COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Sasha Cohen picked the wrong night to emulate world champion Evgeni Plushenko.

Cohen replicated Plushenko's hard fall early in the short program Friday night at the Grand Prix finals. Unlike the Russian, however, Cohen could not grab the lead.

The dominant skater in the series this year with three wins, Cohen crashed on her opening combination jump. She also slowed down considerably just before her third jump, a double axel, and could not overcome a sparkling performance by Japan's Fumie Suguri.

"When I was going out for the triple lutz, I didn't have the feeling or the rhythm," Cohen said. "Things happen in sport. You can't always be perfect."

Earlier, despite a rare fall, Plushenko won the men's short program. Helped greatly by the new points judging system being used in this series, Plushenko overcame a hard crash on his opening combination jump. He edged Canada's Emanuel Sandhu, a late replacement for American Tim Goebel, thanks to his versatility.

Cohen, like Plushenko the defending Grand Prix champion, also appeared to rush her triple lutz and fell. Her straight line step sequence, usually a strength, was slow and a bit sloppy, and her superb spirals couldn't make up for it.

"You have to be able to rise when you fall," she said, looking ahead to Saturday's free skate.

Suguri gave Cohen plenty to shoot for with her scintillating routine. The two-time world bronze medalist hit every element and never lost her pace despite the mile-high altitude that affected so many skaters late in their programs.

She smiled broadly at her marks, and her 62.02 points were 1.22 ahead of Cohen.

"Usually I skate well in practice and don't do it in the competition," Suguri said. "This time, I worked really hard with my coach (Nobuo Sato) and he had a magic hand."

Next month, it will be Cohen vs. Michelle Kwan at the U.S. championships in Atlanta. Even though Cohen beat Kwan for the first time at a limited-field October competition, then lost to her at a similar event last week, their budding rivalry will take full root at nationals.

So would beating Kwan, a seven-time national champion, including the last six, for the U.S. crown be extra special?

Definitely, because the better the skater you compete with, the higher the level of competition,'' Cohen said. "If you're the best with the best, I guess that's going to have to mean more.

"I really have learned in this past year to focus on my own skating. What would make me happiest is to go out there and skate perfectly like I've done so many times in practice. That's my ultimate goal at nationals.''

Cohen won two events and the Grand Prix overall crown last year, so she carried a long series winning streak into Friday's short program. Her competition in the finals is not formidable, except for Japan's Fumie Suguri, bronze medalist at the last two world championships. Japan's Yoshie Onda and Shizuka Arakawa are in the field, along with Elena Liashenko of Ukraine and Julia Sebestyen of Hungary.

Not that Cohen is taking it easy.

"There's a lot of strong people around the whole world,'' she said. "There's still Michelle. There still are a lot of great Japanese skaters, so you've always got to be ready.

"It's a really great opportunity to get ready for nationals. Every chance you have to compete, you get a little more experience, a little more confidence.''

Cohen has adapted well to the points system used by judges in the Grand Prix series. She's been remarkably consistent, scoring 197.35 points to win Skate America, 197.60 at Skate Canada and 197.16 at Lalique. No other woman has come close to those numbers.

Indeed, when Suguri won the NHK Trophy in Japan, she had a 165 score.