DieBruderschaft.com

PORTLAND, Ore. -- 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. Cameron Maybin Jersey . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. Bryan Holaday Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. http://www.marlinsteamproshop.com/Marlins-Brad-Ziegler-Kids-Jersey/ . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. Martin Prado Jersey . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Nick Wittgren Jersey . Howard Ganz, an MLB lawyer, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos that Rodriguezs claims do not come "remotely close" to what is needed to overturn an arbitration decision in federal court. TORONTO -- As rites of passage go, it could be worse. But there is little room for dignity or privacy for top prospects at the NHL Combine. Taking off your shirt and having your body fat measured in front of a crowd of strangers isnt for everyone. Neither is having someone scream at you to keep going as you pedal away on a stationary bike that feels like riding up Mount Everest. "Its different, it really is," said Quebec Remparts winger Adam Erne, the first out of the gate at the airport-area conference centre Friday morning. "I didnt know what to expect for the setup. Im mean theyre all kind of in your face, smiling at you." Erne had done some post-season training work back home, including spending time on a bike. "Obviously its different here when youve got a thousand people watching you and yelling at you Go Go and then they tell youre halfway and youre already dead." Erne, ranked 26th among North American skaters by the NHLs Central Scouting Bureau, did the full routine before scores -- rather than a thousand -- of NHL team officials. None of the top three ranked North American skaters took part in the fitness testing Friday. Portland Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones, ranked No. 1 by Central Scouting, and Halifax Mooseheads linemates Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, rated No. 2 and 3, exited after the measurement portion of the day. Jones had a medical exemption. But all three had the same excuse, pointing to a prolonged season that didnt end until last Sundays Memorial Cup final, won 6-4 by Halifax over Portland. "My bodys worn down. Ive been nursing a couple of injuries all year so I didnt think I was really prepared," Jones said. "And I had a good talk with my agent about it and he thought the same way." "Theres a difference between being in shape on ice and being in shape off the ice," he added. "Ive been playing hockey since August," added MacKinnon. Drouin echoed the sentiment. "Weve been through a lot of hockey. We just came back four days ago," he said. In truth, none of the three really stood to benefit from publicly pushing themselves to the limit. They have already shown their wares. Plus they have endured a punishing season. The two Halifax players flew home from Saskatoon on Monday, took part in a parade Tuesday and then jumped on a 4 a.m. flight Wednesday to come to Toronto. Hardly the best preparation. Especially compared to players like Cape Breton winger William Carrier, who prepared for two months for the tests. Even then, they werent pleasant. "Theyre pretty hard," Carrier, the 18th-ranked North American skater, said of the bike challenges. A native of Montreal, Carrier was just happy that the Canadiens were one of the teams that interviewed him this week. Drouin said he will work out at a later date for individual clubs as needed while MacKinnon said he would be open to such. Jones, however, said he would not. Colorado, Florida and Tampa Bay hold the firsst three picks in the June 30 NHL draft, which will be held at the Prudential Centre in Newark.dddddddddddd. "Colorado is in the drivers seat and we know were going to get a hell of a player at (No.) 2, or 3, or 4. Its a deep draft," said Florida GM Dale Tallon. The Panthers exec says the phone has not rung off the hook yet. "Ive had a couple of mild conversations," he said. "They say, Are you moving the pick? I say, Make me an offer. Thats the way it goes. You start the process early and you work it all the way through til five minutes before you make the pick, maybe a minute before you make the pick." MacKinnon, for one, said he had been doing his homework on the teams that could draft him. "Im pretty interested in some of the teams I could end up with," said the poised 17-year-old. "Obviously anything can happen on draft day, teams could decide to trade their picks or anything like that. But its human nature to be interested in that kind of stuff, what your future could be." NHL teams leave little to chance, doing just about everything except checking out the prospects teeth. The prospects were measured, from height to body fat, before doing a variety of tests including bench press, standing long jump and vertical jump. Then it was on to the gruelling bike tests: the Wingate Cycle Ergometer and VO2 Max. The so-called Wingate peak power output test is short and painful, measuring how explosive the athlete is -- usually as someone trying to help yells at you to keep going. Its a 30-second all-out sprint on a stationary bike with the resistance climbing until you hit a point where you cant pedal any more. "Faster, faster, go, go, go, go go," was one typically loud refrain. Said Erne: "Its 30 seconds and it feels like a lifetime." The VO2 Max tests the endurance capability of a players heart, lungs and muscles. The player cycles away, with a breathing tube lodged in his mouth. Swedish defenceman Hampus Lindholm was the only prospect last year who lasted more than 14 minutes. He was taken sixth overall by the Anaheim Ducks. "I thought the VO2 would be the worst just because (of the length). I think mine ended up lasting 13 and a half minutes," said Erne. "But it surprised me how hard the Wingate was. After the Wingate, everybody was just kind of dead. I mean a couple of guys were throwing up." Vernon Vipers winger Adam Tambellini, ranked 42nd among North American skaters, also was able to forgo parts of the fitness testing. And asked about why, he showed he already is well into the NHL way of doing things. "Lower body (injury)," said Tambellini, the son of former Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini. Like other prospects, Tambellini was interviewed by a number of clubs this week. He said the strangest question he got was when someone asked him what his favourite animal was. Showing he is quick on his feet, Tambellini chose a player on that team. The testing continues Saturday. Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '