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Category: Sports

Huskers Host SMU, DePaul to Open Season

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huskersoccerThe No. 13 Nebraska soccer team begins the 2014 campaign with two games this weekend at the Nebraska Soccer Field. On Friday, the Huskers take on SMU at 6 p.m. (CT)before facing DePaul on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Huskers and Mustangs are meeting for the first time since 1996 and for the third time overall in their respective histories. The series is tied 1-1-0 with the road team taking each match.

Nebraska battles DePaul for the third time also, but the Huskers hold a 2-0-0 advantage in the series. NU hosted both previous matches, with the most recent occurring in 2003.

Both matches will be streamed live on Huskers.com.

Last Time Out: Johnson’s Hat Trick Leads NU in Exhibition Victory
Sophomore forward Jaycie Johnson scored three goals to help No. 13 Nebraska to a 5-3 exhibition win over Colorado College at Stewart Field on Friday, Aug. 15.

Johnson’s first goal came in the 15th minute as she slid past the Tigers’ goalkeeper on the left side and put the ball in the back of an open net. Colorado College responded with two goals over the next 15 minutes to take a 2-1 advantage over the Huskers.

In the 34th minute, sophomore midfielder Caroline Flynn tied the score 2-2 with a shot from 20 yards out that soared above the goalkeeper’s head into the top right corner of the net.

Shortly after halftime, the Tigers reclaimed the lead with Rachel Herron’s goal off the crossbar in the 47th minute. Trailing 3-2, the Huskers scored three unanswered goals over the final 34 minutes to put away the victory.

Johnson, a Lake Winnebago, Mo., native, scored her second goal in the 57th minute from 12 yards out on the left side off an assist from Haley Hanson. She added her third goal of the afternoon in the 81st minute off a Samantha Areman assist to give Nebraska a 4-3 lead.

Junior forward Katie Kraeutner added Nebraska’s final goal with less than two minutes remaining on a direct kick from 20 yards out. The Huskers outshot Colorado College for the game, 15-8, while taking two more shots on goal, 8-6.

Sophomore Kelly Schatz earned the start at goalie and picked up three saves over 90 minutes.

Final Season at Nebraska Soccer Field
The Huskers begin their 10th and final season at the Nebraska Soccer Field this weekend before moving into the Nebraska Soccer and Tennis Complex next season. Since moving to campus in 2005, NU has compiled a 63-24-12 record, which includes an impressive 42-15-5 mark over the last six seasons.

2014 Season Outlook
Nebraska’s 2014 team includes five seniors as Head Coach John Walker begins his 21st season at the helm of the school’s soccer program. The Huskers also welcome back All-Big Ten second-team member Jaycie Johnson, who begins her sophomore year in 2014 after leading the team with 17 goals last season. The Huskers added 12 newcomers in the offseason in addition to their 12 returning letterwinners from 2013.

Huskers to Make Three BTN Appearances
Nebraska will appear on the Big Ten Network three times this season, while also making seven Big Ten Digital Network showings.

The Huskers open BTN’s 2014 soccer coverage on Thursday, Sept. 11 against Northwestern at the Nebraska Soccer Field. The game is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.

Nebraska will host Big Ten newcomer Maryland on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 2 p.m., on BTN. The game was originally set for 1 p.m., but was changed for TV scheduling. NU’s final regular season appearance on the network is Thursday, Oct. 2 at Michigan at 2:30 p.m.

Huskers Ranked 13th in NSCAA Preseason Poll
The Nebraska soccer team earned the No. 13 spot in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Division I Preseason Rankings when the list was announced on Wednesday.

The Huskers will play three teams in the NSCAA preseason poll: No. 7 Michigan (Oct. 2), No. 15 Marquette (Aug. 31) and No. 24 Penn State (Oct. 24).

PAT Experiment: 8 Missed Extra Points

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nfl_logo2011-medFLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Eight extra point kicks from the longer distance — usually 33 yards — were missed during the NFL’s experiment in the first two weeks of the preseason.

The 94.3 percent success rate (133 of 141) was below the regular season rate (99.6 percent) from 2013 when the ball was snapped from the 2-yard line instead of the 15. Only five of 1,267 short kicks were missed in 2013.

All of this summer’s misses came with the ball snapped from the 15.

The longer extra point might have affected teams’ willingness to try a 2-point conversion from the 2-yard line. This year, 16 were tried, with four successful. In 2013, nine were attempted in the first two weeks of the preseason, with four successful.

NFL officiating director Dean Blandino says he believes longer PAT kicks are “in the league’s near future.”

Huskers Send Video to Team Jack while He is being Treated for Cancer (Video)

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Jack-Hoffman-Nebraska-Football-ESPYLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coaches and players are showing support in a video message for the 8-year-old cancer patient they befriended two years ago.

Jack Hoffman of Atkinson, Nebraska, received national attention for his touchdown run in the 2013 spring game. He traveled to Boston with his family this week for treatment for a recurrence of brain cancer.

Coach Bo Pelini, with players gathered around him, tells Jack “you’re going to come out of it on top. There’s no doubt you’re a strong young man. We want you to understand you have our support. We’re behind you, and we’re thinking about you through this whole thing.”

Players Kenny Bell, Ameer Abdullah, Jake Cotton and Josh Mitchell also say a few words.

The video closes with the Huskers shouting, “Team Jack!”

Farokhmanesh Hired as Graduate Assistant Manager

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Ali Farokhmanesh (5)
Ali Farokhmanesh (5)

Lincoln – Tim Miles rounded out his basketball staff with the hiring of Ali Farokhmanesh (pronounced fuh-ROAK-muh-NESH) as a graduate assistant manager on Wednesday.

“I’m fired up to have Ali part of our program,” said Miles, the 2014 Big Ten Coach of the Year. “He’s had a distinguished career as a player and has a great mind for coaching. He will definitely be a key addition for us as we try and move the program forward.”

Farokhmanesh spent the last four seasons playing professionally overseas in Holland, Austria and Switzerland. Last year, he was the Sixth Man of the Year in the Dutch Basketball League, averaging 10.4 points, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. His best season was with SAM Massagno Basket in the Swiss league in 2010-11, where he averaged 19.5 points, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 48 percent from 3-point range.

Farokhmanesh is best known for the two seasons he spent at Northern Iowa, helping the Panthers to a 53-16 record with two NCAA appearances, including the school’s first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2009-10.  He finished his career seventh on UNI’s career 3-point chart with 152.

As a senior, he earned honorable-mention All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, averaging 9.7 points and 1.5 rebounds per game, as UNI went 30-5, including an upset of top-seeded Kansas to reach the Sweet 16. In that game, Farokhmanesh had 16 points, including a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to clinch the victory and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He also provided the heroics in UNI’s second-round win over UNLV, finishing with 17 points, including a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds left for the final margin. Farokhmanesh scored in double figures 17 times as a senior, including a career-high 23 points against Old Dominion, while his 77 3-pointers were the third most in school history.

In his first season at UNI, Farokhmanesh started all 34 games and averaged 9.6 points and 1.6 assists per game en route to being named to the MVC All-Newcomer squad. He hit 75 3-pointers and totaled a pair of 20-point games that season, including a 20-pooint effort against Indiana State with all of his points coming in the second half and overtime.

He played two years of junior college basketball, earning first-team NJCAA Division II All-America honors at Kirkwood Community College, when he averaged 17 points, five assists and three rebounds per game. In his lone season at Kirkwood CC, the Eagles went 32-3 and placed third at the national tournament.  Originally from Pullman, Wash. Before moving to Iowa, Farokhmanesh was a first-team all-state selection at Iowa City West High School, averaging 18.5 points and 5.5 assists per game as a senior.

Farokhmanesh received his degree in finance at Northern Iowa in 2010 and is currently studying educational administration at Nebraska. He married the former Mallory Husz in June of 2014.

Youth Coach: Inspiring Speech was Spontaneous (Video)

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David Belisle
David Belisle

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — A youth baseball coach from Rhode Island who has become an Internet sensation for the inspiring speech he made after his team was eliminated from the Little League World Series says the talk was spontaneous and from the heart.

Players on David Belisle’s team from Cumberland were crying after Monday night’s 8-7 loss to Chicago in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, when he kneeled down and told them they should be proud.

Belisle told the players they were one of the best teams in the world and they had their hometown and the state of Rhode Island jumping with excitement. One YouTube video of the speech had more than 350,000 views early Wednesday.

Belisle told NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday that he wanted the boys to walk off that field as proud as could be.

Infante has 3 Doubles to Lead Royals past Rockies

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kc-royalsDENVER (AP) — Omar Infante had three doubles and drove in four runs to help the streaking Kansas City Royals beat the Colorado Rockies 7-4 on Tuesday night.

James Shields pitched six solid innings to get the win for the Royals, who have now won 21 of 26 after getting to Colorado rookie Tyler Matzek in the seventh.

Matzek (2-9) came into Tuesday with a 9.60 ERA in August but was having his best outing since blanking Pittsburgh over seven innings on July 26 when he ran into trouble with two outs in the seventh. Matzek got the first two outs before allowing a pinch-hit single to Josh Willingham and walking Nori Aoki.

Adam Ottavino came on and gave up consecutive doubles to Infante and Salvador Perez to give the Royals a 4-2 lead.

The Royals scored three more runs in the eighth off Colorado’s bullpen. Infante had a two-run double with the bases loaded.

NHL Concussion Lawsuits Consolidated in Minnesota

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NHL-Logo-HockeyST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Three lawsuits filed by retired NHL players over concussion-related injuries have been consolidated and will be heard by a federal judge in Minnesota.

A special panel assigned the cases Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson of St. Paul.

The order says Minnesota provides a central location for parties and witnesses, including those from Canada. It consolidates lawsuits filed by over 200 former players in Minnesota, New York and Washington. It notes that Nelson is already presiding over one of the cases. The order says two similar cases pending in Minnesota and New York may be added later.

The lawsuits are similar to those on behalf of former NFL players, which resulted in an $870 million settlement. The NCAA agreed to a $70 million settlement in another concussion lawsuit.

Peyton Manning: ‘Our Offense Stunk Today’

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DenverBroncosENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Peyton Manning was disgusted with the Denver Broncos offense after the first of three practices with the Houston Texans.

And when the five-time MVP isn’t happy, nobody’s happy.

Asked specifically what had set him off, Manning stared at a reporter like he had stared down receiver Bubba Caldwell after a poorly run route or two an hour earlier.

“Were you watching?” Manning retorted.

What observers saw, actually, was a Broncos offense that produced its share of big plays in both 7-on-7 and team drills against a defense led by J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney. But also some sloppy moments less than 48 hours after a chest-thumping 34-0 shutout of the San Francisco 49ers.

As Durant Steps Back, US Team is Moving Forward

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USA-BasketballNEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant says he needed a break this summer, though withdrawing from the U.S. national team was “definitely tough.”

Durant stunned the Americans shortly before the Basketball World Cup when he pulled out following their training camp in Las Vegas. He says Tuesday he needed to “take a step back.”

While he does, the Americans are moving forward.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said after practice he was through talking about Durant, the Americans’ leading scorer in both the 2012 Olympics and 2010 world basketball championship, and that his only focus was who was on the team.

The Americans practiced Tuesday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at the Nets’ practice center. Durant later joined team members James Harden, Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis on a panel promoting the video game “NBA 2K15,” of which Durant appears on the cover.

NFL Expands Practice Squad to 10

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nfl_logo2011-medNEW YORK (AP) — NFL teams can carry 10 players on their practice squads for the next two seasons.

The league and the players’ union agreed Tuesday to increase the number of practice squad members from eight to 10.

Also, criteria for practice squad eligibility has been expanded in two categories.

A player must have a minimum of six games on a practice squad — increased from the previous three games — for that year to count as one of three permissible seasons on the squad.

And each team now can sign a maximum of two practice squad players who have earned no more than two NFL seasons toward free agency. Aside from that exception, a player with one or more accrued seasons can’t go on a practice squad unless he spent fewer than nine games on a club’s 46-player active list in each of his pro seasons.

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