Dein erstes Forum » Conference have much on the line this seas

SANDY, Utah -- A year from now, the mountains that loom beyond the eastern rim of Rio Tinto Stadium will look?the same as they do now.The U.S. womens national team? Not so much.Close your eyes for even a second, and Allie Long is a defender.Take too long coming back from a halftime hot chocolate run and, what do you know, Lynn Williams has appeared in her first game and scored her first goal for the national team.If Wednesdays game against Switzerland was supposed to be a demonstration of change, it didnt disappoint. The 4-0 win wasnt conclusive in any particular respect. But it was definitely different and thus interesting.And frankly, fun.I think its great for the environment with the national team, said Morgan Brian, who in two years has gone from World Cup rookie to wise, old sage. It makes it way more competitive, like Jills been saying. Its only going to push us to get that much better for the next three years.If U.S. coach Jill Ellis wants competition as the cycle begins for the 2019 World Cup and 2020 Olympics, Williams and Andi Sullivan highlighted the best-case scenario of what that looks like. Five players debuted for the United States in front of 14,336 fans Wednesday. None fell on their faces. Williams excelled; she scored the games first goal just 49 seconds after entering as a substitute to begin the second half. And Sullivan succeeded in the middle?of good play.I thought they were fantastic, Ellis said. As much as they were allowed to express themselves, they also fit within the system. I was very impressed. Andis poise, her passing -- I think shes mature beyond her years, in terms of her first time in, and she looked like shes been doing it for a while. Lynn, obviously a great finish. Her work rate, penetration, back to pressure -- shes pretty multi-dimensional.Just over a week ago, Williams capped a breakthrough professional season with the Western New York Flash by scoring a late equalizer in the dying seconds of overtime in the NWSL final. She and the Flash went on to claim the title in penalty kicks in Houston, and then after a quick stop back in Buffalo, she was off to Utah. On Wednesday, she?raced in on goal in the opening minute of the half. Williams slotted the ball into the net; she was?calm enough to take one final touch that opened up the shooting angle to go back across the goalkeeper.When they first told us we were going in, some nerves come over your body, Williams said. But Carli [Lloyd] came up to me and said, Just connect your first pass and go from there. And then Sam [Mewis] came up to me and said, Lynn, you dont have to be anything that youre not.Technically, Williams first pass came after her first goal, but the message holds.The play Williams made to set in motion the third goal -- after Tobin Heath doubled the lead -- was in some ways more impressive than the goal. Williams sent a sublime pass to Kelley OHara in the right corner, and OHara set up Christen Press for an emphatic finish.Its more difficult to put together the highlight package for Sullivan, but she was no less impressive. A college junior, she played the No. 6 position with confidence beyond her years.Early in the game, she turned her back at midfield and was knocked off the ball by a Swiss player. Sullivan looked at the referee as if expecting a whistle but got nothing. Far from rattled, she went about her work, connecting passes and putting the teammates in front of her in good spaces. Ellis has said repeatedly that she still doesnt know Sullivans best position, and indeed, she has excelled as a No. 8 for Stanford this season. But a longtime holding midfielder, she looked mighty comfortable there Wednesday.I think she, Lindsey [Horan] and I played pretty well together, Brian said. I think we found seams and played off of each other. She was very composed and calm on the ball.And yes, if youre doing the math at home, that adds up to three midfielders in the center of the field. The biggest surprise before the game wasnt the names in the lineup. More jarring was the way the U.S. women lined up, placing midfielder Allie Long between Becky Sauerbrunn and Emily Sonnett in the last line of a 3-5-2 formation. Given that Ellis just released one center back from contract (Whitney Engen) and says she is looking to add to the position, it might seem a curious move to play three of them together, especially when one isnt a center back by trade.I think in our attacking weve been kind of rotating to get to that shape, Ellis said, pointing most recently to the game against the Netherlands last month. I said, You know what, its time for us to kind of, honestly, experiment and try new things. What I like about Allie is she has a profile; shes good in the air, shes a very good communicator. And her passing gives us the ability to play those penetrating balls and keep possession and build.Playing somewhat shorthanded and rather listlessly, Switzerland didnt do much on the offensive end, but the U.S. women had a couple of dicey moments after miscues. Still, there was no denying the amount of buildup play the United States was able to accumulate.We only have three in the back, which gets a little scary sometimes, Brian said. But we have some of the best defenders in the world, so its a pretty great formation for us. It gives us a lot of numbers centrally to be able to combine and play a good brand of soccer, which I think we enjoyed tonight.The first test to replicate the energy comes Sunday against the same Swiss team in Minnesota.The coaching staff and the veteran players have been super proactive about getting us up to speed and including us in this team, which is really special, Sullivan said. To be able to bring in a bunch of new players and still put on a performance like we did tonight, I think that says a lot about the leadership of this team.What does it mean? Who knows. It was one game in October, a long time from any game that matters. But if any conclusion can be drawn, it is that this will be interesting.College Jerseys China . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Cheap College Jerseys . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. https://www.fakecollegejerseys.com/ . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Cyber Monday College Jerseys . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. College Jerseys Black Friday . Batiste, who briefly signed with the Eskimos in 2006, has spent time with several NFL teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins.Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Wednesday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EDT:- NEW YORK -- Sept. 1 marks 10 years that Roger Goodell has served as NFL commissioner. A look at his stewardship over that decade as the NFL has grown exponentially, but also has been plagued by off-field issues ranging from player conduct to concussions. UPCOMING: 1,100 words, photos.- NEW YORK -- Novak Djokovic gives his troublesome right arm another test in the second round of the U.S. Open, facing someone who beat him earlier this season. Rafael Nadal plays at night. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 8 p.m.; updated with night session. With: US OPEN-THE LATEST.- MIAMI -- New Dolphins boss Adam Gase likes to talk trash with his players, but then all of the NFLs new coaches could denigrate their teams, because theyre all in need of a turnaround. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 4 p.m.- LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The IOC has stripped four more athletes -- including three Russians -- of medals from the 2008 Beijing Olympics after their doping samples were retested and came back positive. SENT: 500 words, photos.- NEW YORK -- For the last five years, the top rules experts in golf have come together from around the world to study a jigsaw puzzle. They are finding it very difficult to simply the complicated the Rules of Golf. SENT: 800 words, photos.- DETRROIT -- Two AL Central aces square off when Chicagos Chris Sale (15-7, 3.dddddddddddd14) faces Detroits Justin Verlander (14-7, 3.33). UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Starts 1:10 p.m.- ARLINGTON, Texas -- Felix Hernandez (9-4, 3.14) tries to win his sixth straight decision when Seattle wraps up a series against the Rangers and tries to end a four-game losing streak. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Starts 2:05 p.m.- A handful big-money coaches in the Southeastern Conference have much on the line this season, including their jobs. That group includes Texas A&Ms Kevin Sumlin, Auburns Gus Malzahn and maybe even LSUs Les Miles. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos by 2 p.m.- Wisconsins opener against fifth-ranked LSU in the Lambeau Field College Classic in Green Bay on Saturday is chock-full of story lines. By Eric Olson. UPCOMING: 525 words, photos.- AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas quarterback competition dominating Longhorns training camp has lacked a particular ingredient: juice. Or more specifically, Jerrod Heard. UPCOMING: 520 words, photos by 2 p.m.- Surprise preseason performances and two big starting quarterback injuries have fantasy owners scrambling to alter cheat sheets, re-arrange queues, and reflect on lifes larger questions. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos by 5 p.m. ' ' '