Liberty rally past Sparks to stay in playoff hunt Timbers ‘extend’ unbeaten streak
PORTLAND, Ore., Aug 4, (AP): Santiago Moreno scored in the 27th minute and the Portland Timbers extended their unbeaten streak to nine games with a 1-1 draw against Nashville on Wednesday night.
The Timbers’ last loss was on May 28. Over nine games they’ve gone 4-0-5.
“We’re playing in really good shape right now. These games are not easy, but we just have to keep pushing,” Moreno said through a translator.
Teal Bunbury scored for Nashville, which finished with its third straight draw.
Both Western Conference teams are angling for a spot in the MLS playoffs. Nashville (8-7-10) is above the line in the standings in sixth, while the Timbers (76-11) are eighth, just behind Seattle. Both Portland and Nashville have just 10 games left in the regular season.
“It looked like there was some belief in the group that we could actually win the game tonight which was terrific,” Nashville coach Gary Smith said. “And I think barring one or two decisions that I felt should have gone our way, and that little bit of luck, we may well have come away with all three points.”
Portland was short-handed. Claudio Bravo and Eryk Williamson sat out because of hamstring injuries. The Timbers were also without Diego Chara and Dairon Asprilla because of yellow card accumulation.
SOCCER
“We have to make sure that we don’t lose. On days like today, we can be a little bit greedy and say we wanted the three points, we needed the three points, because we do, but I think based upon where we were and the needs that we had, extremely proud of the work that the guys put in,” Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said.
Bunbury scored in the 20th minute, and Moreno equalized some seven minutes later.
Nathan Fogaca nearly scored on a breakaway for the Timbers in stoppage time, but the ball sailed into the side netting.
Alex Muyl and Daniel Lovitz were back in the starting lineup for Nashville after missing its last game because of yellow cards.
Defender Shaq Moore made his second appearance for Nashville after joining the
team from Spanish second-division club Tenerife. Moore has made 15 appearances for the United States, including two this year as the team qualified for the World Cup.
Joel Waterman scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time and Montreal beat the Columbus Crew 2-1.
Montreal (12-8-3) tied it at 1 in the 88th minute on a goal from Kei Kamara.
Lucas Zelarrayan scored for the Crew (7-6-9) in the 14th minute.
Sebastian Breza saved two of the three shots he faced for Montreal. Eloy Room saved four of the six shots he faced for the Crew.
Both teams next play Saturday. Montreal host Inter Miami and the Crew play New York City FC.
Karol Swiderski and Quinn McNeill scored three minutes apart in the second half and Charlotte beat D.C. United 3-0 .
Kristijan Kahlina saved the one shot he faced for Charlotte (9-12-2). Rafael Romo saved three of the six shots he faced for United (6-13-3).
Both teams play again on Saturday. Charlotte hosts the Chicago Fire and D.C. United hosts the New York Red Bulls.
NEW YORK, Aug 4, (AP): Sabrina Ionescu scored eight of her 20 points in the final 2:18 and the Liberty rallied from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter to beat the Los Angeles Sparks 64-61 on Wednesday night.
The Liberty (13-18) earned two wins over the Sparks (12-19) in the span of 24 hours, sweeping the backto-back set. New York had a much tougher time than its 102-73 victory a night earlier to stay in the playoff hunt.
Coming into Wednesday night’s games, one game separated the seventh through 11th places in the standings.
BASKETBALL
With the win, New York moved into a tie with Phoenix for seventh.
Trailing 50-35 with 5:23 left in the third quarter, New York held Los Angeles to 11 points the rest of the game, outscoring the Sparks by 18.
Nneka Ogwumike scored 19 points to lead Los Angeles.
Dream 91, Fever 81
In Atlanta, Rhyne Howard scored 20 points, Cheyenne Parker added 17 and the Dream handed the Fever its 15th straight loss.
Atlanta (13-18) ended a four-game losing streak and moved into a threeway tie for seventh in the standings.
Atlanta led 64-34 early in the third quarter before Indiana battled back to get within single digits in the fourth. Indiana outscored Atlanta 28-13 in the third to get within 75-62 and started the fourth by scoring 15 of the first 22 points to make it 82-77 with 5:02 left. But the Dream scored seven straight points and led by at least nine points the rest of the way.
Atlanta made 14 of its first 18 shots (77.9%) and led 36-17 after the first quarter. The Dream started the second quarter on a 7-1 run for a 43-18 lead, and it was 62-34 at halftime. The Dream had 21 assists on 23 made field goals and shot 62.2% from the field in the first half.
NaLyssa Smith scored 21 points for Indiana (5-28).
Storm 89, Lynx 77
In Seattle, Breanna Stewart had a season-high 33 points with eight rebounds and five assists, Jewell Loyd added 17 points and the Seattle Storm beat the Minnesota Lynx 89-77.
Seattle made its first four 3-pointers for a 12-0 lead and Stewart made the Storm’s sixth of the first quarter, in eight attempts, for a 23-9 advantage. The Storm set a season high with 56 first-half points.
Seattle finished 11 of 25 from distance with four from Stewart and three from Sue Bird. Stewart was 13 of 20 from the field, finishing five points shy of her career high.
Bird scored 13 points and Gabby Williams added 11 for Seattle (20-12). Briann January made her 1,000th career field goal.
Nikolina Milic scored 13 points and Sylvia Fowles added 12 for Minnesota (12-20).
Seattle, which won its sixth straight home game in front of a sold-out crowd of 13,500, hosts Las Vegas on Sunday in Bird’s final regular-season home game before closing with three road games. The Lynx host Seattle on August 12 in the final regular-season matchup between Bird and Fowles.