Date: 11/08/2013 04:59 AM
AP-NW–SportsMinute/374
Here is the latest Washington, Oregon and Alaska sports news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Diego Valeri blew kisses to the crowd after his goal in the 44th minute and the Portland Timbers held off the late-charging Seattle Sounders 3-2 last night to advance to Major League Soccer’s Western Conference finals. The Timbers will face Real Salt Lake in the first of the two-leg conference final on Sunday. The victory extended Portland’s winning streak at Jeld-Wen Field to 16 games.
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) – Tyler Gaffney ran for 157 yards and No. 6 Stanford hammered No. 2 Oregon for three quarters, then held off a furious rally by the Ducks to crush their national title hopes last night for a second straight season with a 26-20 victory. Marcus Mariota threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to pull the Ducks to 26-20 two minutes left. Oregon couldn’t recover a second onside kick and Stanford ran out the clock.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Chris Higgins had a goal and an assist and Roberto Luongo made 22 saves to help the Vancouver Canucks snap a nine-game losing streak to the San Jose Sharks with a 4-2 victory last night. Brad Richardson, Mike Santorelli and Zack Kassian also scored for the Canucks, who had lost all five regular season meetings between the teams the past two seasons. Antti Niemi allowed four goals on 12 shots before being replaced early in the second period.
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – Guard Dominic Artis and forward Ben Carter have each been suspended by No. 19 Oregon for the season’s first nine games for selling team apparel. The length of the suspension was announced yesterday, two days after the school revealed the NCAA violations. Both must donate the value of the apparel to charity.
SEATTLE (AP) – After a career as an assistant coach, it’s probably not surprising that Mike Neighbors has walked into the wrong office a time or two since becoming the head man at Washington. Other than that, not much has changed since Neighbors took over as the Huskies head coach replacing Kevin McGuff. For the first time in close to a decade, Washington enters a season where an NCAA tournament trip is expected and the Huskies could become Pac-12 contenders.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
