CHESTER, Pa. -- The Vancouver Whitecaps hoped to hit the World Cup break on a high note. It didnt go quite as planned as the Whitecaps conceded a two goal halftime lead to finish 3-3 with the Philadelphia Union in a thrilling game at PPL Park. Vancouver showed fight with the late equalizer, pushing their unbeaten streak to seven games and finishing the first half of the season with road points in back-to-back weeks. "We managed to take our chances," said Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson. "I think the two goals we scored in the first half were from some excellent football, which is something Im trying to instill in the club. The second half, I think we went away from what we were doing very well in the first half." Robinson made three changes to the side that beat Portland 4-3 last week, starting Russell Teibert and Nicolas Mezquida in place of Kekutah Manneh and Sebastian Fernandez. Andy OBrien was given a rest as Johnny Leveron took his place at centre back. The first good chance of the game fell to Philadelphia in the 10th minute. Cristian Maidanas in-swinging cornerkick met the head of Conor Casey, who flicked on to captain Amobi Okugo. The ball was slightly behind and the centre back could only head over the crossbar. It was the Whitecaps, though, who started the scoring. Collecting the ball with space from 30 yards out, Teibert found Nigel Reo-Coker streaking forward from his right back position. The Englishmans one-touch cross found the head of Erik Hurtado, who placed a perfect header downward and into the corner for his fifth consecutive goal in all competitions. But the Whitecaps were forced to make a change in the 24th minute, with OBrien coming in for the injured Jay Demerit. The Vancouver captain felt soreness in his previously-injured left foot and was forced out of the game. He walked to the team bus on crutches. The Whitecaps then got a second goal in 42nd minute, this one from a counterattack. Sequential passing from Pedro Morales to Reo-Coker got Hurtado into space on the right. Cutting to his right, he was able to play a short diagonal for Mezquida, who slammed it home from point-blank range. In the second half, Vancouver survived a scare in the 51st minute when Philadelphia hit the post. Looping a loose ball back into the box, Vincent Nogueiras pass went over Danny Cruzs head, bounced in front of OBrien, and fell to Maurice Edu. The Union midfielder was turned around, and the ball somehow caromed off the woodwork and out of the danger zone. Philadelphia would then score three goals in eight minutes. The Union got a goal back in the 63rd minute through the active Casey. It was Fabinhos ball that put Maidana into space on the left side, and the Argentines cross was met by a diving header that hit the post and rolled into the back of the net. It didnt take long for substitute Sebastien Le Toux to make an impact, as he found the next goal in the 68th minute. Again the attack came down the left, with Maidana pushing the ball into space for Nogueira to collect. The midfielder got his head up and played a left footed square ball for the oncoming Le Toux, who finished calmly into the back of the net. The Union went ahead just two minutes later, on Caseys second goal of the game. This time the forward got the ball outside the penalty area, was left unchallenged, and hit a low drive into the bottom right corner. Vancouver countered with a 74th minute substitution, bringing Darren Mattocks in for Matias Laba. That sub would pay off, when the Jamaican forward earned a penalty kick for the Whitecaps just six minutes later. Latching onto a deep ball in the left channel, Mattocks charged into the penalty area and was brought down by goalkeeper Zac MacMath. Morales stepped up and converted the spot kick to level the game 3-3. "Its a good point away from home," said Reo-Coker. "That game had everything in it. We were fantastic in the first half and played some great football. Second half, they were the better team. To go down 3-2 away from home and get it to 3-3, its a good result. "Were disappointed in the way we conceded some goals and weve let teams back (into games), but overall weve got to say its a good point away from home." Vancouver enters the 18-day World Cup break with 21 points and a 5-2-6 record. "We do feel happy with where we are going (into the break)," Hurtado said. "Obviously were disappointed with (giving up the lead), but it just shows the character of our team. We want to win away, just as much as we want to win at home. Were going to look at that when we come back from our break. Were not going to take a physical break, just a little mental break. Were going to come back fit and ready to go." . Dallas (2-0-1) sits atop the Western Conference with an MLS-best seven points. Castillo opened the scoring in the 71st minute off a Mauro Diaz set piece, and Watson outran defender Tony Lochhead on a long ball and then juked goalkeeper Ian Kennedy for the eventual game-winner in the 78th minute. . I suppose Sternberg has earned the right to speak out since his Rays, despite one of the lowest payrolls in the Majors at $58 million, are entering the final weekend of the regular season holding down the first Wild Card spot in the American League, one game ahead of Cleveland and two up on Texas.
http://www.cheapdukebluedevilsjerseys.c ... ege-jersey. Some will say that Martin is too sensitive while others will say that it is part of the way football is in the locker room. But to have to absorb what was said to him for any rational and intelligent person is too much. .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record. . Brassard and Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris were battling for position in the crease when a nudge from Morris sent Brassard on top of Smith late in the third period.NEWTON, Iowa -- Ryan Blaney became the youngest winner in the history of the NASCAR Truck Series at Iowa Speedway two years ago. On Sunday, hell attempt to become the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide race on Iowas short track. The 20-year-old Blaney wont be the only kid pushing a podium finish. Blaney will start from the pole for Sundays race at Iowa Speedway after finishing first in qualifying on Saturday. Blaney won a pole for the first time in the Nationwide Series, and he did so less than 24 hours after a disappointing 22nd-place finish in the trucks race in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday night. "Its been a busy 24 hours," Blaney said. My team "did a great job of getting everything ready, for me to just come to jump in the car and have it close to where we need it to be." Sam Hornish Jr. will join Blaney on the front row, followed by Michael McDowell, Regan Smith and Dylan Kwasniewski. Series points leader Chase Elliott will start sixth in the Nationwides first stand-alone race of the season -- which will feature three drivers aged 20 or younger in the top six starting spots. Elliott, a point ahead of Elliott Sadler, graduated from Kings Ridge Christian School in Georgia on Saturday morning and flew right back to Iowa for qualifying. "I definitely think it was worth it to go home and be part of that," Elliott said. "It was definitely weird to be here, and then gone, and then back just for qualifying. Its a little odd, but other than that were happy to get back." The rest of the field might wish Elliott stayed in Georgia. Elliott has already won twice this season, at Texas and Darlington, and he has led the standings for well over aa month.dddddddddddd Hes also won at Iowa before, taking first in a K&N Pro Series race in 2012, and his No. 9 Chevrolet was the fastest car in two of the three practice sessions. Elliott said Saturday that hes looking forward to directing his focus on racing rather than school. "I was checked out way before they gave me that paper," Elliott joked. "To not have to go home and be worried about doing homework and getting stuff done on Monday morning will hopefully be an improvement." Sundays race will also feature a pair of hometown drivers coming off their best runs of the season. Fairfax, Iowa native Landon Cassill scored his first top 10 of the year when he finished eighth at Talladega two weeks ago. Joey Gase of Cedar Rapids finished a career-best 11th at Talladega despite having his engine run out of water on the last lap because it had overheated so often. "We had to take a baseball bat to the car a few times, but that was all right," Gase said. "It was really great to get our name out there." Cassill will start ninth, while Gase will be 29th. This will be the first of two Nationwide races this season at Iowa, which was bought by NASCAR in the off-season. The second will be held on Aug. 2, and NASCAR announced Saturday that it will be the final event in the four-race "Dash 4 Cash" program that could award up to $1 million to a series regular. The move is part of a push by NASCAR to make Iowa a featured track for a series often overshadowed by the top-tier Sprint Cup series. "This is where we want to make names, where we want the Nationwide Series to be on a pedestal," Iowa Speedway president Jimmy Small said. ' ' '
