Until last week, a Montreal Impact-Chivas USA matchup might have been a meaningless game between Major League Soccer doormats.
[b]Sarunas Marciulionis Jersey[/b] . But both clubs have sprung to life of late, with Montreal (3-7-5) coming off a draw and a win and Chivas (4-7-5) posting consecutive 1-0 victories over Salt Lake and San Jose. Both will be looking to keep their runs alive when they meet Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. "Its never easy on the road," Impact coach Frank Klopas said this week. "Theres so much parity in the league, you cant underestimate anyone. Itll be a difficult game. "If you relax when you get a couple of good results, then you have problems. Were a good team when we work hard and were focused. We cant forget that." Anyone underestimating the Goats lately has been badly mistaken. Red-hot Erick Torres scored the goals in victories last Saturday against Salt Lake and on Wednesday at San Jose, giving Chivas consecutive wins for the first time this season and pulling them out of last place in the West, ahead of San Jose. The 21-year-old Mexican has 11 goals, one fewer than MLS leader Bradley Wright-Phillips of the New York Red Bulls. The Impact and Chivas have each scored 16 goals and allowed 26 this season, although Montreal has played one fewer game. Montreal returned from the two-week World Cup break last week with a 0-0 draw in Vancouver with an injury-depleted roster. Then, with midfielders Felipe and Justin Mapp and forward Marco Di Vaio back in the lineup, followed with a 3-0 victory at home on Saturday against the struggling Houston Dynamo. Striker Jack McInerney scored twice against Houston to give him seven for the season and earn MLS player of the week honours. "Its good for my confidence," said McInerney, who has nine goals in all competitions since he was acquired in April from Philadelphia for forward Andrew Wenger. "It comes from the team doing well." The Impact hope to take that new-found confidence with them. "Two good results and we have the opportunity to go out west again and face a team that has struggled this year also," added McInerney. "Its a big game. We need the three points. Weve got to be consistent and keep getting results." The mood has brightened noticeably in the Impact camp after a gloomy start to the season under Klopas, who replaced Marco Schallibaum in the off-season. A whirl of player moves has seen Wenger, Collen Warner, Jeb Brovsky and Hernan Bernardello leave and McInerney, midfielders Gorka Larrea and Issey Nakajima-Farran (currently injured), and defender Mamadou (Futty) Danso come in. They also have Spanish defender Adrian Lopez back from knee surgery. And this week, they announced that Argentine attacking midfielder Ignacio Piatti will join the team in August as a designated player. Klopas has the option of using Lopez or Danso this week, although he may be loathe to break up the central defence partnership of Matteo Ferrari and Heath Pearce that has been solid the last two games. The moves have given the Impact extra depth, which they will need when CONCACAF Champions League play begins in August. "Were disappointed with the start of our season, but we feel we can turn it around," said sporting director Nick De Santis. "Whether it be winning the Canadian championship, which was one of our objectives, or beating Houston, there are glimpses of positive things. "We feel with the addition of a couple of players, with players coming back from injury and with Piatti coming in, that the teams going to keep growing. I truly believe that. We have to understand that a new coach is in place and his identity and philosophy of play takes time as well." Klopas doesnt hesitate to use the teams young, local products, particularly Maxim Tissot who started the last two games on the left side of midfield. The team added another homegrown player from its academy this week in midfielder Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare. The Impact are starting a stretch that sees them on the road for three of the next four games. They are back home next week against Kansas City, which will mark the midpoint of their 34-game league schedule, then travel to Columbus and Salt Lake. The schedule for CONCACAF play released Friday has the Impact at home Aug. 5 against Club Deportivo FAS of El Salvador and at San Salvador on Aug. 20. They complete Group C play at home Sept. 17 against the Red Bulls and Oct. 22 in New York.
[b]Jeff Green Jersey[/b] . Pospisil, the seventh seed, saved match points in each of the last two sets before falling to the unseeded Dutchman. "I wasnt very happy with the way I was playing,"said Pospisil.
[b]Terrance Ferguson Jersey[/b] . Western and the second-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (7-0) once again received 20 and 10 first-place votes from the Football Reporters of Canada panel, respectively. Rounding out the Top 10 are the Calgary Dinos (7-0), Queens Gaels (7-1), Guelph Gryphons (7-1), Montreal Carabins (5-2), Bishops Gaiters (5-2), McMaster Marauders (5-3), Manitoba Bisons (4-3) and the Saskatchewan Huskies (4-3) Western crushed York 50-10 last Saturday in its league finale to secure first place in the OUA standings and a bye in the first round of the conference playoffs.SAN DIEGO -- There were two certainties about Tony Gwynn: He could hit a baseball like few other major leaguers, and he was going to laugh. Gwynn was a craftsman at the plate, whose sweet left-handed swing made him one of baseballs greatest hitters. The Hall of Famer died Monday of oral cancer, a disease he attributed to years of chewing tobacco. He was 54. Any knowledgeable fan can recite Gwynns key stats. He had 3,141 hits -- 18th on the all-time list -- a career .338 average and won eight batting titles to tie Honus Wagners NL record. There was far more to the man. In a rarity in pro sports, Gwynn played his whole career with the Padres, choosing to stay in the city where he was a two-sport college star rather than leaving for bigger paychecks elsewhere. He was loyal, generous and approachable. He smiled a lot. It didnt take much to get him to laugh his hearty laugh. Gwynn loved San Diego. San Diego loved "Mr. Padre" right back. His death left even casual fans grieving. "Our city is a little darker today without him, but immeasurably better because of him," Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in a statement. Five things to remember about Gwynn: HIS CRAFT: After spending parts of just two seasons in the minors, he made his big league debut on July 19, 1982. Gwynn had two hits that night. After Gwynn doubled, career hits leader Pete Rose, who been trailing the play, said to him: "Hey, kid, what are you trying to do, catch me in one night?" On Monday, Rose recalled Gwynns work ethic and his pioneering use of video to study his at-bats after every game. "Every day you went to the ballpark in San Diego and we used to go 2:30 or 3 oclock, Tony would be out there hitting, religiously, every day," Rose said. "Fifty-four years old is way too young." THE LAUGH: Former Padres teammate Tim Flannery recalls Gwynn as "always laughing, always talking, always happy." It didnt take much for Gwynn to cackle or break into a horse laugh. "He had a work ethic unlike anybody else, and had a childlike demeanour of playing the game just because he loved it so much," said Flannery, third base coach for the San Francisco Giants. THE 5.5 HOLE: Gwynn loved to hit the other way, through the hole between third base and shortstop. "All I keep thinking of when I think of Tony Gwynn is that line drrive base hit to left field, or the one-hopper in the hole at shortstop to left field," Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully said.
[b]Steven Adams Jersey[/b]. "He hit the ball wherever it was pitched, and he was just a genius with the bat, without a doubt." SAN DIEGO STATE: Gwynn had been on a medical leave since late March from his job as baseball coach at San Diego State, his alma mater. He called it his dream job, one he began right after retiring from the Padres following the 2001 season. He coached his son, Tony Jr., whos with the Philadelphia Phillies. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gwynn played point guard for the SDSU basketball team -- he still holds the game, season and career record for assists -- and in the outfield on the baseball team. He was drafted by both the Padres (third round) and San Diego Clippers (10th round) on the same day in 1981. As much as he loved basketball, baseball was his future. Texas Augie Garrido, the winningest college baseball coach, said at the College World Series on Monday that he tried to recruit Gwynn when he was coaching at Cal State Fullerton, but told him he wouldnt be able to play baseball and basketball. Because baseball would be well underway by the time basketball ended, "Youd have to be one hell of a baseball player to be break into the lineup," Garrido recalled telling Gwynn. "He decided to go to San Diego State. After he won his seventh batting title at Dodger Stadium on the last day of the season, he broke that story to the LA Times. He didnt leave out one bit of information about how stupid I was. Thats why my recruiting genius is limited," said Garrido, who added he and Gwynn had a good relationship. TERRIFIC TONY: Gwynn struck out only 434 times in 9,288 career at-bats. He played in San Diegos only two World Series -- batting a combined .371 -- and was a 15-time All-Star. He had a home run in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series off fellow San Diegan David Wells and scored the winning run in the 1994 All-Star Game despite a bum knee. Gwynn never hit below .309 in a full season. He spread his batting titles from 1984, when he batted .351, to 1997, when he hit .372. Gwynn was hitting .394 when a players strike ended the 1994 season, denying him a shot at becoming the first player to hit .400 since San Diego native Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. ' ' '
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