Author: Sports Radio Service

Cardinal air attack sparks come-from-behind win over UCLA 49-42

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Photo credit: @StanfordFball

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, November 24, 2018

One of the big keys to Stanford’s Pac-12 football win over UCLA Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., was its proficiency in the big play.

The Cardinal won 49-42, thanks to an attack that included nine pass plays of 15 or more yards — four of them resulting in touchdowns.

Quarterback K.J. Costello had a big day for the Cardinal, completing 23 of 37 passes for 344 yards and a career-high five TDs. In the process, Stanford extended its winning streak over UCLA to 11 games.

Stanford (7-4 overall, 5-3 Pac-12) needed those big plays, trailing 42-41 midway through the fourth quarter. A 52-yard scoring strike from Costello to Osiris St. Brown put the Cardinal in front, with Bryce Love’s 2-point conversion run.

Then, it was the Cardinal defense’s turn, as the Bruins (3-9, 3-6) drove to the Stanford 43 with under one minute to play. But UCLA’s drive stalled and they turned the ball over on downs.

Stanford receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside caught seven passes for 106 yards – three of those catches for touchdowns. Arcega-Whiteside has 14 touchdown receptions on the season, tying a team record first set by James Lofton in 1978.

Trenton Irvin, who caught seven passes for 103 yards, also had a TD reception. Love, meanwhile, gained 85 rushing yards on 22 attempts with a touchdown.

Noteworthy was the attendance, or lack of it. An announced crowd of 38,391 watched the contest, the lowest crowd for the Bruins since 1997.

Next week, the Cardinal visits California at Berkeley after the Big Game was postponed on Nov. 17 due to the wildfires

Barracuda fall to Eagles 4-3 in a shootout

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Marko Ukalovic

In what must have felt like a mini-playoff series, in a game that went back- and-forth all night, the Colorado Eagles received two goals in the shootout to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-3 to sweep the two-game weekend series in the third consecutive game between the two clubs at the Budwiser Events Center on Saturday evening.

San Jose (10-3-1-2) would be the team that drew first blood on this night. Jeffery Truchon-Viel scored his third goal of the season at the 4:37 mark of the first period. Dylan Gambrell and Jacob Middleton received assists on the goal.

Colorado (9-7-3-0) evened up the contest right at the end of the period when Tyler Lewis scored his second goal in as many games. Lewis scored his fourth goal of the season with just six seconds left to send the teams tied at 1-1 heading into the first intermission. Michael Joly and Jean-Christophe Beaudin received assists.

In the second period period, the Cuda didn’t waste much time regaining the lead. Zach Frye scored his first goal on the season at the 1:15 mark. Evan Weinger and Jeremy Roy received assists.

The Eagles tied it back up when Justin Kirk also scored his first goal of the season. His unassisted goal came halfway through the period at the 10:20 mark.

San Jose once again went ahead in the third period. Captain John McCarthy scored a power play goal for his third goal of the season at the 6:36 mark. Rourke Chartier, who was reassigned back down to the Cuda, and Maxim Letunov received assists.

However Colorado did not go down quietly getting the equalizer just over five minutes remaining in the period. Martin Kaut scored his fourth goal of the season at the 14:51 mark. Sergei Boikov received the only assist.

Colorado outshot San Jose 5-4 in the overtime session, but had to wait till the shootout to win. Joly and Kaut scored for Colorado, while Gambrell and Manny Weiderer were stopped by Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz (9-4-1).

Francouz made 39 saves on 42 shots to earn the victory. Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (6-1-1) stopped 37 pucks on 40 shots, suffering the hard-luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/3 on the power play. Colorado was 0/3.

The announced attendance was 5,289.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to take on their NorCal rival, the Stockton Heat, on Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 11:00 am PT.

Three takeaways from San Jose State’s 31-13 loss at Fresno State

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB

By: Ana Kieu 

After a dismal 2-11 season in 2017, the football shenanigans at San Jose State actually worsened to a depressing 1-11 season in 2018. Needless to say, San Jose State finished this season with a 31-13 loss at Fresno State and failed to capture the Valley Trophy for the second year in a row.

Here are my three takeaways from San Jose State’s loss at Fresno State. 

Stranger things 
What stood out to me was that Spartan linebacker Jesse Osuna was called for 2 unsportsmanlike penalties–one in the third quarter and the other in the fourth quarter. Yet, Osuna somehow managed to play another down for the Spartans. 

And, on the very next play, a Bulldog running back fumbled and Osuna recovered the ball. That was a rather odd sequence and there was a chance that none of the media knew why Osuna was still on the field. 

Osuna led the Spartans in tackles with 14 in the second half. 

Light that defense up 
Spartan wide receiver Tre Walker continued to light that defense up when he scored his first touchdown of the game–a 4-yarder off a pass from quarterback Michael Carrillo. 

Walker finished the game with 11 receiving yards, 116 yards and 1 touchdown. The Spartans weren’t red-hot, but Walker proved to be the real deal for the rebuilding Spartan team. 

Unlikely moment 
Spartan cornerback Nehemiah Shelton did something that probably no one saw coming. Shelton broke up a pass intended for Bulldog wide receiver KeeSean Jackson in the back of the end zone late in the second quarter. As a result, Shelton’s pass breakup forced a Bulldog field goal for a 3-0 lead to close out the first half of the game. 

Although it wasn’t a pretty sight that the Bulldogs got on the board first, you can’t deny that Shelton’s pass breakup was a really tough thing to do against a top 3 wide receiver in the nation. 

San Jose State unable to seize the Valley Trophy after 31-13 loss to Fresno State

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Photo credit: @InsideSpartans

By: Ana Kieu 

San Jose State’s season is a lost cause, but there was one thing on their minds on Saturday and that was to bring the Valley Trophy back to San Jose, Calif. with a win over Fresno State at the Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, Calif. 

The Spartans were hyped for the rivalry game. Both their war huddle and locker room displayed the fact that the team was unable to contain their excitement on facing the Bulldogs in a nationally televised game on ESPNU.

The Spartans’ road jerseys against the Bulldogs were absolutely beauties. The blue and gold font on white were timeless ensembles that won’t go out of style anytime soon.

The first quarter was pretty much slow on both ends of the field. San Jose State, however, forced a fumble that was recovered by Tre White. 

The Spartan defense played lights out, while the Spartan offense struggled in the second quarter. Yet, Asa Fuller kicked in a 32-yard field goal to get the Bulldogs on the board 3-0 with only 3 seconds left in the first half. The Bulldogs carried a mere 3-0 lead to the locker room at the end of the half.

Yes, there was hope for the Spartans, who could’ve bounced back to seize the Valley Trophy, but that wish never came true. 

Sure, Tyler Nevens jumped up and over for the Spartan first down, but that astonishing moment was nothing compared to the Bulldogs’ 2 touchdowns in 4:58 for a 17-0 lead at the end of the third quarter. Jordan Mims ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 5:30 left in the third and Marcus McMaryion threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to KeeSean Johnson with 32 seconds left in the third. Fuller kicked in the extra points for both Bulldogs touchdowns.

The Spartans got a head start early in the fourth quarter. Michael Carrillo threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Malike Roberson to reduce the Bulldogs’ lead to 17-7 at the 14:47 mark of the fourth.

But the Bulldogs refused to back down. McMaryion threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Rivers and Fuller kicked in the extra point to expand the Bulldogs’ lead to 24-7 at the 11:59 mark of the fourth. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Carrillo’s pass was intercepted for a Bulldogs touchdown. Arron Mosby returned the pass for a 95-yard touchdown and Fuller kicked in the extra point to make it 31-7 Bulldogs with 4:08 left in the fourth. 

The Spartans pulled within 18 to cut the Bulldogs’ deficit to 31-13 with 1:24 left in regulation. Carrillo threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Tre Walker and the Spartans went for the 2-point conversion but failed in their attempt.

The Spartans lost to the Bulldogs 31-13. With the loss, San Jose State hasn’t captured the Valley Trophy since Nov. 26, 2016 at Fresno State under former head coach Ron Caragher, who was fired at the end of the 2016 season. 

The Spartans wrap up the 2018 season with a 1-11 record following a slightly better 2-11 season under head coach Brent Brennan.

Three takeaways from Stanford’s 49-42 win over UCLA in the Southland

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Photo credit: @StanfordFball

By: Ana Kieu 

The Stanford Cardinal made it 11 straight wins against the UCLA Bruins with a 49-42 victory at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles on Saturday. 

Here are my three takeaways from Stanford at UCLA. 

Cardinal offense steps up 
Cardinal wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside had himself a day with his eighth 100-yard receiving game. As a result, Arcega-Whiteside tied for third most in Stanford history as well as the most since Mark Bradford from 2003-07. 

Also, Arcega-Whiteside became the 14th Cardinal with 2,000 receiving yards. Arcega-Whiteside’s injury was a blow to the Cardinal offense, but he had to put his recovery first. Arcega-Whiteside’s recovery was extremely disappointing, but Cardinal fans were relieved to see him back in action.

Party in the backfield 
The Cardinal jumped for joy, thanks to the party in the backfield. 

After a coverage sack took the Bruins off the field, Cardinal safety Malik Antoine helped the Cardinal to a first down away from a victory in LA. Antoine’s sack happened just moments after Bruins quarterback Wilton Speight held the ball a little too long, like, say, 10-12 seconds. The Cardinal got the ball on a turnover on downs. 

Keep the streak going
No, I’m not talking about the 11-game winning streak against the Bruins (though, that would be lovely if the Cardinal made it 12). I’m talking about Cardinal quarterback K.J. Costello’s touchdown pass streak. Costello was locked in against UCLA to say the least. Costello entered the road game with a TD pass in 15 straight games, and this game was the 16th in his book.

Costello’s TD pass early in the game tied him with John Elway for seventh most in a season in Stanford history with 24. Only Andrew Luck and Kevin Hogan have thrown more in a Cardinal season in the last 25 years. 

Costello also became the sixth Cardinal with 3,000 passing yards in a season, joining Elway, Luck, Steve Sandstrom, Jan Dils and Todd Husak. In addition, Costello became the eighth Cardinal with 40 career TD passes. 

Fun fact 
The Cardinal are 53-3 when leading after three quarters, dating back to 2012.

San Jose State gets embarrassed at home as Santa Clara picks up first win of the season 71-63

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu 

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Just like the football program, the men’s basketball program for San Jose State Spartans hasn’t fared well. 

San Jose State got swept by all three of their opponents at the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, The Bahamas and returned home to host Santa Clara inside the Event Center on Saturday afternoon. Santa Clara entered the game as a winless team, so this increased San Jose State’s chances of getting their second win of the season.

Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau announced his starting lineup, which consisted of Michael Steadman, Brae Ivey, Oumar Barry, Noah Baumann and Craig LeCesne–all of whom are talented big men. 

As expected, San Jose State won the tip and unleashed their power on Santa Clara. The Spartans went on a 10-2 run to open the first half. This led the Broncos to call a timeout.

Santa Clara refused to get stomped over and responded with a few 3-pointers to cut San Jose State’s lead to 4, 18-4, at the 10:59 mark of the half. The Broncos’ persistence didn’t stop there as they trailed by just 3, 23-20, at the media timeout with 7:49 left in the half. Spartan fans were thankful for Steadman and Ivey, who led the Spartans with 7 points apiece.  

Baumann hit a 3 and Steadman made 2 layups to help the Spartans get back on top with a 7-point lead, 30-23, with 4:19 left in the half. Still, the Broncos were persistent and quickly responded as Henrik Jadersten made a layup of his own to reduce the Spartans’ lead to 5, 30-25, just moments before the final media timeout of the half. The Spartans, however, held onto that 5-point advantage and Spartan fans thanked Steadman, who led the Spartans with 11 points and 6 rebounds, for keeping the home team in the game.

But the Spartans’ lead was short-lived as the Broncos went on a 6-0 run to end the half. The Broncos tied the game at 35 apiece, thanks to Tahj Eaddy’s game-tying 3. Not only that, Eaddy followed up with a layup and a free throw to put the Broncos up 38-35 at the half. 

Despite the 3-point deficit, San Jose State had some things to be proud of. Steadman had already tied his career-high with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
Ivey added 7 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds for the Spartans. 

At the first media timeout of the second half, the scoreboard showed that it was still a 3-point game for either team to rise above at the end of the game. LeCesne hit a 3 and the Spartans trailed the Broncos 45-42 at the 16:50 mark of the half.

The Broncos led by 5, 51-46, at the 11:58 mark of the half. Of course, the Spartans weren’t happy with the deficit, but Steadman continued to impress the Spartan fans by increasing his stats to 17 points and 9 rebounds. 

Both teams exchanged shots for crucial points that kept the game close throughout the half. The Spartans trailed by 8, 69-61, with 1:29 left in the half. The Broncos then extended their lead to 10, 71-61, with 47.6 seconds left on the clock. Steadman put in a jumper to give the Spartans an extra 2 points, but Steadman’s attempt made no difference. 

The Spartans lost to the Broncos 71-63. 

The Spartans host the Indiana State Sycamores on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7:00 pm PT.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Satisfying win against Canucks, will it pick up momentum going into five-game road trip for the Sharks?

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photo from citizens-times.com: San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton (19) shoots the puck during the first period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks in San Jose, Calif., Friday, Nov. 23, 2018.

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 After taking a tough loss to the Edmonton Oilers (10-10-2) on Tuesday the San Jose Sharks (12-7-4) came right back on Friday night and shutout the struggling Vancouver Canucks (10-13-2) 4-0. Was this a game of the Sharks showing improvement over Tuesday’s game or the Canucks, who now have lost eight straight, are just a bad club?

#2 San Jose goaltender Aaron Dell save 19 shots and didn’t allow a goal in net for the Sharks.

#3 The Sharks’ Joe Thornton hit a milestone with his 1,035th assist 750 of those with San Jose, eclipsing former Pittsburgh Penguin Mario Lemeiux.

#4 The Sharks got goal help from Logan Couture first period at 10:54 (8), Timo Meier (13) at 19:50, third period Erik Karlsson (2) at 3:43 and Melker Karlsson (1) at 9:35.

#5 The Sharks hit the road starting tonight in Vegas (11-12-1) for the first of five games. How do you see them faring on this current trip?

Len does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Matt Harrington: Sabres’ OT goal sinks Habs 3-2; Ducks gain confidence in win over Oilers after losing two; Tuch gets key goal in Vegas’ shutout over the Flames; plus more

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photo from yahoosports.com: Buffalo Sabres’ Sam Reinhart (23), Jeff Skinner and Jck Eichel (9) celebrate a goal during the third period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadiens, Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, in Buffalo N.Y.

On the NHL podcast with Matt:

#1 The Buffalo Sabres’ Jeff Skinner had himself an evening against the the Montreal Canadiens, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to hand the Sabres a 3-2 victory. Skinner also scored a goal late in third period as the Sabres have won eight straight games.

#2 The Anaheim Ducks reassured their confidence with a win over in overtime over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. The Ducks had lost two straight games to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche. The Ducks’ Richard Rakell scored in first 14 seconds of the overtime stanza to beat the Oilers.

#3 At the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas, the Vegas Golden Knights’ Alex Tuch nailed a goal and an assist as the Knights got a 2-0 shutout win over the Calgary Flames Friday night.

#4 In a match that was physical to say the least between the Minnesota Wild and the Winnipeg Jets, the Wild got a go-ahead goal that proved to be the gamer when Eric Staal got a goal with just 2:54 left in the regulation. The game saw it’s share of penalties and the Wild were up on the Jets 2-0 after two periods. Wild win it 4-2.

#5 The Washington Capitals got goals from Michal Kempny and Alex Ovechkin at 1:56 in the third period to help defeat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1. The Caps have won four straight and the Wings are 10-10-2 with 22 points sixth place in the Atlantic Division.

Join Matt for the NHL podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Eagles edge Barracuda 4-3 in OT

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The Colorado Eagles gave up a two-goal lead, but found redemption in overtime for their first overtime win of the season in a 4-3 victory over
the San Jose Barracuda at the Budweiser Event Center on Friday evening. Colorado has won two games in a row. It was the third road loss in a row for San Jose.

Scott Kosmachuk, who blew an earlier breakaway overtime attempt, scored the game-winning goal when he was set up by Logan O’Connor and was able to bury the puck top-shelf on the short side of the net for his sixth goal of the season at the 3:30 mark. Anton Lindholm received the secondary assist.

Colorado (8-7-3-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Dominic Toninato made a toe drag move to get off a back handed shot that Tyler Lewis tapped in a deflection past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (4-2-1) for his third goal of the season at the 4:22 mark. Ryan Graves received the secondary assist.

San Jose (10-3-1-1) scored the equalizer four minutes later after putting on relentless pressure Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz (7-4-1). Alexander True collected a rebound from a Thomas Gregoire shot from the point and fired the puck into an empty net for his third goal of the season at the at the 8:17 mark.  He has score in back-to-back games since he was goalless in 10 straight games. Jon Martin received the secondary assist.

Andrew Aggozino continued to stay hot as he gave back the Eagles the lead on the power play at the 12:17 mark. Aggozino sent in a wrist shot past the five-hole of Bibeau for his ninth goal of the season. With the unassisted goal, Aggozino now has 11 points in his last 12 games.

Colorado finished the first 20 minutes with a two-goal lead, thanks to Jean-Christophe Beaudin. A.J. Greer won a battle along the board and sent over a pass and Beaudin rewarded Greer’s work with his fifth goal of the season at the 19:33 mark. Michael Joly received the secondary assist.

Manny Weiderer gave momentum back to the Cuda in the second period when he scored San Jose’s second short handed goal of the season. With Francis Perron in the sin bin, Wiederer received the puck off a turnover and skated all alone on a breakaway. He snapped a shot inside the near post past Francouz for his fourth goal on the season at the 12:59 mark. 

Perron tied the game up early in the third period. He was left all alone by the Colorado defense and snapped home a shot past Francouz for his team-leading ninth goal of the season at the 4:28 mark.

Francouz made 31 saves on 34 shots to earn the victory. Bibeau finished with 39 saves on 43 shots, in another solid performance in the net, suffered the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/4 on the power play. Colorado was 1/3.

Colorado is now 1-3 in overtime games. San Jose is 0-1.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! San Jose and Colorado exchanged fisticuffs twice in the game. Kyle Wood and Travis Barron tangoed with each other in the second period. Jeffery Truchon-Viel and Mason Geertsen battled in the third period.

The announced attendance was 5,289.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Eagles on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 6:05 pm PT at the Budweiser Events Center.

Cardinal beat the Blue Raiders 67-54, salvage seventh place in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, November 23, 2018

Stanford salvaged the third game of their participation in the Battle 4 Atlantis, defeating Middle Tennessee 67-54 in the seventh-place contest at Imperial Arena in The Bahamas.

Earlier in the tournament, Stanford lost to No. 25 Wisconsin and Florida.

KZ Okpala led the Cardinal (3-3) with 22 points, with Daejon Davis adding nine points, four assists and 10 rebounds. Cormac Ryan contributed nine points and eight boards. Bryce Wills added five assists.

The Cardinal took a permanent lead midway through the first half, and held a 32-23 advantage at the half. Stanford shot 48 percent from the field in the second half when the Cardinal built an 18-point lead.

Stanford outscored Middle Tennessee 35-31 in the second half.

Antonio Green led the Blue Raiders (3-4) with 21 points, and Jayce Johnson added 14 points and five rebounds. James Hawthorne grabbed eight rebounds and scored eight points for Middle Tennessee, which shot 36 percent from the field.

Middle Tennessee was a 6.5 point favorite.

Stanford’s demanding road schedule continues when the Cardinal travel to Lawrence, Kan., to face No. 2 Kansas on Saturday, Dec. 1.