Stadium.

"We didn't meet our goal of winning," Honduran defender Osman Chavez said through a translator. "I think we deserved more, but at least I think we showed well. Soccer is about getting goals, not about what's deserved."