7/23/07 DC United-New York Red Bulls MLS gamer for the Washington Times

Road chances go awry again for United

July 23, 2007
By Denis Gorman

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In the deathly quiet D.C. United locker room, Bobby Boswell was slumped in a chair, towel draped over his head, staring at his cleats for what seemed like an eternity before pulling them off.

A 1-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium yesterday was certainly a disappointment for Boswell and United. Playing a team that had lost five of its last eight matches and was missing its star striker because of a one-game suspension, United (7-6-3, 24 points) should have had an easy time of it.

Instead, the Red Bulls (8-6-3, 27 points) won behind their defense and goalkeeper Jon Conway. Conway turned away four shots to earn his third shutout of the season in a match that was played mostly in the midfield and perimeter.

"I thought Conway was pretty good," said understated New York coach Bruce Arena, who led United to MLS championships in 1996 and 1997.

Said United coach Tom Soehn: "We had plenty of opportunities to get ourselves back, but overall I don't think our performance was good enough in the first half."

United, which was coming off a loss at Houston and a tie against FC Dallas, has scored just five goals in eight league road games. At RFK Stadium, it has 21 goals in eight games.

"If you don't finish your chances, you're not going to win," Soehn said. "There [are] no excuses. You have to come out and perform, and we did not do that today."

The Red Bulls made the most of their chance in the 19th minute. Forward John Wolynic redirected a pass from teammate Jozy Altidore past Troy Perkins for the only score of the match. "Wolynic worked real hard," Arena said. "I think in his experience he's gotten a little bit better; even on a bad day, John helps our team."

In the 38th minute, Boswell beat Conway with a header that bounced off the near side of the post. In the 56th minute, Conway stopped a close-in blast from United's Nicholas Addlery. Christian Gomez had an empty net two minutes later, but his drive was cleared at the top of the goal.

Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel sat out the game because of a red card he received in a 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution on July 14. Angel is third in MLS in goals with nine, one behind Luciano Emilio of United and three behind Eddie Johnson of Kansas City. Emilio was held in check, only taking one shot on goal. He said the Red Bulls' defense did nothing out of the ordinary to slow him. "Nothing different in the first half; I was the lone forward in the first half, and I was marked in all angles," Emilio said through a translator. "We have another game coming, and we have to start thinking about the next one."

http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070723/SPORTS/107230068/1005/SPORTS

Jhaysson Agustin feature for MinorLeagueBaseball.com

Asheville's Agustin hits for the cycle

07/15/2007
6:31 PM ET
By Denis Gorman / Special to MLB.com

Jhaysson Agustin planned to celebrate hitting for the cycle in an unusual way -- going home to sleep.

Agustin completed the feat on a perfect 4-for-4 day in Asheville's 11-5 win over visiting Greenville on Sunday. But the feat was slightly marred by the fact that the catcher got hit in the groin with a foul ball early in the game.

So Agustin planned to go to bed instead of out to mark his rare achievement.

The Dominican Republic native started his career game with a triple off of Drive starter Daniel Bard in the second with two outs. In the fourth, Agustin singled off of Greenville third baseman Manuel Arambarris' glove. He ripped his fourth home run in the sixth, a two-run shot that gave the Tourists a 6-5 lead.

So when he came up to the seventh with a chance to cycle, he admitted he was thinking about it. With one out, he smacked his 10th double of the year, plating Mike Paulk and Matt Repec.
"I can't expect to hit for the cycle, but (I) can try to make good contact and hit the ball where the fielders are not," Agustin said.

The career .222 hitter finished 4-for-4 with four RBIs, two runs scored and raised his average 22 points. The four hits equaled his total output in his last eight games. Coming into the game, Agustin was .193 with three home runs and 24 RBIs and without any doubles or triples in 39 games.

"I was reading the fastball very well, (but) they threw me a curveball on the home run," he said. "I consider it a good building block in helping the team offensively."

The non-drafted free agent signed with the Colorado Rockies signed on Oct. 8, 2003.

The Tourists (10-14) added 10 more hits to back their catcher. Daniel Mayora doubled twice and drove in two runs, and Anthony Jackson, Hector Gomez and Geoff Strickland all scored twice.

Starter Aneury Rodriguez (6-6) picked up his sixth win after allowing five runs -- four earned -- on six hits, striking out five and walking two over six innings.

Josh Reddick cranked a grand slam, his seventh long ball of the season, in the first for Greenville.

Jorge Rodriguez (3-1) relieved Bard in the fifth, giving up eight runs -- five earned -- on nine hits and a walk in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out one.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070715&content_id=275006&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Sacramento Monarchs-New York Liberty gamer for the Sacramento Bee

Monarchs fall into a hole early


By Denis Gorman - Special To The Bee

Published 12:00 am PDT

Monday, July 9, 2007

Monarchs head coach Jenny Boucek screamed at her team during a second-quarter timeout, sarcastically asking, "Can we hold them under 50?"

And Sacramento did, limiting the New York Liberty to 48 points in the first half.

If you're looking for a bright spot in the Monarchs' 71-61 loss to the Liberty on Sunday at Madison Square Garden, that was it.

Boucek repeatedly challenged her team during the first half, at one point noting the Liberty was "going to have 130 points (at the end of the game). Figure it out."

Later, in exasperation, she said, "We'll start over. I don't care if we lose the game; I just want us to play better."

That didn't happen. Following Chelsea Newton's free throw to give the Monarchs (12-7) an 8-7 lead with 6:34 left in the first quarter, New York went on a 41-20 run to end the first half.

"We just wanted to play our game. We came out and obviously started the game well," Liberty forward-center Janel McCarville said. "Our shooters hit shots, and we rebounded and played well in the first half."

The Liberty (10-8) had four players in double-figure scoring, led by Cathrine Kraayeveld and Erin Thorn with 13 apiece. The Monarchs' Rebekkah Brunson led both teams with 18.
Before Sunday's matinee, the Monarchs had won 10 of their past 14 games, averaging 76.2 points while allowing 71.5. And it could have been argued the defensive numbers were somewhat skewed by two double-overtime losses in June, in which they gave up 96 points to the Los Angeles Sparks and 92 to the Chicago Sky.

Then came Sunday's game. New York jumped to a 32-12 first-quarter lead, forcing the defense-oriented Monarchs to try to play catchup.

"New York played really well -- they came out really sharp," Boucek said. "I don't think we came out like we needed to come out. We cannot ever give up that many points.

"One quarter we did not play well defensively; that's the story of the game. In the first quarter, they kicked our tails."

The difference between the 2007 Liberty and last year's 11-23 squad is that the 2006 team, with Becky Hammon and not much else, relied too greatly on a perimeter game. This year's version -- without Hammon, now playing for the San Antonio Silver Stars -- boasts an inside-out game.

Of the Liberty's 71 points, 20 came in the paint. When the Monarchs doubled New York's interior players, they kicked the ball out to guards for open jumpers.

"Offensively, we are hitting shots," said Thorn, who had five assists and seven rebounds. "Everybody's hitting shots, so we're hard to guard."

http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/263147.html