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PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Western New York Flash won just three games on the road during a National Womens Soccer League regular season that stretched from spring blooms into fall foliage. All three road wins came against teams that ultimately failed to make the playoffs, the last of those wins necessary on the final day of the regular season to ensure they avoided that same playoff-less fate.On Sunday afternoon at Providence Park, in front of an NWSL postseason record crowd of 20,086 and against the leagues best team, the Flash did enough to win another road game.Then they did it all over again, a 4-3 overtime victory earning a place in next weeks title game.When it ended, Portland coach Mark Parsons called it the game of the year. He was half right.It was one game. And what a game it was. But Western New York had to win it twice.Which is in its own way twice as impressive.Ahead by two goals against a host that had trailed by that margin just once at home this season, Western New York watched its lead evaporate. Instead of victory, there was 30 minutes more soccer. So the Flash, without momentum on their side, without the crowd on their side and without their ejected coach on the sideline, did it all over again. Two goals in the first period of overtime finally proved enough to win the day.It was the antithesis of so much that is postseason soccer, when the stakes tempt coaches and players to tread caution. Portland not only won the regular season title but compiled the best goal differential and allowed fewer goals than any other team. It did that without many of its best players for long stretches -- seven of 11 starters in Sundays semifinals were also Olympians who spent a good bit of the summer in Brazil. Despite all of that, Western New York refused to play it safe.There was never a chance we were going to park the bus, said Western New York coach Paul Riley, who was ejected late in the first half after arguing with officials and watched the remainder of the game from behind the scenes while assistant Scott Vallow took charge. Were just not that type of team. Even if I told them to park the bus, they wouldnt park the bus. Theyd just ignore me.But with a field littered with proven international stars, almost all of them in Portlands red uniforms and most of them occupying the entirety of the midfield, the Flash floored it. They were direct, aggressive and full throttle.You let Allie Long get on the ball, Lindsey Horan get on the ball, and eventually theyre going to break you down, Riley said of two of Portlands many game-controlling midfielders. The problem is if you do that, and then they score, then what? Whats Plan B after that? Because now youve got to come and open the game up. I think from the start we felt make it an attacking game, open the game up, make it a free-for-all and see what happens.Already sparsely coiffed, Parsons said he lost more hair and felt as if he had four heart attacks. Which more or less sums up the Flashs success in making it a roiling tempest of a game.Western New York struck first, against the early run of play, when a teammates scuffed shot fell to Sam Mewis in the box and she stuck the ball in the back of the net in the 16th minute. Rookie Makenzy Doniak made it 2-0 in the 38th minute, heading in a cross from Jessica McDonald. Both goals were indirectly the result of long McDonald throw-ins. In fact, three of the four goals Western New York scored began with McDonald chucking the ball into dangerous space and seeing what the ensuing chaos produced.Throw the ball far, Christine Sinclair half joked when asked what Western New York was able to do to be so successful. We knew it was a huge weapon for them. And we faced it before. Its just we werent able to deal with that today. We talked about it before the game, [that] its almost better for them to have the ball at their feet than for us to kick the ball out for a throw-in. But we didnt learn from it, and we kept giving them those opportunities. And they made us pay.Notably gracious in defeat, though it had to sting for a player who has been so good for so long that is easy to forget even her prime will eventually end, Sinclair wasnt diminishing the Flash. But if the goals came courtesy of a not-so-secret weapon, the win was much more involved.After goals from Portlands Sinclair and Emily Sonnett leveled the game after 90 minutes, Western New Yorks Lynn Williams scored both of her teams goals in the first overtime. That pushed the lead to 4-2 before the Thorns pulled one back in an ultimately fruitless effort to force penalty kicks.One Williams goal was the eventual result of another throw-in, the other a terrific first-touch finish off an assist from Mewis at the end of a long counter attack. But this wasnt a result earned through momentary opportunism. More than the goals, Williams embodied Western New Yorks game plan on the day when she pressed a Thorns defender in the corner nearest Portlands goal early in the second overtime period. The crowd roared their approval, rightly, when a corner wasnt conceded. But in the bowels of the stadium, Riley had to be cheering the effort still present in his young forward nearly two hours into the match.The part that I like about her is shes very coachable, Riley said. She wants to learn. She knows how to run now. We spent a lot of time with her. I had Amy Rodriguez when Amy was this age, and shes very similar. Great speed, great turn of pace. She knows how to run. Shes now learning how to hold the ball up a little bit. Her finishing is getting better. Shes got all the tools. She didnt play at a big school, she didnt play in a big club program. Shes a brilliant story.The leagues Golden Ball winner, tied for the regular-season lead in goals with Houstons Kealia Ohai, Williams is a star in the making. Western New York has several of those.I think she deserves to be MVP, to be perfectly honest with you, Riley said.There was, of course, some sweet vindication for Riley, even in absentia. Let go by the Thorns after two disappointing seasons and no playoff wins, he took over Western New York only a couple of months before the regular season. He recalled a meeting early in the process when it seemed both he and the players were wondering if it was the right fit. But the Flash won their opening game at FC Kansas City, one of those three road wins, after a late missed penalty.Maybe that changed the season for us, I dont know, Riley said.Defeat has a thousand fathers. Portland didnt deal well with McDonalds throw-ins, or generally with the size and physicality she and Williams offered. The fans inside Providence Park certainly made it clear they felt the officiating didnt help, either, a possible handball and several other penalty shouts uncalled. Horan hit the crossbar in the first overtime, and Western New York cleared a potential leveler in the second overtime.Western New York could have lost. More important is a team with so little experience played to win.Maybe the playoffs were a possibility, they reasoned after that opening win in Kansas City. Then in another year or two, the young players more seasoned, perhaps a run at a championship. Instead, its on to Houston.We just didnt expect it, Ill be perfectly honest with you, Riley said. But here we are.They could have fooled a lot of people Sunday. Its hard enough to win in Portland once.Let alone twice. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Wholesale NFL Jerseys USA . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. https://www.cheapnfljerseysjustwholesale.com/ . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Cheap NHL Jerseys . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Oklahoma and Baylor have been the heavy favorites to win the Big 12 since the end of last season, and after two wins apiece to begin league play, nothing has changed in that respect.That doesnt mean West Virginia or Kansas State plan to go quietly.The Mountaineers had last week off after their narrow win over the Wildcats, while coach Bill Snyders group is coming off a tough win over Texas Tech . Now, a pair of programs with designs on winning the league race hit the road for what could be a pivotal weekend.West Virginia visits the Red Raiders. The Wildcats head to Oklahoma.Its nice to have a bye week, and there are no more bye weeks. We have eight straight weeks now, Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen said. Our team is in a good place, theyre healthy, their spirits are good. We spent all last week, 50 percent on developmental stuff and 50 percent on Texas Tech.If they want a blueprint for slowing down the Red Raiders, they might want to reference Kansas States performance on Saturday night. The Wildcats held Pat Mahomes and Co. to less than 50 points for the first time all season, and to just a field goal most of the second half in a 44-38 victory.Not that the Mountaineers (4-0, 1-0) dont know how to handle Texas Tech themselves. Theyve held the Red Raiders (3-2, 1-1) in check in winning the last two games in the series.Were pretty familiar with Texas Tech, Holgorsen said. They play so fast and they score so many points that its challenging, but were pretty familiar with them.Likewise, the Wildcats (3-2, 1-1) are intimately familiar with the Sooners (3-2, 2-0). Snyder was one of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops mentors years ago, and the teams have regularly played games that have been crucial to deciding the Big 12 race.Oklahoma annihilated Kansas State last year, but the Wildcats have won two straight in Norman.Ask why theyve had such road success, Snyder replied: Beats the tar out of me.Theyre a good football team aand always have been.dddddddddddd. Better than good, he said. When we have been fortunate to win, I think weve played well. Its year by year, you know? I dont think where we played had too much to do with it. We just played well while were there.As much as Snyder would rather no relive last years 55-0 loss to the Sooners, he acknowledged the need to revisit the way things went down with his team.Last year has nothing to do with this year. Were two completely different teams, Stoops added. We havent played close to what we can play and we need to make sure were playing our best.In other news from Mondays teleconference with Big 12 coaches:- Baylor (5-0, 2-0) tries to remain perfect against lowly Kansas, but the Bears are also cognizant of the fact that the Jayhawks were three missed field goals away from beating TCU last weekend.They had a great, great opportunity to beat TCU and they have to feel good about that, Baylor coach Jim Grobe said. Even though theyre not satisfied with getting the `W, when youre building a team, you have to look at the progress youre making.The Jayhawks have lost 14 consecutive games in Big 12 play.- Speaking of near-misses, Iowa State (1-5, 0-3) has blown late leads in back-to-back losses to the Bears and Oklahoma State. But conference coaches are certainly aware of the progress Cyclones coach Matt Campbell is making in rebuilding his program.Theyre doing a good job, Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said. Hes a bright young coach.- Texas coach Charlie Strong was asked about the pressure mounting on him after a 45-40 loss to the Sooners, and whether his increasingly hot seat is starting to get to his players.Its nothing for them to worry about, he replied. They shouldnt concern themselves with it.Indeed, they should probably be worried about Iowa State, which beat Texas 24-0 last year. ' ' '