Game Recaps

Stanford have repeated as NCAA College Cup champions by defeating Wake Forest in penalties. A scoreless encounter in Houston gave way to penalties, Stanford goalkeeper Andrew Epstein proving to be the hero with two big saves to win the shootout 5-4.

The first half showcased the talents of Stanford goalkeeper Epstein. The redshirt junior was voted to the NCAA Division I Men’s All-America second team on Friday, and he came up with two big saves in the first half to deny both Jon Bakero and Ian Harkes.

Turkish football supporters are unwavering. They’re unwavering in their delight at waving “Welcome to Hell!” signs at opposition teams when arriving in Turkey, at lighting enough flares and creating enough noise to actually make their home stadia seem like hell and in their support of their beloved clubs. Istanbul’s Besiktas are 14-time champions of the Turkish top-flight, but they’ve never advanced from the group stage of the Champions League.

We’re one final match day away from wrapping up the Champions League group stage, but we can already draw a number of conclusions based on Tuesday’s play. For one, whoever draws group runners-up Bayern Munich in the round of 16 has every reason to feel extremely aggrieved.

By virtue of finishing behind Atletico, Bayern could conceivably be drawn against the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal, Juventus, Leicester City or Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid (the battle between Dortmund and Madrid in Group F will be settled tomorrow).

The Derby della Capitale was drenched in narrative. In a sporting context, the word narrative might well be overused to the point of meaninglessness, but there’s not many other ways in which to focus on the 90-minute battle between Lazio and Roma that took place on Sunday.

In purely sporting terms, it was a fascinating game. Roma, second in the league and easily fulfilling their role as perpetual also-rans, came up against arch-rivals Lazio, who were themselves only a point behind. 

America hold a slender advantage heading into the second leg of their semifinal with Necaxa after scoring a vital away goal and earning a 1-1 draw.

However, if this match was anything to go by, the return leg in Mexico City will feature two evenly matched sides, and Necaxa will still believe that the final is within reach.

Tigres are one slip-up free home game away from the Liga MX finals. They defeated Leon 1-0 in the first leg on the back of an Andre-Pierre Gignac goal.

The Andre Pierre-Gignac goal that has @TigresOficial on top. pic.twitter.com/tBk9DIHqx8

— Jonny Rico Aviles (@Jonyrico) December 1, 2016

Before we get to the game, can we just talk about the atmosphere in Toronto last night? That was one of the best atmospheres for a sporting event I have ever seen. It was raining, but also smoky because Toronto fans kept setting off flares in the stands. 

Honestly, we didn't know Canadians could get that rowdy. Good for them.

The atmosphere was good and the match, if anything, was even better. This was not a well-played soccer game. It was, however, a good soccer game, in terms of total chaos and excitement. Here's what happened:

It’s the EFL Cup so everything must be taken with a grain of salt, but Manchester United’s dominate victory over West Ham in the quarterfinals saw United resemble a waking giant. It must also be said that West Ham’s performance was totally in line with their 2016-17 season so far — disastrous.

With only two minutes gone, the Red Devils opened the scoring after a brilliant exchange between Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With both Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini suspended for the match, Mkhitaryan was handed a rare start and setup Ibrahimovic with a slick back heel.  

Beginning with the USWNT’s infamous defeat to Sweden at the quarterfinal stage of the 2016 Summer Olympics, proceeding to the Under-17’s inability to advance from the group stage of the U-17 Women’s World Cup and now ending with the U-20’s defeat to North Korea at the sem

Everyone knows about Michael Jordan's flu game, but did you know Jordan Morris had one too, like, a few hours ago?

It's true. Morris, battling the flu, scored the only goal in Seattle's 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids Sunday in Colorado.