Dein erstes Forum » x will keep Chris Sale on his usual schedu

Mix Cinderella with Lazarus and sprinkle in a little Lady Luck. And -- presto -- you have two of the four teams playing for a field hockey national championship this weekend in Norfolk, Virginia.Unseeded Delaware stunned top-seeded Duke and unseeded Princeton topped Virginia in the quarterfinals to join stalwarts North Carolina and Connecticut -- minor surprises by comparison -- in the obliterated bracket.Surreal, is how Princeton sophomore striker and magician Sophia Tornetta describes it. And indeed thats one word, along with quirky and improbable, that best describe the journey to the 2016 final four for half the bracket.Delaware, the Colonial Athletic Association champion for the fourth straight season, boasts a 21-2 record. Turns out the Blue Hens, fueled by the nations leading scorer Greta Nauck, arent just a nice little mid-major ready to take a bow in the first round. Had they not won the CAA tournament, they would have surely snagged an at-large bid (yes, it would have been the one that went to Princeton, admits Tigers coach Carla Tagliente). With victories against Virginia and Albany, along with running the table in conference play, Delaware had its best season in program history, but the final four still seemed like a reach for a team that hadnt done it since 1982, especially given the ACC powerhouses theyd have to beat to get there.The Blue Hens first blanked Louisville 1-0, despite being outshot 11-4.Then came Duke, a program Delaware had never beaten.Delaware trailed the Blue Devils 2-0 with less than 10 minutes to play in Durham. Warm up the bus?We rose from the dead, coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said.Scoring off a corner, Nauck trimmed the deficit to one in the 62nd minute and, after a Duke timeout, the Blue Hens drew even and stayed that way until the end of regulation, forcing the 7-on-7 overtime. Before three minutes had elapsed in the sudden-victory period, Nauck had fired off two shots.The second one is why Delaware is in Norfolk this weekend.The German sophomore insists she struggles with confidence, sometimes as it relates to the English language, as in pronouncing her Ws and Vs correctly, and sometimes, believe it or not, in her offensive aggressiveness.Yet in that moment, she felt like Superwoman, controlling a breakaway to slip past two defenders and blast the shot past Duke goalie Sammi Steele, who had emerged from the cage.Usually Im not good at situations like that, beating other people, Nauck said. This time I told myself. I will score this goal. I will beat them. When I saw the goalie coming toward me, I lifted it, and those few seconds, seeing the ball go toward the goal cage and watching the goalie, they seemed like forever.Please go in, she prayed.When it did, Nauck sprinted to find her own goalie, Emmeline Oltmans, brilliant in the face of 23 shots, hugged her first and then let out a shout that became a scream practically loud enough for those back in the Delaware Valley to hear.A Dutchman, Van de Kerkhof has the professional relationships that allow him to recruit overseas. Nauck turned down other top programs to sign with Delaware without setting foot on campus. She is one of six players on the Delaware roster from Europe.The charming college town of Newark, Delaware, which boasts state-of-the-art facilities for field hockey, borders on Pennsylvania, where successful club field hockey teams are as common as pretzel rolls and fresh Tastykakes. The best field hockey in the country is played within four hours of here, said Van de Kerkhof, a former Michigan State coach.His pitch to recruits is simple. Come to a great academic school, Mom and Dad can see you play, and benefit from the New York/D.C. corridor, fertile ground for professional internship opportunities.If you dream big and youre willing to work hard at it, great things can happen, Van de Kerkhof said. One of the reasons I left Michigan State was that I thought Delaware was a sleeping giant; you just have to feed her, raise her, educate her, coach her up.Unlike Delaware, Princeton didnt put together a remarkable season. In fact, by program standards, it was disappointing -- a 10-7 regular season had senior Cat Caro folding my body parts every sort of way while watching the selection show in hopes of Princeton receiving that at-large bid, a first for the Ivy League.The Tigers needed it because Princeton didnt win the Ivy for the first time in five years. In fact, until this season, the Tigers had lost the league only once since 2004. While they have a seasoned coach in Tagliente, she is only in her first year with the program; Kristen Holmes-Winn, who guided the team to its only NCAA title in 2012, stepped down in July to be part of a new sports performance and technology company.But once the bid was announced, these Tigers wiped the slate clean. Princeton played what Tagliente regards as its best game of the season, upsetting Penn State 2-1 to open the NCAA tournament at State College, Pennsylvania.The Tigers then faced a Virginia team led by ACC offensive player of the year Tara Vittese that shut out them out 2-0 on Sept. 16.Tied 2-2 in the final seconds last Sunday, the weary teams seemed destined for overtime. But the chaotic final seconds unraveled into the unlikeliest of finishes.It appeared as if time had expired, but neither team heard a horn.After the ball hit a Virginia defender, Caro directed it Tornettas way and the sophomore laced it to the back of the cage. The Tigers celebrated. Game over? Did the goal count? The Cavaliers thought they were going to overtime.A conference of officials confirmed a 3-2 Princeton victory, leaving the Cavaliers, who had outshot Princeton 13-3, shocked.I was preparing myself for overtime, but I wasnt giving up hope completely, Tornetta said. It rolled in front of me. I told myself to hit it toward the goal, anything can happen, and I saw the ball hit the back of net. My next reaction was to look at the bench and, all of the sudden, I see the entire team from ear to ear, smiles on their faces, tears running from their eyes. It was one of the most surreal and coolest moments I have been a part of.Tagliente was preparing for the extra period, too. I turned around to grab my board to start writing an overtime lineup, she said. I turned back around and Sophias on the ground shooting the ball into the net and Im frozen holding my board. One of my assistants is charging to me and yelling, We did it!Walking into an established program late in the summer was daunting for Tagliente, but before she knew everyones names, the Tigers wanted to talk goals. The consensus was no one wanted it to be like last year and Tagliente kept hearing, I dont want . . .Talk about what you want and come back, Tagliente instructed.The next time Tagliente asked, Caro said, We want to win a national championship.Tagliente just about dropped the marker she was holding. Then she remembered she was at Princeton with players who yearn to leave a legacy.A national title doesnt seem so crazy now. Dont look at the record, Tagliente said. But if you do, youll see the Tigers lost to North Carolina, Duke and Maryland, but the scores in all those games were 2-1. They beat Delaware 4-2 on Sept. 11.And now theyre here. Its Princeton vs. Delaware at 4:45 p.m. Friday following North Carolina vs. Connecticut at 2 p.m.Its the first time since the tournament started in 1975 that not one of the top four seeds has advanced to the final four, said Chip Rogers, who has kept a statistical history of every NCAA field hockey tournament since its inception. His book is the official record book of the sport.Whatever happens, either Delaware or Princeton will be in the 2016 national championship against North Carolina, a six-time champion, or UConn, a four-time champion. Whose ride will continue? We find out Friday. Custom Hurricanes T-shirts .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. Cheap Custom Hurricanes Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. http://www.customhurricanesjersey.com/ . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. Custom Hurricanes Jersey China . -- Bryant McKinnie came out of his stance and lowered his shoulder into a practice squad player, causing a crisp thud to reverberate in the Miami Dolphins practice bubble. Custom Hurricanes Jerseys . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.CHICAGO -- Dioner Navarros first home run just cleared the basket at Wrigley Field and his second nearly hooked foul. But the third? There was no doubt about that one, and theres no doubt about this, either: This was an unforgettable performance. Navarro hit three home runs for the first time in his career, connecting from both sides of the plate Wednesday and leading the Chicago Cubs over the White Sox 9-3. "It so surreal right now," he said. "I cant even speak right now." The last time he hit three home runs in a game? "I hit two one time in Little League," he said, smiling. Navarro had never homered more than once in a major league game, but he sure got his swing going while driving in a career-high six runs and scoring four times. He became the first Cubs player to hit three homers in a game since Aramis Ramirez against Houston on July 20, 2010, at Wrigley and their first catcher to do it since George Mitterwald on April 17, 1974, against Pittsburgh. The last Cubs switch-hitter to homer from the left and right sides in a game was Mark Bellhorn against Milwaukee on Aug. 29, 2002. "Its a pretty special day, something hell never forget," manager Dale Sveum said. Navarro began the day with three homers in 55 at-bats this season, and wound up doubling his homer total. He raised his batting average from .200 to .241 filling in for Welington Castillo as the Cubs won their third straight. Despite all that, Sveum made one thing clear: Hes not changing catchers. He said Castillo will start on Thursday. Navarro hit a solo homer just over the basket at the wall in left-centre in the second to break a 1-all tie and added a two-run shot down the left-field line off John Danks (0-1) in the fourth, with both drives coming from the right side. He walked and scored in the sixth after his bat landed several rows beyond the Cubs dugout. He got the bat back and delivered another big blow in the seventh, driving a towering shot to the street beyond the right-field bleachers for a three-run homer off Brian Omogrosso. "That was awesome to watch," Cubs starter Scott Feldman said. "Really just happy for him because he works so hard on all the other things -- calling games, receiving, going over the scouting reports. Its nice to see him rewarded with a day like that." By the time Navarro hit his third homer, Feldman was back in the trainers room getting his shoulder worked on. That didnt stop him from "jumping around" on the table as the ball shot toward the street. Clearly, he was thrilled for his teammate even if Navarro stole the spotlight from him.dddddddddddd Feldman (5-4) went six innings, allowing two runs and six hits. He struck out seven without a walk and improved to 5-1 in his past seven outings. The strong performance by Feldman came after Jeff Samardzija threw a two-hitter in Mondays 7-0 win at U.S. Cellular Field. The struggling Edwin Jackson was also sailing along on Tuesday before the game on the South Side was postponed because of rain with the Cubs up 2-0 in the third. In his second start back from a season-ending shoulder injury, Danks lasted just four innings and allowed four runs and five hits. His most recent win was at Wrigley Field on May 19, 2012, which turned out to be his final start of the year. He had surgery in August to repair a capsule tear and remove debris in his rotator cuff and biceps. "Its still a process in getting back," he said. "Like I said from the very beginning when Im taking the mound out there its because I feel like I give us a chance to win. Im not a guy thats going to make any excuses, and todays certainly not a day Im going to make an excuse. I felt fine going into the game, just didnt pitch well." The bullpen didnt exactly bail him out. The offence struggled, too. Adam Dunn is now 1 for 25 in his last seven games after going 0 for 3, although he did have a sacrifice fly. "(Danks) wasnt the only one," manager Robin Ventura said. "It was just one of those weve got to keep their catchers from hitting home runs. Not a good day, but its just one of those youve got to stick with it. Find a way to keep them in the yard." NOTES: Cubs reliever Kyuji Fujikawa will have Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow and miss the rest of the season. No date has been set for the procedure. He said through a translator that he "felt something" on a pitch to Joey Votto during Sundays game against Cincinnati and was placed on the disabled list on Monday. ... The White Sox will keep Chris Sale on his usual schedule and have him start Sunday rather than move him up a day. Sale pitched two innings on Tuesday before the game was called. ... Ventura said 2B Gordon Beckham would play Thursday for Triple-A Charlotte and that he didnt expect him to come back to Chicago until next Thursday. Beckham, who had surgery April 16 to repair a broken left hand, hasnt played on his rehab assignment since last Thursday because of soreness. ... Jake Peavy (6-2, 2.97 ERA) starts for the White Sox on Thursday, with Travis Wood (4-3, 2.73 ERA) pitching for the Cubs. ' ' '