closed the scoring in the 83rd at the Balaidos Stadium.Deportivo | Forum
wzh123
Dec 1 '17
PORTLAND, Ore. Nike Vapormax Comme Des Garcons . -- The Western New York Flash won just three games on the road during a National Womens Soccer League regular season that stretched from spring blooms into fall foliage. All three road wins came against teams that ultimately failed to make the playoffs, the last of those wins necessary on the final day of the regular season to ensure they avoided that same playoff-less fate.On Sunday afternoon at Providence Park, in front of an NWSL postseason record crowd of 20,086 and against the leagues best team, the Flash did enough to win another road game.Then they did it all over again, a 4-3 overtime victory earning a place in next weeks title game.When it ended, Portland coach Mark Parsons called it the game of the year. He was half right.It was one game. And what a game it was. But Western New York had to win it twice.Which is in its own way twice as impressive.Ahead by two goals against a host that had trailed by that margin just once at home this season, Western New York watched its lead evaporate. Instead of victory, there was 30 minutes more soccer. So the Flash, without momentum on their side, without the crowd on their side and without their ejected coach on the sideline, did it all over again. Two goals in the first period of overtime finally proved enough to win the day.It was the antithesis of so much that is postseason soccer, when the stakes tempt coaches and players to tread caution. Portland not only won the regular season title but compiled the best goal differential and allowed fewer goals than any other team. It did that without many of its best players for long stretches -- seven of 11 starters in Sundays semifinals were also Olympians who spent a good bit of the summer in Brazil. Despite all of that, Western New York refused to play it safe.There was never a chance we were going to park the bus, said Western New York coach Paul Riley, who was ejected late in the first half after arguing with officials and watched the remainder of the game from behind the scenes while assistant Scott Vallow took charge. Were just not that type of team. Even if I told them to park the bus, they wouldnt park the bus. Theyd just ignore me.But with a field littered with proven international stars, almost all of them in Portlands red uniforms and most of them occupying the entirety of the midfield, the Flash floored it. They were direct, aggressive and full throttle.You let Allie Long get on the ball, Lindsey Horan get on the ball, and eventually theyre going to break you down, Riley said of two of Portlands many game-controlling midfielders. The problem is if you do that, and then they score, then what? Whats Plan B after that? Because now youve got to come and open the game up. I think from the start we felt make it an attacking game, open the game up, make it a free-for-all and see what happens.Already sparsely coiffed, Parsons said he lost more hair and felt as if he had four heart attacks. Which more or less sums up the Flashs success in making it a roiling tempest of a game.Western New York struck first, against the early run of play, when a teammates scuffed shot fell to Sam Mewis in the box and she stuck the ball in the back of the net in the 16th minute. Rookie Makenzy Doniak made it 2-0 in the 38th minute, heading in a cross from Jessica McDonald. Both goals were indirectly the result of long McDonald throw-ins. In fact, three of the four goals Western New York scored began with McDonald chucking the ball into dangerous space and seeing what the ensuing chaos produced.Throw the ball far, Christine Sinclair half joked when asked what Western New York was able to do to be so successful. We knew it was a huge weapon for them. And we faced it before. Its just we werent able to deal with that today. We talked about it before the game, [that] its almost better for them to have the ball at their feet than for us to kick the ball out for a throw-in. But we didnt learn from it, and we kept giving them those opportunities. And they made us pay.Notably gracious in defeat, though it had to sting for a player who has been so good for so long that is easy to forget even her prime will eventually end, Sinclair wasnt diminishing the Flash. But if the goals came courtesy of a not-so-secret weapon, the win was much more involved.After goals from Portlands Sinclair and Emily Sonnett leveled the game after 90 minutes, Western New Yorks Lynn Williams scored both of her teams goals in the first overtime. That pushed the lead to 4-2 before the Thorns pulled one back in an ultimately fruitless effort to force penalty kicks.One Williams goal was the eventual result of another throw-in, the other a terrific first-touch finish off an assist from Mewis at the end of a long counter attack. But this wasnt a result earned through momentary opportunism. More than the goals, Williams embodied Western New Yorks game plan on the day when she pressed a Thorns defender in the corner nearest Portlands goal early in the second overtime period. The crowd roared their approval, rightly, when a corner wasnt conceded. But in the bowels of the stadium, Riley had to be cheering the effort still present in his young forward nearly two hours into the match.The part that I like about her is shes very coachable, Riley said. She wants to learn. She knows how to run now. We spent a lot of time with her. I had Amy Rodriguez when Amy was this age, and shes very similar. Great speed, great turn of pace. She knows how to run. Shes now learning how to hold the ball up a little bit. Her finishing is getting better. Shes got all the tools. She didnt play at a big school, she didnt play in a big club program. Shes a brilliant story.The leagues Golden Ball winner, tied for the regular-season lead in goals with Houstons Kealia Ohai, Williams is a star in the making. Western New York has several of those.I think she deserves to be MVP, to be perfectly honest with you, Riley said.There was, of course, some sweet vindication for Riley, even in absentia. Let go by the Thorns after two disappointing seasons and no playoff wins, he took over Western New York only a couple of months before the regular season. He recalled a meeting early in the process when it seemed both he and the players were wondering if it was the right fit. But the Flash won their opening game at FC Kansas City, one of those three road wins, after a late missed penalty.Maybe that changed the season for us, I dont know, Riley said.Defeat has a thousand fathers. Portland didnt deal well with McDonalds throw-ins, or generally with the size and physicality she and Williams offered. The fans inside Providence Park certainly made it clear they felt the officiating didnt help, either, a possible handball and several other penalty shouts uncalled. Horan hit the crossbar in the first overtime, and Western New York cleared a potential leveler in the second overtime.Western New York could have lost. More important is a team with so little experience played to win.Maybe the playoffs were a possibility, they reasoned after that opening win in Kansas City. Then in another year or two, the young players more seasoned, perhaps a run at a championship. Instead, its on to Houston.We just didnt expect it, Ill be perfectly honest with you, Riley said. But here we are.They could have fooled a lot of people Sunday. Its hard enough to win in Portland once.Let alone twice. Balenciaga Speed Trainer Blanche . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast. Balenciaga Trainer Speed Femme . DAmigo scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner as the Toronto Marlies edged the San Antonio Rampage 5-4 in American Hockey League action. http://www.trainerspeed.fr/nike-air-vapormax-cdg.html .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. MADRID -- Coach Jorge Sampaoli felt Sevilla needed a big win against a top opponent to establish itself as a true contender in Spain.He got just that on Sunday as his team defeated previously unbeaten Atletico Madrid 1-0 to stay near the top of the Spanish league.French midfielder Steven NZonzi netted the winner in the 73rd minute at a packed Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium to give the hosts their third straight win.It was an important game to consolidate ourselves against a team that looked unbeatable, Sampaoli said. We did well against one of the best teams in the world. This victory makes me proud.Sevilla, which has won six straight at home, reached 20 points from nine rounds, one point behind Real Madrid, which is top after a 2-1 home win against Athletic Bilbao.Barcelona, which defeated Valencia 3-2 Saturday thanks to an injury-time penalty kick converted by Lionel Messi, is third with 19 points.Its going to be tight like this the entire season, Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said.There had been some early doubts about Sampaoli as Sevilla lost in the Spanish Super Cup to Barcelona and the UEFA Super Cup to Real Madrid. But after the up-and-down start, the Argentine coach has finally been able to put Sevilla on track. As well as contending in Spain, the Andalusian club is also in a good position to advance to the knockout stages of the Champions League.Atletico, which had the lead coming into the weekend, dropped to fifth place, three points behind Madrid.Diego Simeones team played with 10 men from the 77th on Sunday because of a second yellow card shown to midfielder Jorge Koke Resurreccion.Sampaoli made key adjustments at halftime, allowing his team to take control of the game and earn the hard-fought victory under pouring rain in Seville.NZonzi scored the winner on a fast breakaway, speeding past two defenders after receiving a great throughball from striker Luciano Vietto. The Frenchman entered the area and calmly sent a low shot into the far corner as Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak charged from the net.---REAL MADRID 2, ATHLETIC 1Real Madrid needed an 83rd-minute winner by substitute Alvaro Morata to earn a hard-fougght win against Athletic Bilbao. Balenciaga Trainer Speed Rouge. Karim Benzema put Madrid ahead just seven minutes into the game at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Sabin Merino equalized in the 27th and held on for most of the match.Morata, celebrating his 24th birthday, scored from close range less than 10 minutes after replacing Benzema. Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz made the initial save but Morata persisted and found the open net off the rebound.I feel like a 10-year-old, Morata said. We won and we are in the lead, it couldnt have been better.It was Madrids second straight win after three consecutive draws in the league.Madrid and Villarreal are the only unbeaten clubs in the league after nine rounds.Athletic is sixth on 15 points, six behind Madrid.---VILLARREAL 2, LAS PALMAS 1French striker Cedric Bakambu scored the winner in second-half injury time for Villarreal, but it was Las Palmas Kevin-Prince Boateng who attracted all the attention with a remarkable goal before halftime.Boatengs side volley from inside the area came after a mid-air, back-heel pass by Pedro Tana, who flicked the ball across the area for Boateng to shoot firmly into the corner.Still unbeaten in the league this season, Villarreal has won three of its last four games and is in fourth place with 19 points.---CELTA 4, DEPORTIVO 1Celta Vigo rebounded from two consecutive losses with a comfortable home win over Deportivo La Coruna behind a pair of goals by striker Iago Aspas.After a 4-3 loss to Barcelona and a 5-0 defeat against Villarreal, Celta cruised to victory against struggling Deportivo to move to eighth place with 13 points.The teams were tied 1-1 when Aspas converted a 60th-minute penalty kick. Chilean midfielder Fabian Orellana added to the lead in the 78th and Aspas closed the scoring in the 83rd at the Balaidos Stadium.Deportivo, which has lost four of its last five games, dropped to 17th in the 20-team standings.---Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tales-azzoni ;Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
Share:
