Sports – Page 430 – North Platte Post Archive

Broncos Fend Off Chiefs 24-17 with Goal-Line Stand

Posted on September 14, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Terrance Knighton batted away Alex Smith’s fourth-and-goal pass to Dwayne Bowe with 15 seconds left, preserving the Denver Broncos’ 24-17 win over the scrappy Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

The Broncos (2-0) thought they had sealed the win twice earlier on the drive.

Aqib Talib’s pick-6 was negated by Quanterus Smith’s hold. Then, Nate Irving’s fumble recovery following DeMarcus Ware’s sack and strip was ruled an incomplete pass after a replay.

The Chiefs (0-2) converted 11 of 16 third-down opportunities overall.

They just couldn’t capitalize in the biggest moments as the Broncos defense mustered two goal-line stands for the second straight week.

Peyton Manning was 21 of 26 for 242 yards and three TDs.

Gonzales, Cardinals Top Rockies for 3rd Win in Row

Posted on September 14, 2014

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rookie Marco Gonzales struck out nine, Jhonny Peralta homered and the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 4-1 Sunday for their third straight win.

The Cardinals held their 3 1-2-game division lead over Pittsburgh.

Colorado lost all six games on its just-completed road trip.

Gonzales (3-2), in his fifth major league start, gave up one run on four hits and four walks over 5 2-3 innings. His strikeout total was the most by a Cardinals rookie left-hander since Rick Ankiel fanned 11 in 2000 against Pittsburgh.

Trevor Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his NL-leading 44th save in 49 opportunities. Six St. Louis pitchers combined to fan 16.

Peralta hit his team-leading 21st homer, a two-run shot in the third off Jordan Lyles (6-3).

Nava Hits Slam, Red Sox Rally past Skidding Royals

Posted on September 14, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Daniel Nava hit a grand slam, Xander Bogaerts added a three-run shot and the Boston Red Sox rallied past the skidding Kansas City Royals 8-4 on Sunday.

Kansas City blew a four-run lead and dropped three of four to the last-place Red Sox.

The Royals fell 1 1-2 games behind Detroit, which beat Cleveland, in the AL Central. Kansas City is in the thick of the wild-card race.

The Red Sox chased Jason Vargas (11-9) with one out in the sixth after Mookie Betts and Bogaerts singled. Reliever Aaron Crow walked Yoenis Cespedes to load the bases and struck out Allen Craig.

Nava hit Crow’s next pitch into the Red Sox bullpen for his second career grand slam and a 7-4 lead.

Bogaerts homered in the third and got three hits. He also had a sacrifice fly and drove in four runs.

Joe Kelly (3-2) got the win.

Huskers Come Up Short in 3-0 Setback to Illinois

Posted on September 14, 2014

Lincoln, Neb. – The Nebraska soccer team (4-3-1) suffered its first Big Ten loss of the season on Sunday afternoon, falling to Illinois by a 3-0 margin at the Nebraska Soccer Field.

The Huskers took six shots for the game, but failed to convert. Jaycie Johnson, Caroline Flynn and Courtney Claassen each managed one shot on goal, but Illinois goalkeeper Claire Wheatley saved all three to complete the shutout.

NU went into the locker room at halftime trailing 1-0 after Allison Stuckey scored off an assist from Amy Feher in the 40th minute. After being outshot in the first half 8-2, the Huskers took four shots in the second half, while the Fighting Illini took five.

In the 71st minute, Jannelle Flaws put Illinois up 2-0 with her goal off an assist from Katherine Ratz. Flaws added a second goal in the 80th minute off an assist from Stucky for her sixth score of the season.

Nebraska goalkeeper Kelly Schatz earned two saves in 90 minutes of play.

The Huskers hit the road next weekend for their match against Wisconsin on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on BTN Plus.

USA Wins Basketball Worlds, 129-92 over Serbia

Posted on September 14, 2014September 14, 2014

MADRID (AP) — Kyrie Irving made all six 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and the U.S. repeated as world champion for the first time by crushing Serbia 129-92 on Sunday in the Basketball World Cup.

James Harden added 23 for the Americans, who made 11 of 16 3-pointers in a sensational-shooting first half, adding one final romp to a tournament full of them.

This depleted team that was supposedly weak enough to lose was too good to be touched.

The Americans were supposed to have All-Star forwards Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and Blake Griffin, who all informed USA Basketball not long before the tournament that they would be unavailable.

But Irving and Harden stuck around, and despite sending the youngest U.S. team since NBA players debuted in 1992, the Americans remained as dominant as ever.

They have won 63 straight games — 45 in official FIBA events and 18 in exhibition play — and are automatically qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

No. 16 NPCC Lady Knights 4-0 at Pizza Hut Invite

Posted on September 14, 2014

Sterling, CO – The No. 16 North Platte Community College Lady Knights (12-4) traveled to Sterling, Colo. over the weekend and posted a perfect 4-0 record at the Pizza Hut Invitation including two five set battles. On Friday the Lady Knights were pushed to the limit as they won two five set battles. North Platte first knocked off Laramie County Community College,22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 18-16 in the opening game before taking down Northeast Community College,20-25, 25-16, 25-23, 17-25, 15-9. On Saturday the Lady Knights cruised to a three set win over Trinidad State Junior College,25-20, 25-22, 26-24 and a four set win over Otero Junior College,18-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-16.

In the opening game of the Invitational, North Platte was led by a trio of sophomores and a freshman in kills. The sophomores in double-figure kills were Taylor King with 16, Samantha Kennedy with 15 and Samantha Byrn with 14. Kennedy also had seven blocks. Freshman Valerie Most also recorded 12. Another sophomore, Joli Hopping recorded 51 sets for the Lady Knights. Sophomore Erika Goodwin had 30 digs, while Byrn had 20, Most had 15 and Hopping had 12 to earn the victory.

The second game was another tightly contested match that saw North Platte again earn victory in five sets. The Lady Knights were led by Most who recorded 15 kills and Kennedy who had nine. Hopping again paced North Platte with 44 assists while Byrn led the way in digs with 21. Goodwin recorded 21 digs, King had 17 and Hopping had 16 to round out the Lady Knights in double-figure digs.

On Saturday, the Lady Knights secured the perfect record at the Pizza Hut Invitation with wins over Trinidad State and Otero. Against Trinidad State Samantha Kennedy led the way with 12 kills while Samantha Byrn was not far behind with 11. Joli Hopping had 29 assists while Erika Goodwin recorded 20 digs. Byrn (14) and Taylor King (13) were also in double-figure digs.

In the final game of the Invitational, three Lady Knights notched double-digit kills. Kennedy led the way with 10, while King and Valerie Most each had 10. For the fourth straight game, Hopping led the way with 40 assists while Goodwin had 25 digs. Aryn Meisinger had 14 digs along with King while Byrn recorded 11.,

The Lady Knights return to action on Tuesday, September 16 as they travel to Torrington, Wyo. to face Eastern Wyoming College at 7 p.m., a team they have defeated twice already this season. North Platte returns home on Thursday, September 18 to face Region IX Division II foe and the #3 in Division II Central Community College at 6 p.m.

Nebraska Hammers Fresno State 55-19

Posted on September 14, 2014

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw a 70-yard touchdown pass on the fourth play from scrimmage and Ameer Abdullah scored on a 57-yard run on Nebraska’s next play to lead the Cornhuskers to a 55-19 victory over Fresno State on Saturday night.

De’Mornay Pierson-El added an 86-yard punt return touchdown and Imani Cross scored on a 62-yard run for the Cornhuskers (3-0), who enjoyed a lopsided win after last week’s narrow 31-24 escape against lower-division McNeese State.

That dropped Nebraska from No. 19 in the Associated Press poll to unranked. Since the AP poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989, no team ranked as high had ever dropped out after a win.

Brian Burrell threw a TD pass and scored on a 66-yard run for Fresno State (0-3), which had its 13-game home winning streak snapped and is off to its worst start since also dropping the first three games in 1998.

Cardinals Hold Off Rockies 5-4

Posted on September 13, 2014

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matt Holliday homered in the first inning for the second straight night and Shelby Miller pitched six solid innings and had an RBI double, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.

Matt Carpenter added a two-run homer in the second for the NL Central leaders, who have won 12 in a row at home in the final month of the season dating to last Sept. 14. Of their 10 runs in the first two games of this series, seven have come in the first two innings.

The Cardinals are 9-4 this month and took a 3 1-2 game lead over Pittsburgh.

Wilin Rosario, Josh Rutledge and pinch-hitter Michael McHenry had an RBI apiece in the ninth and the Rockies put the tying run on second before Pat Neshek got pinch-hitter Rafael Ynoa to fly out for his sixth save in nine chances.

Huskers Roll in Sweep of Colgate

Posted on September 13, 2014

Lincoln – The 11th-ranked Nebraska volleyball team dominated from start to finish in a 3-0 sweep (25-9, 25-12, 25-15) over Colgate to wrap up the Ameritas Players Challenge on Saturday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The Huskers (5-2) posted the top record at the tournament, finishing 2-0 to run their win streak to five matches. Colgate dropped to 3-4.

Kadie Rolfzen paced the Huskers with 14 kills and five blocks and took home MVP honors. Justine Wong-Orantes, Kelsey Fien and Amber Rolfzen were also named to the All-Tournament Team. Amber Rolfzen had 11 kills against Colgate and hit .500, matching her career high.

As a team, Nebraska hit a season-high .450 on the night, surpassing its previous best of .398 against Eastern Kentucky last Saturday. Defensively, the Huskers also put together their best all-around effort of the season, holding the Raiders to a .035 hitting percentage, a season low for a Husker opponent. Diane Seely led Colgate with 11 kills on 20 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage. The rest of her team hit -.108 combined.

The Huskers rolled to a 25-9 win in set one, turning a 5-4 lead into a 14-4 lead with a 9-0 spurt keyed by a pair of kills each from Kadie Rolfzen and Meghan Haggerty and great defensive play from Wong-Orantes. A double-block by Haggerty and Amber Rolfzen finished the set, as the Huskers held an opponent to single digits in a set for the third time this year, matching last year’s total. NU hit a season-best .593 in the set, connecting for 17 kills on 27 attacks with just one error. Meanwhile, the Huskers held Colgate to a -.077 hitting percentage.

In set two, the Big Red went up 4-0 and blew open a 12-3 lead on a Kadie Rolfzen kill. From there, the Huskers cruised to the 25-12 win on back-to-back kills by Mary Pollmiller and Kadie Rolfzen to end the set. Through two sets, the Huskers had Colgate hitting at a -.039 clip while hitting .479 themselves.

The Huskers rolled out some fresh legs in the third set, as three players made their first appearances in the match. Still, the Huskers were in control and posted the 10-point victory to finish strong. Wong-Orantes keyed the Husker defense all night, tallying a season-high 19 digs. The Huskers outblocked the Raiders 9-0. In addition to Kadie Rolfzen’s career-high five blocks, Haggerty had three and Kira Larson had two in the third set.

Nebraska is back home on Wednesday to host Creighton at 7 p.m.

Ameritas Players Challenge All-Tournament Team

Kadie Rolfzen, Nebraska (MVP)
Justine Wong-Orantes, Nebraska
Amber Rolfzen, Nebraska
Kelsey Fien, Nebraska
Ruth Okoye, Denver
Bailey Karst, Denver
Diane Seeley, Colgate

Revamped Royals Beat Red Sox 7-1

Posted on September 13, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jeremy Guthrie retired the final 17 batters he faced, Omar Infante had three hits and drove in two runs, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox 7-1 on Saturday night.

Manager Ned Yost overhauled his batting order and got immediate results. The Royals scored seven runs for the first time since Aug. 19, a span of 22 games.

Nori Aoki, batting second for the first time this season, and Alex Gordon, who snapped an 0-for-22 skid, each had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run.

Infante, who usually bats second, was dropped to seventh and responded with three singles, including an eighth inning single that scored Lorenzo Cain. He also drove in a run in the third with a fielder’s choice.

Guthrie (11-11), who was roughed up for eight runs on 10 hits in 2 2-3 innings in a loss Monday at Detroit, allowed three hits and one unearned run in eight innings.