| 908 Beiträge - Forenjunkie
|
|
|
HOUSTON -- A grinding end to the regular season resulted in an undisciplined playoff exit for the Montreal Impact. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Authentic . First-half goals by Will Bruin and Oscar Boniek Garcia sucked the life out of the Impact as the Houston Dynamo bounced them from Major League Soccers post-season with a 3-0 victory on Thursday. Montreal was clearly frustrated, losing its composure and earning three ejections over the course of the game. "The match was not so bad at the beginning, but they went up by two, and that made it very difficult for us," said Impact head coach Marco Schallibaum. "We thought that if we could make it 2-1 in the second half, wed have a chance, but then we got the red card." Bruin scored a second goal in the 72nd minute for a 3-0 Dynamo lead after Impact defender Nelson Rivas was ejected from the match following his second yellow card two minutes prior. In the final minute of the match two Montreal players -- forward Marco Di Vaio and defender Andres Romero -- were handed red cards following a skirmish in the near corner near the Impacts goal. Di Vaio, Romero and Rivas will miss Montreals first regular season game in 2014. "Sorry for my reaction in the game tonight," said Romero in a tweet after the game. "I felt great impotence and no I couldnt control. Excuse me!" The Impact qualified for the MLS playoffs in just their second season in the league, but they had a share of the Eastern Conference lead as late as Sept. 8 before falling to fifth after a loss on the final day of the regular season. The Dynamo finished two points ahead of Montreal in the standings to earn home field for the knockout round. "It has been a long season, and of course we are tired," said Schallibaum. "But that is no excuse for what happened." Some members of Montreals lineup are seeing the late-season collapse as an opportunity for growth. "We can learn from Houston; they are a good team and played a very good match tonight," said Impact defender Hassoun Camara. "Yes, its an experience, and maybe a hard lesson for us to learn tonight, but we have to look toward the future and find a way to come back." Montreals Justin Mapp had a chance to even the score in the 18th minute, but his shot just missed the right post after Bobby Boswell turned the ball over in the far corner. Di Vaio led the Impact with five shots, just two of which were on target. Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall recorded his fourth post-season shutout and said he is looking forward to the rest of the playoffs. "Sometimes its fun being a goalkeeper and watching the team in front of you put on a performance (like that)," said Hall. "It makes soccer fun, especially when you look around and everyone is playing their best soccer of the year." In the 16th minute, Bruin received a back-heeled pass from Ricardo Clark, found some space just inside the box and ripped home his fifth career playoff goal. Bruin scored four goals as Houston reached the MLS Cup final a year ago. The Dynamo extended their lead in the 27th minute as Boniek Garcia converted a penalty kick after Montreals Hernan Bernardello tripped him in the box. Since Aug. 24, following a 5-0 win over Houston in Montreal, the Impact has won just two of 11 games and have been shutout seven times. "We just have not had the right disposition in the second half of the season," added Schallibaum. "There was a lot to handle mentally. We need to analyze what happened, what we have gone through and just try to be better next year." Houston advances to play the No. 1-seeded New York Red Bulls (17-9-8) in a two-game, aggregate score series. The first match is in Houston on Sunday, and the second will be at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on Nov. 6. The Red Bulls won the 2013 Supporters Shield with the best record in the MLS. "The one thing about this group, the attention to detail once the playoffs starts, it grows minute by minute and they prepare themselves to give themselves the best chance possible," said Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear. ""Even at the end there, cooler heads prevailed and its important that we did because the game on Sunday." Wholesale NFL Jerseys . The 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner will start Sunday nights series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants held a half-game division lead in the NL West against their rival going into Saturday nights middle game at AT&T Park. Wholesale Jerseys . Howard had 23 points and 18 rebounds, Bryant scored 20, and the in-transition Lakers continued warming up for a possible return to the bench by Phil Jackson with a 103-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.ST. LOUIS - Kansas knows all about Stanford now. The Cardinal couldnt deny a slight at a news conference a day earlier fueled them just a bit before pulling their second — and much bigger — upset of the NCAA tournament. Kansas freshmen Andrew Wiggins of Vaughan, Ont., and Wayne Selden Jr. ducked their heads and giggled Saturday when asked about Chasson Randle, Stanfords leading scorer. "We definitely saw that video," Randle said Sunday after the No. 10 seed Cardinal beat the second-seeded Jayhawks 60-57 to advance to the Sweet 16 in the South Regional. "Coach told me not to talk about it but I definitely took it as a challenge. It was a little big extra motivation." Enough for the Cardinal to make the Jayhawks the second No. 2 seed to be knocked out of this tournament in the third round and enough for them to reach the round of 16 for the first time since 2008. Wiggins was held to four points on 1-for-6 shooting in what could have been his final college game. He accepted his share of the responsibility for the loss. "I let a lot of people down," Wiggins said. "If I would have played better, we wouldnt be in this situation, you know? I blame myself for this." Torontos Dwight Powell had 15 points and seven rebounds despite playing with four fouls much of the second half and Randle added 13 points, six steals and four assists for the Cardinal (23-12), who were making their first NCAA appearance since 2008. "To beat a team like this, a storied program with great coaching, great players, always feels amazing," Powell said. "So as of right now were still in the race and were still playing in March, and it feels great." Centre Stefan Nastic, from Thornhill, Ont., had 10 points and four rebounds for the Cardinal. Stanford beat No. 7 seed New Mexico on Friday and will have a higher seed for the first time when it faces 11th-seeded Dayton in the regional semifinal in Memphis, Tenn. The Flyers beat No. 3 Syracuse 55-53. The 6-foot-8 Wiggins, a likely NBA lottery pick if he decides to leave school, was saddled with four turnovers for Kansas (25-10). Wiggins had averaged 28 points the previous four games but the Jayhawks were missing 7-foot freshman Joel Embiid who was sidelined by a stress fracture in his back. Coach Bill Self thought Stanfords height up front bothered Wiggins, but added, "I think he had an off-game, too. Cheap Jerseys Supply. Give them credit for that, we put him in position to make some plays." Josh Huestis, who had the primary responsibility for guarding Wiggins, played 39 minutes and had six points, eight rebounds and two blocks. "That was Joshs assignment and he took it to heart," Dawkins said. "He had help. We just tried to make it as difficult as we could for him to score." Self said the game seemed like "a struggle from the opening tip." Everything didnt go right for Stanford, either. The Cardinal were 0 for 9 from 3-point range. "We can make 3s but thats not what we rely on," Dawkins said. "I didnt even notice it because thats not what weve been." Tarik Black had 18 points and six rebounds for the Jayhawks, but he fouled out with 5:25 to go. Conner Frankamp had 12 points on four 3-pointers, the last two in the final 23 seconds to make it close after Stanford had pulled ahead by seven. Stanford was 9 for 12 at the free throw line over the final 2:04 and needed all those points. Frankamps second 3-pointer narrowed the gap to 59-57 with 14.9 seconds left. Anthony Brown hit one of two free throws with 12.9 seconds to go and Frankamp banged a third 3-point attempt off the glass near the buzzer in a bid to tie it. "I knew when that left my hand it was off," Frankamp said. "I didnt get a great look at it." Kansas went to a full-court press down five points with about 11 minutes to play and forced five turnovers the next 6 minutes to tie it Kansas had been 0 for 10 from 3-point range for the tournament, seven of the misses against Eastern Kentucky, before Frankamp connected with 3:34 to go in the half. Frankamp hit another one just before the halftime buzzer off a turnover to put the Jayhawks up 24-22, their first lead of the game. They trailed most of the first half against Eastern Kentucky, too, before pulling away for an 80-69 victory. Powell hit his first shot on a drive after going 0 for 8 against New Mexico on Friday. He had 10 points before drawing his fourth foul early in the second half. Villanova, the No. 2 seed in the East Regional, lost 77-65 to seventh-seeded Connecticut. Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China cheap jerseys factory ' ' '
|
