KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Roger Federer squandered a big lead and lost to No. 20-seeded Kei Nishikori 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 Wednesday night in the quarter-finals of the Sony Open. Federer was up a service break twice in the second set but couldnt close out the victory. He lost serve five times and committed 39 unforced errors. Nishikoris opponent Friday will be three-time champion Novak Djokovic, who benefited from an erroneous call in the pivotal game to beat Andy Murray 7-5, 6-3. The semifinal berth is Nishikoris second in an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, and his first in 2 1/2 years. . -- Canadas Nicole Vandermade won the Four Winds Invitational on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title, closing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke victory. . Lineup news, Fantasy and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES St. Louis Blues – After rolling the San Jose Sharks for seven goals, for the second time in a week, the Blues have a bunch of players on hot streaks.
http://www.officialpacersprostore.com/k ... rs-jersey/. - David Tomasek had two goals in regulation time and was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Belleville Bulls upset the Oshawa Generals 6-5 on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. .J. -- After getting permission from his 7-year-old daughter, New York Giants offensive lineman David Diehl has retired after an 11-year career that included two Super Bowl championships. . -- The guys in green raced off the court and into the locker room where they danced and sang, compared whose shot was most likely to end up featured on "One Shining Moment," and checked Twitter to see who was giving them a shoutout. VANCOUVER -- A play that Vancouver Whitecaps defender Jay DeMerit says he makes dozens of times a game ended up costing his team two points on Saturday. Gonzalo Pineda scored on a controversial penalty in the 82nd minute after Vancouvers captain was judged to have fouled Seattle substitute Cam Weaver as both players jumped for the ball in front of goal as the Sounders salvaged an emotional 2-2 draw with the Whitecaps. The home side looked to be on its way to a third straight Major League Soccer victory before referee Ismail Elfath whistled DeMerits aerial challenge and pointed to the spot late in the second half. The Whitecaps were furious with the decision but could only watch as Pineda stepped up and cooly chipped a shot behind Vancouvers David Ousted for his first goal with the Sounders. "Its devastating," said DeMerit. "Its devastating not only for myself, but to see guys put in the type of performance that they did ... guys put themselves on the line for 90 minutes, and for that to be taken away from us is disappointing." "As players, all we can do is play hard and play committed and work hard for our teammates, and I thought all of us did that tonight." When asked what he saw on the decisive refereeing decision, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson said bluntly: "I saw my captain jump for the ball in his penalty box and head the ball away." DeMerit, who plays an aggressive, physical style, has now been called for fouls inside his penalty area in consecutive MLS games at B.C. Place Stadium. "Im too old to start changing my game and play less committed than I already do," said the 34-year-old. "It is hard and I think the thing thats really eating me inside is that if I have to change my game then Im going to be in trouble and thats sad. "Ive been around this game for a long time and when you play hard and you play with the heart on your sleeve and you get punished for that, thats disappointing." Vancouver got its 2-1 lead in the 66th minute when midfielder Gershon Koffie scored his first goal of the season on a horrendous goalkeeping error by Seattles Stefan Frei. In an effort to keep a ball in play, Frei ventured way out of his net and booted a clearing attempt into the middle of the pitch instead of safely up the sideline. Koffie pounced on the mistake and fired a shot from a distance that Frei could only watch bounce into his vacated goal. After the Seattle penalty tied the game, Sounders striker Obafemi Martins struck the post behind Ousted before Koffie had two more chances in stoppage time, including one on the last kick of the game. "I thought there was only going to be one team winning. I thought the guys put in the effort that was necessary," said DeMerit. "Ultimately to go away with a draw is disappointing. Everyones going to walk away a little bit disappointed but thats life and thats football." Erik Hurtado also scored for Vancouver (4-2-5), which has just one win against Western Conference opponents so far in 2014. Seattle (8-3-2), which entered play atop the league standings with five wins in its last six games, got its other goal from Chad Barrett against a Whitecaps team that nearly ran the Sounders out of the park early on. "It was unlucky today, but nevertheless I thought it was a great team performance," said Whitecaps defender Nigel Reo-Coker. "The first 30 minutes were fantastic. Its the best weve been all seaason as a team -- the chances we created, the tempo we were playing at, the passing, the movement .dddddddddddd... another day it could have been 3-0, 4-0 to us and game done." Apart from being an important game in the Western Conference standings, Saturdays encounter was the second match of the Cascadia Cup competition, a mini-tournament played between the Whitecaps, Sounders and Portland Timbers. The team with the most points in the games played amongst the three clubs at the end of the season takes the title, which Vancouver did last season. The Sounders had a large section of travelling fans in one corner on the stadium on Saturday, while Vancouvers supporters section took up its usual spot in the home end in a match that had the passion of a European derby both on and off the field. After a rocky start for the visitors, Barrett headed home his first of the season in the 36th minute off a cross from Kenny Cooper. The Whitecaps got that one back just three minutes later on a highlight-reel effort from Hurtado. The striker with the bleach-blonde Mohawk cut back twice to free himself from two Seattle defenders before blasting a shot into the roof of the net over a helpless Frei. Hurtado now has three goals in three games -- two in MLS and one in the Amway Canadian Championship. "The boys were fantastic from the first minute," said Robinson. "I thought the first half hour we were absolutely phenomenal in our play, could have been ahead, werent ahead, they scored on their second chance and then we fought back. It was a very entertaining game." Robinson said earlier this week that he wanted his team to put its stamp on the match, and Vancouver was a bit unlucky to not open the scoring in the games first 10 minutes. Kekuta Manneh, who had a hat trick in last years 4-1 victory over the Sounders in Seattle, had a good chance four minutes in, but saw his effort stopped by Frei. Koffie then busted through the middle and ripped a shot that went off the crossbar and landed just inches from the goal-line before being cleared by a defender. Robinson wouldnt bite on questions about the officiating afterwards and instead pointed to the positives. "I think my job this year since I took the job was to try and put a certain style of playing in this team and I think Ive done that," said Robinson, who was promoted from his assistants role in December. "I concentrate on my job and thats my job. I think today you saw were going in the right direction. Obviously disappointed with the result but the performance of some of the players was excellent." Notes: The Sounders were without influential playmaker Clint Dempsey, who is away with the U.S. national team preparing for the World Cup in Brazil. Fellow midfielder Brad Evans was also at the American camp, but failed to make the 23-man roster. ... The Whitecaps came in having not played since bowing out to Toronto FC in the Amway Canadian Championship semifinal 10 days earlier. ... The Cascadia Cup has been played between the Whitecaps, Sounders and Timbers every year since 2004. Vancouver won its fourth title last season, while Seattle and Portland have each won three times. ... The Sounders host Real Salt Lake next Saturday, while the Whitecaps visit the Timbers on June 1st in another Cascadia Cup matchup. ... Seattle and Portland tied the first game of the competition 4-4. ... Whitecaps defender Steven Beitashour is away at Irans World Cup camp. ' ' '
