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Osorio, Canada draw Mexico at Azteca for important point in WC qualifying – TSN

Published

3 years ago

October 8, 2021

MEXICO CITY — Four games into the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying and Canada is unbeaten, turning heads and raising expectations.

The Canadian men rallied to tie Mexico 1-1 on a Jonathan Osorio goal Thursday, picking up a valuable away point against the top-ranked team in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

The Canadian men have taken their lumps at Azteca Stadium in the past. But John Herdman’s young side, despite missing some important pieces, showed in the first half and parts of the second that it can keep up with the CONCACAF powerhouse, giving as good as it got and sometimes more on hostile ground.

“We wanted three points … I’m content with the point but at the same time I think there was an opportunity to take three,” said Herdman. “I think we’ll walk away from this, looking at this in time thinking we could have taken three points.”

History was against that.

Osorio’s goal was Canada’s first against Mexico at Azteca in 41 years. Canada Soccer Hall of Famer Gerry Gray scored in the 87th minute to lift Canada’s to a 1-1 tie in a World Cup qualifier in November 1980. The Canadian men were 0-6-1 against Mexico all-time at Azteca and had been outscored 16-0 there over the last four matches there dating back to July 1993.

Times have changed, it seems.

In other play Thursday, the U.S. defeated Jamaica 2-0 in Austin, Honduras tied visiting Costa Rica 0-0 and El Salvador edged visiting Panama 1-0 in San Salvador.

The results left the Americans atop the CONCACAF round-robin on goal difference with both teams on eight points at 2-0-2. Canada (1-0-3) is third, one point ahead of Panama (1-0-2).

The Canadian men play No. 59 Jamaica in Kingston on Sunday before returning home to face No. 68 Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field next Wednesday.

Come March, after the eight remaining teams have each played 14 games, the top three finishers in the CONCACAF final qualifying will book their ticket to Qatar 2022. The fourth-place team will take part in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.

The Canadian men have not made it to the final round of qualifying in the region since the lead-up to France ’98

Tied 1-1 at the break, Mexico came on strong in a second half that was paused in the 59th minute for objectionable fan chants. The contest was originally slated to be played behind closed doors as punishment for such behaviour in the past but FIFA cut the sanction in half to one game, meaning fans were allowed in.

After an even start, Mexico went ahead in the 22nd minute after Chucky Lozano found Jorge Sanchez behind the defence The Mexican fullback controlled the ball with his right foot then shot with his left, sending the ball through Maxime Crepeau’s legs.

The play started with Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa at the other end of the field. Three passes later, Lozano had the ball in front of the Canadian penalty box and spotted Sanchez, who had his arm raised as he got behind fullback Richie Laryea.

Osorio tied it up in the 42nd minute, beating Ochoa from a thrown-in after taking a slide-rule pass from Alphonso Davies that cut out four Mexican defenders. Osorio controlled the ball then slotted it in the corner for his seventh goal for Canada.

“That goal, it’s all Phonzie, to be honest,” said Osorio. “He deserves the credit. He is our star player and he shows up every time. And that’s hard to do, with the amount of pressure that he gets.”

The Toronto FC midfielder is no stranger to goals at Azteca, having scored in a 1-1 tie with Club America in April 2018 that moved the MLS side into the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League final.

The Osorio strike was also Canada’s first goal at the famed stadium since Alex Bunbury against Martinique at the 1993 Gold Cup.

It was the 20-year-old Davies 14th career assist for Canada, tying the national team record set earlier this year by Junior Hoilett.

The Canadians came into the match with a 4-20-8 record against Mexico in senior play since 1957. Canada was 1-12-7 against the Mexicans in World Cup qualifying play, with the lone win coming in October 1976 in Vancouver.

Canada and Mexico last met in late July in the Gold Cup semifinal, with the Mexicans needed a 99th-minute goal to win 2-1 in Houston.

Canada was without veteran goalkeeper Milan Borjan (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia), who is recovering from COVID-19, as well as captain Atiba Hutchinson and forward Cyle Larin (both Besiktas, Turkey) and striker Lucas Cavallini (Vancouver Whitecaps) who are recovering from injury. The hope is they might be able to join the team later in the window.

Canada Soccer had previously said Hoilett (Reading, England) and midfielder David Wotherspoon (St. Johnstone, Scotland) would meet the team in Jamaica ahead of the weekend match against the Reggae Boyz so as to avoid the quarantine that visitors to Mexico have to undergo when returning to Britain.

The Canadian starting 11 came into the match with a combined 219 caps, with 44 of those belonging to Osorio. Six of the starters were 24 years or younger.

Steven Vitoria captained the team in Hutchinson’s absence.

Canada had the best early scoring chance with Ochoa parrying Laryea’s hard shot in the 15th minute after the Toronto FC fullback combining with Davies, raced down the left flank and then headed inside. The rebound came to Tajon Buchanan, who hammered his shot high.

Four minutes later, Mexico came close when Lozano shot high after a counter-attack triggered by a Mark-Anthony Kaye turnover.

Buchanan and Davies, both speedsters, almost combined in the 31st minute when Buchanan left several Mexicans in his dust and curled in a wonderful low cross through the box. An onrushing Davies got a foot to the ball at the far post but could not steer it on target.

Canada threatened again in the 40th with Ochoa making a reflex save off Vitoria’s close-range header from a Stephen Eustaquio free kick.

Crepeau and Lozano tangled early in the second half as the Canadian ‘keeper tried to distribute the ball but cooler heads prevailed.

There was more niggle in the 56th minute when Jesus Corona kicked out at Laryea after both went down near the Canadian penalty box. El Salvador referee Ismael Cornejo showed yellow cards to both players, meaning Laryea will be suspended for the Jamaica game after picking up a second caution.

Soon after Corona tested Crepeau from in-close at the near post after a Mexican throw-in.

Canada defender Alistair Johnston came close to an own goal in the 64th but his clearing header, keeping the ball away from a waiting Raul Jimenez, bounced off the crossbar.

Jimenez, in his first international game since suffering a fractured skull playing for England’s Wolves last November, scored in the 66th but the goal was called off for a foul.

Herdman brought on Sam Adekugbe, Liam Fraser and Liam Millar in a triple change in the 77th minute. Charles-Andreas Brym came on late for his fourth Canadian cap.

Canada previously tied the U.S. and Honduras and beat El Salvador.

It mars the first time since 1980 that Canada has earned way results (both draws) against Mexico and the U.S. in the same World Cup qualifying round

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2021

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NHL roundup: Hurricanes beat Flyers 6-4 for seventh straight win

Published

18 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas scored a go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 on Tuesday night.

It was the seventh straight win for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Jack Roslovic, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Necas typically saves his game-winners for overtime, with nine in his career, but he was able to take care of business in regulation with his team-best seventh goal of the season.

Travis Konecny scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia.

Aleksei Kolosov made 28 saves for the Flyers, who trailed 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 but kept coming back. Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net allowing four goals on just 16 shots.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

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SABRES 5 SENATORS 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and Buffalo snapped a three-game skid with a win over Ottawa.

Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.

Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.

—

MAPLE LEAFS 4 BRUINS 0

TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in Toronto’s 4-0 victory over Boston.

Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists as Toronto connected three times on the power play. William Nylander and Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist each. Mitch Marner had two assists of his own. Steven Lorentz rounded out the scoring into the empty net.

The Leafs played without captain Auston Matthews, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops for Boston, which was coming off consecutive weekend shutouts of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.

Toronto’s porous 31st-ranked power play scored for the second time in as many games at 8:44 of the second period when Rielly fired through a screen. Nylander banked in his team-leading 10th goal of the season on another man advantage 1:14 later for a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins entered the game 8-0-0 in the regular season against their Atlantic Division rival dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.

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FLAMES 3 CANADIENS 2 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Matt Coronato scored twice as Calgary came back to defeat Montreal in overtime.

Coronato tied the game with 2:46 remaining in regulation when he cruised into the slot and went off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into the extra period.

Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won its second game in seven outings. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots.

Joel Armia — with a short-handed goal — and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal (4-7-2). Armia also provided an assist, while Sam Montembeault made 32 saves as the Canadiens’ losing streak extended to four games.

Zary opened the scoring with his third 4:20 into the second period when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot past Montembeault.

Gallagher then slipped the puck between Wolf’s pads at 16:23 to level the score with his fifth of the season.

—

BLUES 3 LIGHTNING 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 3-2.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his 149th career win moving him past Jake Allen for second place in franchise history, just two wins behind Mike Liut’s 151.

Nick Perbix and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning who have lost three straight games.

Kyrou scored his fourth goal of the season 8:51 into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Toropchenko scored his first goal of the season with 1:35 remaining in the second period to put St. Louis ahead 2-1 after Sundqvist tied the game with his first of the season 7:47 into the period.

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ISLANDERS 4 PENGUINS 3 (SO)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and New York rallied past Pittsburgh 4-3.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the shootout and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.

Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.

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KINGS 5 WILD 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-1.

Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles, which was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-0 win in Nashville a night earlier. David Rittich made 23 saves for the Kings.

Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2022 by Minnesota for a first-round pick draft pick and defenceman Brock Faber, scored his seventh goal of the season. He now has three goals and six assists in his last seven games against the Wild.

Minnesota, which had won three in a row, opened the scoring in the second period on Zach Bogosian’s first goal of the season. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for the Wild.

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JETS 3 UTAH 0

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter scored twice in his 900th NHL career game and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves to help Winnipeg defeat Utah 3-0.

It was Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season and 39th of this career.

Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets. Adam Lowry assisted on both goals by Niederreiter.

Utah ended a run of picking up points in three consecutive games (1-0-2).

Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots for Utah in its second stop on a four-game road trip.

Jets winger Kyle Connor had his franchise-record, season-opening points streak end at 12 games.

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AVALANCHE 6 KRAKEN 3

DENVER (AP) — Arturri Lehkonen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in his season debut and Nathan MacKinnon had five assists as Colorado beat Seattle 6-3.

Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Chris Wagner also scored for Colorado.

Cale Makar had two assists but the star defenceman barely played in the second half of the game and appeared to be slowed by an apparent injury during a brief shift.

MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games.

Lehkonen played for the first time since off-season shoulder surgery.

Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.

—

CANUCKS 5 DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brock Boeser, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist apiece, and Quinn Hughes recorded his 300th career assist in Vancouver’s victory over Anaheim.

Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson also scored and Hughes had three assists for the Canucks, who have won six of eight. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in Vancouver’s sixth consecutive win over the Ducks.

Olen Zellweger scored a power-play goal early in the first period for Anaheim, which has lost seven of nine. Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots.

Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko took shots from teammates again after the morning skate, and he could return to practice this week. The Southern California native and 2023-24 Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury incurred late last season.

—

SHARKS 2 BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Wennberg scored 3:11 into overtime and San Jose celebrated the return of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with a win over Columbus.

Defenceman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the pre-season. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.

San Jose goalie Vitek Vanacek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves.

Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game. Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

2 days ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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