Termine » You learn a lot about yourself in Novemb

TORONTO -- As homecomings go, the MLS Cup final is going to be hard to beat for Seattles Stefan Frei.Frei made critical saves in regulation and then again in the penalty-kick shootout to help the Sounders win their first championship with a 5-4 victory in the tiebreaker against Toronto FC on Saturday night.The Swiss goalkeeper, who was drafted by Toronto in 2009 and spent five seasons with the club until he was traded in 2013, earned the games MVP honors.This is what you want to be a part of, he said. Weve made Sounders history and for me it could have happened anywhere, I dont care as long as Im with my team and my teammates.Roman Torres scored in the sixth round of penalty kicks to clinch the trophy after 120 scoreless minutes. It was the first MLS Cup final to fail to produce a goal in regulation, setting the stage for a dramatic tiebreaker.While Torontos Michael Bradley and Alvaro Fernandez for Seattle had both seen their shots saved, the game went to sudden-death spot kicks. Torontos Justin Morrow could only clatter his shot off the crossbar, setting the stage for Torres to win it with a high shot down the middle of the goal.You need a little bit of luck, Frei said. Lets face it, PKs are not the prettiest thing to decide a game, and actually Roman missed a penalty in training yesterday. Im glad he missed yesterday and not today.Seattle became the first team in MLS Cup final history to fail to produce a shot on target throughout the game. Additionally, the Sounders three shots overall were the fewest in an MLS title game, the first to feature two expansion franchises. Toronto was the first Canadian MLS Cup finalist.That meant little to Bradley, who was understandably dejected after seeing his team become just the second to lose at home since MLS switched from having the final at a neutral location to the home stadium of the finalist with the most regular-season points in 2012. The Portland Timbers became the first when they won the championship in Columbus against the Crew last year.Every guy gave everything they had, every guy walked off the field having pored their hearts into the game and we didnt get rewarded tonight, Bradley said. Thats sports, thats life.With the game on the line, Toronto coach Greg Vanney removed former MLS most valuable player Sebastian Giovinco in the 103rd minute in favor of Tosaint Ricketts. While Vanney said that an exhausted Giovinco couldnt move, after the game, the gutsy call almost paid off.Following Ricketts cross five minutes after coming on, it looked as if Jozy Altidore was going to give Toronto the lead in the 108th minute with a looping header, but an athletic save from Frei kept it scoreless. Leaping to his left, he scooped the ball off the line with his left hand, allowing his defense to clear the ball to safety.Obviously Frei makes a couple big saves that keep them in it, Vanney said. But congratulations to them.For Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer, who took over from Sigi Schmid on July 26 with Seattle in ninth place in the Western Conference, the turnaround was complete. Posting an 8-2-4 record since then, Seattle became the first team in MLS history to make the playoffs after having 20 or fewer points through the seasons first 20 matches.Some people say defense wins championships, he said. You couple Romans performance with Stefan Frei, who came up massive with that one save and then in the penalty-kick shootout made the save that he needed to make.ONE COLD NIGHTThe temperature at kickoff was 28 degrees, making it the second-coldest MLS Cup on record. That honor goes to the 2013 edition at Sporting Park in Kansas City, where the game kicked off at 22 degrees.ONE HOT TICKETWhile the remaining tickets for Saturdays final sold out in three minutes after going on sale to the general public last Monday, there were still 90 or so tickets available on StubHub 10 minutes prior to kickoff. Prices ranged from $147 up to $2,500 for a ticket that retailed between $55 and $555 at face value.THE POWER OF CHANGESchmetzer became the first coach in MLS history to take charge of a team midway through the season and lead it to a championship. Schmid (Los Angeles Galaxy) and Steve Nicol (New England Revolution) took their teams to the title match, but both came up short.THE PRICE IS RIGHTI hope we get to do this every year; its pretty fun. If we dont win the championship every year I hope everyone has to go through us to get to the championship every year and when they get here theyre bloody and bruised and can barely play. -- Seattle Sounders part-owner, and host of the Price is Right, Drew Carey, in the locker room after the game. Ken Griffey Jersey . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. James Paxton Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. http://www.marinersrookiestore.com/Mariners-Edwin-Diaz-Kids-Jersey/ . Tevez, who has had conflicts with coaches in the past, has not been called up since Sabella was named coach in 2011. Argentina boasts Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria. Seattle Mariners Jerseys . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Guillermo Heredia Jersey . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. IOWA CITY, Iowa -- With a possible trip to the Big Ten championship game at stake, Nebraska fell flat.C.J. Beathard threw three touchdown passes and the Hawkeyes pummeled No. 17 Nebraska 40-10 on Friday, knocking the Cornhuskers out of Big Ten title contention and sending Wisconsin to the championship game.Tommy Armstrong started for Nebraska (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) despite a balky hamstring and was just 13 of 35 passing for 125 yards. Backup Ryker Fyfe, who broke his non-throwing wrist last week, didnt take a snap until the game had long been decided.Tommy wasnt 100 percent, Huskers coach Mike Riley said. I dont know if he was the healthiest...I dont know how much it would have made a difference (to play Fyfe).Nebraskas defense was just as bad as its offense.LeShun Daniels Jr. ran for 158 yards and two scores and George Kittle caught two TD passes for the Hawkeyes (8-4, 6-3). They closed the regular season with three straight wins -- two of them over ranked opponents -- and scored their most points since a win over Purdue on Oct. 15.Iowa broke open what was expected to be a tight game with a 75-yard TD run by Akrum Wadley and a 77-yard touchdown throw from Beathard to Riley McCarron in the first quarter.We played as good as weve played all year, Beathard said. It just shows the fight and the resilience of this team.The Badgers are big favorites to beat Minnesota on Saturday anyway. But the Cornhuskers, who entered November as a legitimate playoff contender, hardly looked like one after being outscored 102-13 in their last two road games.We gave up big plays. I think we were horrible on third down, Riley said. Im really disappointed all the way around in all of us.THE TAKEAWAYNebraska: With so much to play for, its hard to believe that the Cornhuskers played so, so poorly. Nebraska gave up three plays of over 50 yards, and Armstrong was all over the place. The Huskers have lost three of their last four to Iowa, a fate sealed when they ran into Iowa kicker Keith Duncan on a field goal try in the fourth quarter -- allowing the Haawkeyes to go up 23 a few plays later.ddddddddddddIowa: The Hawkeyes didnt make it to the Big Ten title game either. But they did go 6-3 in the league, an impressive feat for a team that lost to North Dakota State of the FCS in its final nonconference game. Iowa also made its case for a high-profile bowl, which looked iffy to say the least after losing by 27 points at Penn State to start this month. You learn a lot about yourself in November, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.B1G TITLE GAME UPDATEWisconsin gets the Wests spot in Indianapolis next week because it beat Nebraska 23-17 (OT) in late October. In the East, Penn State might have the easiest path. The favored Nittany Lions need to beat Michigan State at home and hope favored Ohio State beats Michigan on Saturday. Ohio State needs a win and a Penn State loss -- and even if the Nittany Lions take the East the Buckeyes should be in good shape for the playoff at 11-1. Michigan needs to upset the hated Buckeyes.EXTRA POINTSDaniels became the first Iowa rusher with over 1,000 yards since 2011. ...Armstrongs 13-yard TD pass to Stanley Morgan snapped a streak of over 136 minutes without allowing a touchdown for Iowa. The Hawkeyes shut out Illinois 28-0 last week. ... Wadley had 105 yards rushing on just 11 carries. ... Armstrong made his 44th career start, setting a team record for a quarterback. Taylor Martinez, his predecessor, made 43 career starts.POLL IMPLICATIONSNebraska likely stays in the Top 25. But the Huskers could find themselves drop a few spots after their second straight poor showing on the road. Iowa, which reached as high as 13th earlier this year, could sneak back after beating the Huskers and Michigan in November.UP NEXTNebraska will head to a decent bowl game just a year after sneaking into a bid with just five wins.Iowa will find out which bowl game it will play in next Sunday.---More college football at www.collegefootball.ap.org 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 ' ' '