High Noon » ggregate win over Seattle in Thur

SANDY, Utah -- Thrust into an underdog role once again, Real Salt Lake kept its season alive after receiving help from unlikely sources. Sebastian Velasquez scored his first MLS goal in the first half, Chris Schuler added the winning goal in the first overtime and Salt Lake advanced to the Western Conference finals with a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday night. RSL won the series 2-1 on aggregate, reaching a conference final for the third time in five years and ending the Galaxys bid for a third consecutive MLS Cup. They will host Portland in the first leg of the conference finals on Sunday. The Timbers advanced with a 5-3 aggregate win over Seattle in Thursday nights late game. "11 players defended," RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "Thats the big key. The way we play in our system, we need everybody to pitch in and defend and give the effort. Tonight, we did that. (Coach) Jason (Kreis) said we needed to do that and challenged a lot of us. The result today shows the challenge was met." Salt Lake allowed just three shots on goal through 120 minutes and kept Los Angeles from mounting a serious scoring challenge for the bulk of the match. "We all knew they were going to focus on Robbie (Keane) and myself, so it was incumbent upon the other guys to make some plays," Galaxy forward Landon Donovan said. "Robbie and I couldnt pull a rabbit out of a hat tonight, so we needed some other guys to step up and make plays. Unfortunately, it didnt happen so it made it difficult for everyone." Salt Lake started out strong on the offensive end in the first half, mixing several nice passes with good ball movement to break down the Los Angeles defence. The Galaxy made it easier for Salt Lake to create some scoring chances by struggling to possess the ball and clear it. RSLs efforts paid off in the 35th minute when Velasquezs goal tied it 1-1 on the aggregate. Chris Wingert sent a cross into Velasquez, who was unmarked just outside the top of the 6-yard box. Velasquez quickly made the Galaxy pay, sending a snap-header past goalkeeper Jaime Penedo for his first goal in an RSL uniform. Velasquez earned the start in place of injured midfielder Ned Grabavoy, who sat out with a left hamstring strain. "Hes an extremely hungry player that has some real gifts," Kreis said. "Sometimes its difficult to get some of those gifts to come out of him. Tonight, he took a major step forward." Los Angeles had no answer on the other end. The Galaxy created eight shots before halftime, but did not put any on the frame. RSL had three shots on goal out of a total of six shots. "The conditions were tough," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. "But both teams have to play under those conditions. They played better than we did. They were very direct. They just played the ball behind us and put our backs under pressure and scrapped a lot." Salt Lake stepped up its pressure after halftime. Schuler sent a header into the crossbar in the 74th minute after Javier Morales crossed it to him off a corner kick. Then Alavro Saborio collected the ball outside the box in the 78th minute and blasted it to the left side, hitting the post. RSL had its most painful near-miss during the 84th minute. Morales scored an apparent go-ahead goal when he sent a through ball on a free kick into the back of the net. A foul in the box away from the ball negated the scoring play. Schuler came through in overtime. Latching onto a cross from Morales on a free kick in the 102nd minute, Schuler corralled the ball on a run to the back post and tapped it home just inside the post for his first MLS goal this season. Salt Lake improved to 2-2-2 in second-leg matches in the MLS playoffs. RSLs previous second leg win came against Columbus in the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals. Dan Hamhuis Jersey . The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back. Custom Nashville Predators Jerseys . With the team he supported as a child on the verge of reaching the Champions League semifinals for the first time in 19 years, Ba instead scored the goal that knocked them out. http://www.authenticpredatorspro.com/Rom...edators-jersey/. Nine years later, he might have finally figured it out. He had only five rounds in the 60s in his previous eight trips. Filip Forsberg Jersey .com) - Intrastate rivals collide Saturday as the Texas State Bobcats hit the road to take on the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns in a non-conference battle at Frank Erwin Center. Ryan Johansen Jersey . Even that couldnt slow them down against the New Orleans Hornets. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored 31 points apiece and the Thunder overcame injuries to two key backups to beat New Orleans 101-93 Monday night for their 10th straight home win.CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Billy Hamilton had a keepsake ball from his best all-around game. Hamilton hit his first career homer and Chris Heisey singled home the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning, sending the Cincinnati Reds past the Chicago Cubs 3-2 Tuesday night in a game delayed three times because of rain. The game started 19 minutes late. There was a 15-minute delay in the top of the fifth and a 1-hour, 11-minute delay in the bottom of the sixth. Hamiltons solo homer off Jeff Samardzija (0-3) tied it in the fifth. He also reached base by a walk and two infield singles, stole a base and made a diving catch in centre field. Of all those things, the home run was the most unexpected. "Its a good feeling for me," Hamilton said. "Thats not what I want to do, but sometimes, it happens." Zack Cozart tripled to right-centre with two outs in the sixth, and Heiseys pinch-hit single put the Reds ahead as heavy rain started to fall and the third rain delay followed. "I havent had a lot of opportunities lately, but I make it a point to stay ready," said Heisey, who is 4 for 10 with six RBIs off the bench. Alfredo Simon (4-1) gave up five hits, including Starlin Castros two-run single, before Heisey pinch-hit for him. Simon has filled in while Mat Latos recovers from knee surgery and a sore pitching forearm. "Im not surprised that hes been competitive," manager Bryan Price said. "Whats been surprising at times is how much of a shut-down pitcher hes been. Were happy that hes been presented with the opportunity and run with it. Hes been a key cog." Jonathan Broxton retired all three batters in the ninth for his fifth save in five chances. The Cubs have lost five of their last six games, falling to 8-17. The series opener on Monday was postponed because of rain and hasnt been rescheduled. The Reds have had seven rain delays in 11 home playing dates this season, with one game postponed and another suspended overnight. It was another solid but winless perfformance for Samardzija, who has not gotten a victory in his last 12 starts since Aug.dddddddddddd 30. The Cubs havent scored while he was on the mound -- only 32 runs in those 12 starts. Samardzija was in line for a win in his last start, but the bullpen blew a 5-2 lead last Wednesday in a 7-5 loss to Arizona. Hamilton had his most productive game as Cincinnatis leadoff hitter. He scored twice, giving him 12 runs this season. "Every day I come in here, Im trying to do something good for the team, whether its a sacrifice fly or a stolen base or scoring a big run," Hamilton said. "It was fun today." Hamilton opened the first inning with a walk, stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Brandon Phillips sacrifice fly made it 1-0. Hamilton had an infield single in the third and was thrown out by catcher Welington Castillo, the fifth time in 15 attempts that hes been caught stealing this season. The Cubs loaded the bases in the third on singles by Emilio Bonifacio and Ryan Kalish and a walk to Anthony Rizzo. Castro singled up the middle on the first pitch for a 2-1 lead. Hamilton shortened to bunt twice in the fifth inning before hitting his first career homer to right field, tying it 2-all. Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney made the best defensive play of the game. He went up the middle to reach Ryan Ludwicks grounder in the fourth, got to the ball on the third base side of the bag and threw Ludwick out from the outfield grass. NOTES: Cubs manager Rick Renteria was ejected for arguing ball-and-strike calls in the bottom of the sixth. ... Renteria expects RHP Jake Arrieta to be activated and start on Saturday. Hes been sidelined by stiffness in his pitching shoulder. ... Reds closer Aroldis Chapman threw 25 pitches during batting practice. Hes expected to make his first rehabilitation appearance with Class-A Dayton on Thursday. Chapman had a plate inserted above his left eye to heal fractures from a line drive on March 19. He could be activated next week. ' ' '