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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2018)
SPORTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Prep wrestling Dawgs lose lead, first MCC match to Suns Hermiston jumps out to a 26-0 lead before dropping a 42-35 match to Southridge By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian Hermiston’s debut in the Mid-Columbia Confer- ence wrestling scene started as well as they could have hoped. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 26-0 lead over South- ridge after four matches, and led 26-6 after six, getting impressive wins from their lower weights. But the Suns came to life in the middle and upper weights, rallying back to post a 42-35 victory in Ken- newick on Thursday. “You never know what will happen,” Hermiston coach Kyle Larson said. “We don’t know Southridge. We are doing what we can. We are fighting hard, and as long as they do that, we can teach them to wrestle. There’s lots to improve on, but now we have a measur- ing stick.” It also was the sea- son opener for the Suns, under first-year coach Rich Cunningham. “My head coaching debut after 26 years and we were getting our butts kicked,” Cunningham said. “I was embarrassed. Our experi- ence is our bigger kids, and they picked me up. It was awesome. I couldn’t be hap- pier. Hermiston has a quality program and they are well coached. It was a good win.” Zayne Helfer led off the See DAWGS/2B AP Photo/Orlin Wagner Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri, right, shoots on net ahead of Sporting Kansas City midfielder Ilie Sanchez, left, during the first half in the second leg of the MLS soccer Western Conference championship in Kansas City, Kan., on Thursday. MLS Cup bound Timbers beat Sporting KC 3-2 to earn MLS Cup trip MLS By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Diego Valeri scored a pair of goals, including one in stoppage time, and Portland beat Sport- ing Kansas City 3-2 on Thursday night to advance to MLS Cup for the second time in four years. Sebastian Blanco also scored in the second half for Portland, which didn’t even need Valeri’s clinching goal. The teams had played to a scoreless draw Sun- day in Portland in the first leg of their aggregate-goal Western Conference final, and with road goals being the tiebreaker, the Timbers were assured of playing Timbers Sporting KC 3 2 for a championship even when the score was 2-2. Valeri’s stoppage goal merely allowed the Timbers to begin celebrating a few minutes early. The Timbers will visit Atlanta United on Dec. 8 to play for the league title. Atlanta beat the New York Red Bulls 3-1 on aggregate to win the Eastern Conference final series. Daniel Salloi scored in the first half and Gerso Fernandes scored in the 81st minute for Sporting KC, which still has not played for the MLS Cup since winning the 2013 title. Sporting KC did control the first 45 minutes of the game, much to the delight of a sellout crowd that included Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes, Kareem Hunt and Travis Kelce. But the Timbers turned up the pressure in the second half, knowing any score-draw would send them through. Blanco provided it when he made a nifty move near midfield and unleashed a driving shot — the first on goal for Portland all game. It somehow found the sliver between the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Tim Melia and the crossbar to knot the game 1-all. The strike in the 52nd minute was followed by Valeri’s header off a rebound moments later, a goal that not only silenced the crowd at Children’s Mercy Park but led to a rather bizarre scene. Fans in one corner of the sta- dium began throwing bottles and other trash at Portland players, and referee Mark Geiger brought both teams to the sideline. Sport- ing KC manager Peter Vermes then stalked more than halfway across the field to admonish his own club’s fans. Sporting KC was left needing two goals to win the match and advance, and nearly got one of them in the 72nd minute. Johnny Russell’s free kick from about 15 yards glanced off Felipe Gutier- rez’s head and sailed over the net as Portland goalkeeper Jeff Atti- nella exhaled. Gutierrez put another shot on goal moments later that Attinella kicked away. See TIMBERS/2B Cowboys stifle Brees, end Saints’ 10-game win streak By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Pro Football Writer AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (21) cele- brates his touchdown against the New Orleans Saints with quarterback Dak Prescott (4) in the first half. ARLINGTON, Texas — Ezekiel Elliott scored the only Dallas touchdown and the Cowboys stifled Drew Brees and the Saints, ending New Orleans’ 10-game win- ning streak with a 13-10 vic- tory Thursday night. The Cowboys (7-5) won their fourth consecutive game and assured they will at least remain tied for the NFC East lead. The Saints (10-2), who were shut out in the first half, had a season low in points while missing on a chance to perfectly match Dallas from two years ago, when then- rookie sensations Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott NFL Cowboys Saints 13 10 won 11 straight after drop- ping the opener. Brees had his fewest yards passing in a half since joining the Saints in 2006 with 39, and couldn’t get a potential winning drive going in the final minutes. Instead, Jourdan Lewis’ interception — just the third of the season for Brees — gave the Cowboys a chance to run out the clock from the New Orleans 1 after an inter- ference penalty in the end zone. The Cowboys tried to play keepaway from the NFL’s highest-scoring offense late in the fourth quarter, with Prescott desperately scram- bling 11 yards for a first down on third-and-10 and Cole Beasley catching a third-down pass and diving for 5 yards on third-and-5. But Prescott fumbled on a sack with Dallas in position for a field goal, giving Brees another chance from his 15 with more than two minutes remaining. On the second play, though, Brees threw where he expected a receiver to be but Jordan was the only one there. He dove for- ward, just keeping the ball off the ground. Marshon Lattimore was later called for interference against Amari Cooper in the end zone, giving Dallas a first down at the 1 with 1:58 remaining. The Cowboys had just enough time to end the game, with the play clock matching the game clock after Prescott took a knee for the third time. Brees was 18 of 28 for 127 yards, actually the sec- ond straight game and third overall under 200 yards for the MVP contender. The only touchdown drive for the Saints was aided by three first downs on Dallas penalties. The big- gest was Randy Gregory’s roughing-the-punt penalty on Thomas Morstead. Sports shorts Cavaliers trade Kyle Korver to Jazz for picks, Burks Burks CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cavaliers finalized their trade with Utah and sent Kyle Korver to the Jazz. The teams agreed to the deal on Wednes- day and completed the transaction Thursday following a conference call with NBA offi- cials. Cleveland shipped Korver to the Jazz for guard Alec Burks and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. Korver played in 124 games for the Cavs and was a valuable member of two Eastern Conference championship teams. One of the league’s most accurate outside shooters, Kor- ver had asked the rebuilding Cavs to send him to a contender. Cavs general manager Koby Altman praised Korver for his contributions on and off the court, calling him “a great person and teammate. He sets an example in every- thing he does. His work ethic, character and dependability are all at a very special level.” Korver joined the Cavs in 2017, coming over in a mid-season trade from Atlanta. He played for the Jazz from 2007-10. Korver
