Reis, Revs top Dynamo in PKs for SuperLiga title
Soccer Betting Lines
08/05/2008 -
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The past two seasons the Houston Dynamo
topped the New England Revolution in the MLS Cup Championship. But when the
teams met in the second annual SuperLiga Championship on Tuesday evening at
Gillette Stadium, the Revs got a measure of revenge, topping the Dynamo 6-5 in
a penalty kick shootout after the teams battled to a 2-2 draw in 120 minutes
of regulation and extra time soccer.
New England goalkeeper Matt Reis made 12 saves in the game, not including
three saves in the shootout, to lead his team to its second trophy. The Revs
earned the first hardware in franchise history last season with a U.S. Open
Cup victory.
On the championship deciding play, Reis swung his arm to deflect Corey Ashe's
shot off the crossbar after saving shots by Dynamo stars Dwayne De Rosario and
Brian Ching in previous rounds of the shootout.
Craig Waibel, Chris Wondolowski, Ricardo Clark, Wade Barrett and Kei Kamara
all scored for Houston on their chances.
Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Taylor Twellman, Jeff Larentowicz, Chris
Tierney and Chris Albright all scored for New England with Reis and Khano
Smith the only misses.
The SuperLiga began with eight of the best teams from Major League Soccer and
Mexico's First Division competing in a group phase and knockout rounds, with
New England and Houston advancing to the final. Mexican side Pachuca beat the
Los Angeles Galaxy last season to win the inaugural tourney.
Tuesday's started with the Dynamo dominating the early play.
De Rosario hit the post from 18-yards out in the 5th minute in one of the road
side's early missed opportunities.
Houston took the lead early in the 18th on a miscue by the Revs' defense.
After a long ball was played from the Houston side of the field into the New
England penalty area, defender Amaechi Igwe played it back to the top of the
box, right to Nate Jaqua, who one-timed it home for the 1-0 lead.
Igwe was almost victimized by Jaqua again minutes later when the forward deked
around him and Larentowicz in the box and passed to Ching, who hit the left
post - the second near miss in the first 20 minutes for Houston.
De Rosario had a blast to the near post from 18 knocked away by Reis in 35th
before he had another chance cleared off the line by defender Albright a
couple minutes later, keeping the Revs within striking distance.
New England pulled even before the first half break when Mauricio Castro
chipped ball over the defense from the left side of the box to the late
charging Ralston, who volleyed a shot past goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
That was how the score stayed until the fireworks started in extra time almost
a hour later.
In the 98th minute the Dynamo took the lead in the first 15 minute extra time
period when Kamara headed home a Ching cross to make it 2-1. Ching controlled
the ball on the left side before playing a cross to the top right side of the
six-yard box to Kamara, who's head just beat Reis' hands to the ball.
Four minutes later the Revs equalized again on Joseph's third goal of the
tourney. Ralston played a ball into the Houston penalty area on a free kick,
allowing Joseph to battle his way to the ball and head the shot just past the
fingertips of Onstad and into the far post side netting.
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batted in, and Dave Bush threw seven solid innings, as Milwaukee crushed
Cincinnati, 8-1, in the second of three games with the Reds.
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Baxter, 29, joined the Browns in 2005 as a fr
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draft, James started 19 of 42 games in his coll
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Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Hermida finished 2-for-4 with four
runs batted in, and Josh Johnson threw six scoreless innings, as Florida
downed Philadelphia, 8-2, in the opener of a three-game set with the Phillies.
John
Mench caps Jays' comeback win over Street, Oakland >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Mench hit a game-winning single in the
ninth inning to send Toronto past Oakland, 4-3, in the second installment of a
four-game set from Rogers Centre.
Rod Barajas had two hits, a run scored and an RB
Blumenherst, Na lead through two rounds at U.S. Women's Amateur >>
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephanie Na fired a one-under-par 71 to take
a share of the lead during the second round of stroke play at the 108th U.S.
Women's Amateur at Eugene Country Club.
The Australian Na recorded a round of 69
Tatis hits Mets past Padres >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Tatis clubbed two home runs and
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Shea St
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Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Webb took a shutout into the ninth
inning and survived a pesky Pirates rally, as the Diamondbacks ace became the
first 16-game winner in the majors with Arizona's 3-1 win over Pittsburgh in
the sec
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
New York Giants betting lines
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Dallas Cowboys betting lines
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
Oakland Raiders betting lines
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Pacific-10 Conference odds
Teams that should be in: Stanford
 Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.
Should be in:
Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.
| Southeastern Conference odds |
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State
 It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.
Work left to do:
Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.
Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.
Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile. |
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