Five Stanford football players named to NFF Hampshire Honor Society

Photo credit: gostanford.com

By: Ana Kieu

Five Stanford Cardinal football players were honored on Wednesday by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame as members of the 2019 Hampshire Honor Society. Jake Bailey, Sean Barton, Frank Buncom, Jesse Burkett and Dylan Jackson were recognized for their high achievements in the classroom and on the field.

In its 13th year, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society honors student-athletes who have:

• Completed their final year of playing eligibility in 2018; or graduated players who have remaining eligibility but will not return to collegiate play
• Achieved a 3.2 cumulative GPA throughout the entire course of undergraduate study
• Met all NCAA-mandated progress toward degree requirements
• Been a starter or significant contributor throughout the 2018 season

Jake Bailey (3.22 GPA; Science, Technology and Society), a punter from Solana Beach, Calif., was a three-time All-Pac 12 honoree during his career. He was also a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention honoree and finished as Stanford’s all-time career leader in punting average (43.81). He also kicked off for the Cardinal, in addition to his punting duties, and had 173 career touchbacks.

Sean Barton (3.49 GPA; International Relations), an inside linebacker from North Salt Lake, Utah was twice named to the Pac-12 All-Academic second team during his career. He finished with 141 career tackles (76 solo) with 10.0 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks. He also forced three fumbles, had three fumble recoveries and an interception in his career.

Frank Buncom (3.31 GPA; Human Biology; minor in Communication), a free safety from San Diego, Calif., was a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree during his career. He finished with 115 tackles (66 solo) in 39 career games with five interceptions and 17 passes defended. He also had one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and a touchdown in his career.

Jesse Burkett (3.50 GPA; Japanese; minor in Computer Science), a center from St. Augustine, Fla., was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2017 and was CoSIDA Academic All-District three times during his career. He was also a four-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree. He played in 42 career games and made 37 starts, earning All-Pac 12 honorable mention in 2018. He was also a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy last season.

Dylan Jackson (3.32 GPA; Political Science; minor in History), a defensive end from Maryville, Tenn., earned first team Pac-12 All-Academic twice and earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors a total of three times. He posted 84 tackles (33 solo) with 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one pass breakup and two fumble recoveries in 39 career games.

Stanford hosts the Cardinal and White Spring Game on Saturday at Cagan Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 pm PT and will be live on Pac-12 Networks. In addition to the Spring Game, fans can take advantage of all of Saturday’s events on campus during the Cardinalpalooza.

Barracuda hold for 4-3 win over Gulls, secure home ice for playoffs

sjbarracuda.com photo

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda are starting to peak at the right time with the playoff right around the corner. They scored four unanswered goals and held on late for a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday evening at Pechanga Arena.

With the win, San Jose clinched home ice for the first round of the playoffs and remain only two points back of Bakersfield for first place in the Pacific Division with two games left in the season.

San Diego (35-24-3-4) drew first blood halfway through the first period when Jack Kopacka sent a pass over to Justin Kloos, who chipped the puck underneath the cross-bar past Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (23-8-2) for his 18th goal of the season at the 9:46 mark.

San Jose (38-21-3-4) scored the equalizer in the second period. Maxim Letunov won a faceoff back to the point where Thomas Gregoire fired a shot on net where Francis Perron tip the through the five-hole of Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle (24-13-1) for his 18th goal at the 11:33 mark.

The Cuda gained the nearly three minutes later when Letunov centered a pass from below the goal line out to the low slot where Jon Martin slid the puck past Boyle for his 11th goal of the season at the 14:27 mark.

San Jose took control of the game going up 3-1 with 10 seconds left in the middle frame. Captain John McCarthy won a face off over to Evan Weinger. Weinger sneaked a wrist shot past Boyle through a sea of traffic for his 10th win of the season at the 19:50 mark.

The Cuda scored their final goal halfway through the third period when Martin poked a Perron pass over to Letunov that sent him on a breakaway. Letunov made a nice backhand-to-forehand move to deke out Boyle for his 12th goal of the season and third point of the night at the 9:48 mark.

San Diego wouldn’t go away quietly. Ben Street scored a power play goal for his seventh goal of the season at the 13:45 mark. Then, Corey Troop concluded the scoring with seven seconds left when he scored his 20th goal of the season at the 19:53 mark.

Korenar made 29 saves on 32 San Diego shots to earn his third consecutive win, while Boyle (24-13-1) suffered the loss after giving four goals on 33 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose struggled on the power play going 0/6. San Diego was 1/3.

The announced attendance was 8,036.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel to Colorado for the final two games of the season on Friday, April 12 at 6:05 pm at Budweiser Events Center.

Kings miss 40 wins by just five points!

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Photo/graphic: @NBCS

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings went to Portland on Wednesday night with the opportunity win their 40th game of the 2018-19 season which would have been the first time a Kings team had recorded 40 wins since 2005-06. Much to the chagrin of the multitude of Kings fans, the 40th win did not happen.

Portland decided to rest all of their starters and most of their key second team players. That gave the Kings a significant advantage in their quest to reach 40 wins.

A Record-Setting First Half

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Buddy Hield hits his 600th 3-pointer in 3 seasons @ NBCS

The Kings started the game on fire. They scored a franchise record 87 points in the first half falling just three points short of tying the NBA record for the most points scored in the opening 24 minutes of an NBA game. They shot an incredible 66.7-percent (32/48) from the field. They hit 13-of-20 (65%) of their 3-point shots.

De’Aaron Fox scored 17 points. Rookie Marvin Bagley III scored 16 points in just over 14-minutes on the floor. Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica and Bogdan Bogdanovic all scored 10 points each in the first half.

The Kings went to the locker room at halftime with an 87-62 lead. It appeared that everything was going Sacramento’s way and that win number 40 was only 24 minutes away.

Coach Joerger’s Big Decision

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Maybe that wasn’t a good idea Photo: @NBCS

Head coach Dave Joerger decided that all of his starters would not play in the second half of the game on Wednesday night. That in part may have been a tribute to the job well done by the starters and giving a well-deserved opportunity to the second team and reserves. The problem is the plan did not work.

The Trail Blazers outscored the Kings 36-26 in the third quarter and cut the Kings lead to 15 points. As the Kings went to the fourth period, you might have expected Joerger to have reinserted Hield and Fox to reenergize his team’s scoring attack. He did not do that.

Joerger chose to stay with his reserves and that decision did not go well for the team.

The Final Quarter

Portland scored 38 points in the fourth quarter while the Kings only managed to put 18 points in the book. Anfernee Simons led the Trail Blazers scoring attack with 12 points. Frank Mason scored 10 for the Kings.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Trail Blazers had defeated the Kings 136-131.

Top Performers

Portland

  • Anfernee Simons led all scorers with 37 points.
  • Former Kings player Skal Labissiere put up 27 points against his old mates. Skal made it a double-double by grabbing 15 rebounds.
  • Jake Layman, Meyers Leonard, and Gary Trent, Jr. all scored 19 points each in the contest.

Kings

  • The Kings leading scorer was Marvin Bagley III with 20 points and nine rebounds. The rookie has had an incredible season.
  • De’Aaron Fox and Yogi Ferrell scored 17 points each.
  • Bogdan Bogdanovic and Frank Mason III both scored 15 points in the game.

One Big Question to Ask

In his exit interview, this reporter thinks that head coach Dave Joerger needs to be asked why he did not do more to get win number 40 on Wednesday night. The psychological lift for the team and fans of crossing over into the 40 win plateau would have been huge. Joerger needs to be held accountable for letting that opportunity get away.

In the meantime, the NBA Draft is 72 days away.

Machado more than the Giants can handle in 3-1 loss to Padres

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Some days on the diamond are strictly for the superstars, with their big contracts, other worldly skills and myriad of ways they can affect the outcome of ballgames.

Manny Machado had his showcase Wednesday, making several nifty plays defensively along with hitting a tie-breaking home run in the sixth that helped send the Padres to a 3-1 win over the Giants.

Dereck Rodriguez delivered a fastball at the knees that didn’t initially appear to be a mistake, but Machado put a swing on it, and soon the whole park was focused on the ball’s path into the right field arcade.

“He made one mistake all day,” Machado said of the Rodriguez pitch. “I was able to take advantage.”

A home run hit to right by a right-handed hitter at Oracle Park? Yeah, that’s a rare feat with Machado becoming just the 22nd visiting hitter to do so since the park’s opening in 2000.

“I’ve hit a few balls that hit the top of that wall. I’m happy I got one over this time,” Machado said.

Machado didn’t start or stop there, throwing out a runner earlier after a bare-handed pickup, then surprising lead runner Erik Kratz at the plate with a throw across his body that catcher Francisco Mejia turned into an out with a high tag.

Then on the game’s final play Machado came up with a shoestring catch on Brandon Belt’s ball hit in front of him with a pair of runners on.

The final play typified the afternoon for the Giants: they got runners aboard, but in every case, left them stranded. Kratz should have gotten down with a slide, and other situations fizzled with poor, situational hitting.

The only Giants’ run? A fourth inning home run from Kevin Pillar.

The Giants’ expected run producers continued their struggles: Buster Posey, Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt combined to go 1 for 10, and Pillar–his home run withstanding–hasn’t quite settled in either as his batting average dropped to .140.

Rodriguez was good enough to win with any support, but instead fell to 1-2 despite allowing four hits in seven innings.

“The little things got us, that was the difference in the game,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Giants fell to 3-9 and haven’t captured any of their four series to date. They open a four-game set with the Rockies on Thursday at home. The Giants could see themselves out of the NL West cellar with some wins, that after they thank their lucky stars they haven’t already sunk too low.

“We’re not happy with where we’re at, but you’ve got to understand there’s other good teams that haven’t gotten off to a great start either,” Bochy said.

Jeff Samardzija looks to be part of the solution as Thursday’s starter, but he has six losses in 13 career starts against the Rockies. John Gray starts for the Rockies, he’s 0-2 heading into his third start.

 

A’s pound on Orioles pitching for second straight day

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Khris Davis homered twice, while Chad Pinder, Jurickson Profar, and Matt Chapman each added a round-tripper for Oakland, as the Athletics pounded Baltimore pitching for the second straight day, winning 10-3.

Khris Davis drove in four runs with his 17th multi-home run game since 2016, and Chapman added three RBIs. The win moved Oakland back to .500 (8-8).

Frankie Montas (2-1) gave up a pair of home runs in the fifth inning to Trey Mancini and Rio Ruiz, but hurled five scoreless inning to get the win. The A’s bullpen contingent of J.B. Wendelken, Ryan Buchter and Yusmeiro Petit held the Orioles scoreless over the last three innings.

Dan Strally (0-1) took the loss, lasting 3 1/3 innings while giving up five earned runs.

For the second consecutive day, Baltimore held struggling slugger Chris Davis out of the lineup. Chris Davis was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter on Wednesday, pushing his streak of plate appearances without a hit to 57, tying the MLB record set by Cleveland’s Tony Bernazard in 1984.

Khris Davis’s seven home runs is tied for the MLB lead with Cody Bellinger and Jay Bruce.

The Athletics and Orioles complete their series on Thursday with an 8:35 a.m. PDT start.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2019: Sharks Take Game One 5-2 Over Knights

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 in the first game of the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs Wednesday. The Sharks goals came from Brent Burns, Tomas Hertl, Evander Kane, Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Martin Jones made 24 saves for the win. Both Vegas goals came from Mark Stone and Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves against the Sharks.

The Sharks got the first power play of the game at 13:35. They had a few moments of delayed penalty time with Jones out of the net but that did not last long. The penalty was to Pierre-Edouard Bellemare for tripping Micheal Haley.

The Sharks scored on that power play at 14:42. A Brent Burns blue line special went off John Merrill’s glove or stick, into Joe Pavelski’s face and into the net. For his pains, Pavelski got credit for the goal with the assist going to Burns. Pavelski went directly to the dressing room, did not even stop for the celebration.

In the last two minutes of the first period, Timo Meier had to leave for repairs after being hi-sticked behind the net.

The Sharks outshot the Golden Knights 8-5 in the first, and won 60% of the face-offs. Vegas out-hit the Sharks 25-17.

Pavelski returned for the second period with a lower face shield. Timo Meier, fresh from his facial repairs, also returned and spoke briefly with an official as the period got under way. 20 seconds in, Meier was called for tripping Jonathan Marchessault. The Sharks killed that penalty off.

Evander Kane and Deryk Engelland exchanged blows after a scuffle in front of the net, as did Brenden Dillon and Jonathan Marchessault. Only Dillon and Marchessault were sent to the box, and for just two minutes. While the teams were playing 4 on 4, Tomas Hertl drew a hooking penalty and gave the Sharks a 4 on 3 power play. That turned into a 3 on 3 when Joe Pavelski was knocked down near the crease and Nate Schmidt tripped over him. Pavelski was called for tripping Schmidt.

The Sharks were unfazed by that noise. Erik Karlsson got the puck across the blue line and to Brent Burns, who carried it around a couple of defenders and shot it past Fleury with calm precision. Assists went to Karlsson and Hertl. Time of the goal was 6:59.

The Sharks followed up with good pressure around the net, leading to a sneaky goal-line pass from Joe Thornton to Marc-Edouard Vlasic as he skated down from the blue line. Vegas was not ready for that and the shot went right by Fleury on the blocker side at 7:44. Assists went to Thornton and Evander Kane.

Vegas responded with a goal at 8:32. Pacioretty’s shot hit Paul Stasny’s skate to the left of Jones, and bounced across the goal mouth to Mark Stone, who was camped out to Jones’s right. Thus flanked by opponents, Jones could not stop the puck. Assists went to Stasny and Pacioretty.

The Sharks went back on the power play at 8:55 after William Carrier was called for tripping Logan Couture. Tripping was a popular penalty in Wednesday’s game.

The Sharks scored again with 18 seconds left in the second. Erik Karlsson’s blue line shot went between a defender’s legs and then was neatly deflected by Evander Kane over Fleury’s glove.

The Sharks increased their shot advantage in the second, winning that contest 14-5. Their face-off success flagged, though. Vegas won 58% of the second period face-offs. Paul Stasny and William Karlsson defeated nearly all comers in the second.

Nearly six minutes into the third, Jon Merrill pushed Micheal Haley down in the crease, right on top of Fleury. As the puck went the other way for what may have been a good chance, Fleury spent some time thumping on Haley with the help of a team-mate. The whistle stopped play for roughing calls all around. Haley went to the box and Paul Stasny went in Fleury’s place.

As that four-on-four got started, the Sharks played a little like it was three-on-three, holding onto the puck as if killing time more than trying to score. But it was early for that. Not long after the four-on-four expired, the Sharks had a power play that killed more time without scoring. Vegas had a turn on the scoreless power play at 11:44 after Barclay Goodrow went for slashing Shea Theodore.

Vegas got another power play at 15:11 when Kevin Labanc went for hooking Tomas Nosek. Mark Stone cut the Sharks lead in half with a goal at 15:26. His shot made best use of what little traffic there was in front of Jones to get the puck over the glove and into the net. Assists went to Shea Theodore and Max Pacioretty.

Toms Hertl scored into the empty net at 18:11 to stop the late game push from Vegas. Assists went to Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

By the end of the game, the Sharks had rebalanced the face-off results to 50-50. The shot count for the game was 33-26 Sharks.

Game 2 will be in San Jose on Friday at 7:30 PM PT.

Warriors wrap up regular season with 132-117 loss to Grizzlies

Photo credit: @warriors

By: Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors closed out the 2019 regular season on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum on Wednesday night. Warrior fans were in attendance to get some autographs from the players, including Andrew Bogut, and of course, watch some pregame hoops before the tipoff.

The Warriors were locked in and ready to take on the Grizzlies in game 82. The Warriors’ starting five featured Quinn Cook, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jordan Bell, and Andrew Bogut.

The Warriors started things off with a fiery play that had Warrior fans talking amongst themselves. Andrew Bogut passed the ball to Kevin Durant, who passed the ball over to Jordan Bell, who tossed a two-point bucket on a no-look at the 11-minute mark of the first quarter.

Quinn Cook drew attention to himself as he hit a three-pointer with 7:52 left in the first. With the three, Cook upped his point total to 500 and counting.

Klay Thompson also drew attention to himself. Thompson appeared in his 615th career game and passed Purvis Short (614) for the 10th most regular season games played in Warriors’ history. Thompson’s the Warriors’ all-time leader in postseason games played with 102.

Speaking of Thompson, the big man hit back-to-back threes to put the Warriors up with 5:23 left in the first. Thompson then added a bucket.

Thompson hit another three to make it a one-point game with 2:11 left in the first. With the three, the Warriors knocked down a total of 1,078 threes this season for a new franchise record.

Despite all the highlight reel worthy moments, the Warriors trailed 86-68 at the end of the first half.

Things didn’t get any better for the Warriors, who trailed 114-90 at the end of the third quarter. But at least there was a silver lining when Jonas Jerebko rose up for a two-handed flush with 1:21 left in the third.

The Warriors outscored the Grizzlies 27-18 in the fourth quarter, but put a wrap on the regular season with a 132-117 loss.

The Warriors finish with a 57-25 record, while the Grizzlies finish with a 33-29 record.

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 21 points, six rebounds, and one steal. Klay Thompson had 19 points, three assists, one steal, and one block. Jordan Bell had 15 points, eight rebounds, and one block. Marcus Derrickson had 13 points and two rebounds. Damion Lee had 10 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Quinn Cook had 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Jacob Evans had eight points, four assists, and three rebounds. Jonas Jerebko had six points, three rebounds, three assists, and one block. Kevon Looney had six points, three rebounds, and three assists. Andre Iguodala had five points and five assists. Alfonso McKinnie had four points and three rebounds. Andrew Bogut added six rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.

The Warriors get ready for the postseason as they await their first round opponent.

Stanford men’s basketball selected to play in 2020 Maui Invitational

Photo credit: gostanford.com

By: Ana Kieu

The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team has been selected to play in the 2020 Maui Jim Maui Invitational, which will be held from November 23-25, 2020 at the historic Lahaina Civic Center in Hawaii.

The Cardinal is part of a stellar eight-team field that includes Alabama, Davidson, Indiana, North Carolina, Providence, Texas, and UNLV. The event will mark the 37th edition of the annual tournament, held in Maui.

The Cardinal will make its fourth appearance in the prestigious tournament, previously competing in the event in 1987, 1992, and 2004. Stanford oowns a 3-6 all-time record in its three previous appearances with wins over Baylor (1987), BYU (2004) and Chaminade (1987). In its most recent appearance in the Maui Invitational in 2004, Stanford went 1-2, defeating BYU, and dropping decisions to Tennessee and No. 14 Louisville.

“Each year, the Maui Jim Maui Invitational prides itself on bringing the best college basketball teams and talent to the island of Maui,” said tournament chairman Dave Odom. “2020 is no different, with the Lahaina Civic Center hosting some of the game’s most historic programs of all time.”

The Jim Maui Invitational is excited to announce a new element of the event. The tournament has a longstanding tradition of presenting each team with its very own hand-made, customized surfboard, and will now host a contest that sources the surfboard designs directly from the students of the participating schools. Contest winners will be announced in the fall and honored at the schools’ surfboard presentations in 2020.

Ticket and travel packages will be available at a later date. For more information, visit MauiInvitational.com.

Three San Jose State football players named to NFF Hampshire Honor Society

Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

For the first time in the 13-year history of the National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Honor Society program, three San Jose State Spartans players from one team are receiving the prestigious recognition.

Quarterback Michael Carrillo, a master’s degree candidate in business administration; kicker Bryce Crawford, a communications studies major; and long snapper Harrison Hoffman, a business accounting major, are seniors from the 2018 Spartan team invited into the Society.

“It’s awesome. Those thee players are such incredible young men who did everything right all the time. It’s exciting to see them get recognized for their efforts academically,” said SJSU head coach Brent Brennan.

“We know how hard it is to balance the challenge of school and football and being a Division I athlete. Those guys all were exceptional. We were lucky to have them be important members of our football program.”

Football student-athletes from all NCAA and NAIA Divisions qualify for admission by maintaining a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average or better throughout their college careers, been significant players on their team during the 2018 season, and have completed their final year of eligibility.

“It means a lot. I value education a lot. To get the recognition at the end of all of it, all the hard work wasn’t for nothing. It’s pretty special,” said Hoffman, who first joined SJSU in 2017 and plans to work in public accounting after graduation.

“School is very important to me. It’s nice to get recognition when you work so hard for something.”

“It’s nice to be recognized for all the hard work we put in on and off the field. Here at San Jose (State), we put a lot of emphasis on school and making sure we excel in the classroom before we excel on the football field. It’s something I take a lot of pride in,” said Crawford, a 2018 nominee for the NFF’s Campbell Trophy, known as the “Academic Heisman.”

A record-number 1,643 student-athletes from 424 colleges and universities were named. The Society is an extension of the organization’s national scholar-athlete program. More than 10,000 student-athletes have been honored since the program’s inception.

Previous SJSU inductees include defensive end Travis Johnson (2012); guard Nicholas Kaspar and offensive tackle Jon Meyer (2013); linebacker Vince Buhagiar (2014); offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer (2015); linebacker Mark Amann and wide receiver Tim Crawley (2016); and offensive lineman Nate Velichko (2017).

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Virginia Tech Cavaliers shock the country; Will ankle problems plague Curry in postseason?; Sharks on ice for game one tonight; plus more

photo from yahoosports.com: Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) trips as New Orleans Pelicans guard Elfrid Payton (4) looks on during the first quarter at the Smoothie King Center. photo Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

On the Headline Sports podcast with London Marq:

#1 The Virginia Cavaliers are the college basketball champs of the NCAA. How surprising, what expectations, were as surprised and a game which the Cavs won it in overtime?

#2 It’s the ankle again. The Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry, who hurt his ankle before turned his ankle on Tuesday night in New Orleans in the Warriors’ 112-103 win over the Pelicans. Head coach Steve Kerr says Curry should be alright for game one of the playoffs.

#3 The San Jose Sharks are coming off three wins of their last five games. The Sharks’ Erik Karlsson returned from his injury and Evander Kane looks like he’s got that old spark again. How do the Sharks look going into game one of the playoffs on Wednesday night?

#4 StubHub has announced that tickets could be had for as low as $6 in the lower stands at Oracle Park. The Giants are assured that their attendance would not drop no lower than 26,000 because they have sold season tickets to guarantee that crowd number. The Giants drew 28,000 their smallest crowd in recent memory against the Padres on Monday night. Lastly, it should be noted the Giants didn’t lay an egg on Tuesday night, getting six runs in the bottom of the second and a large lead to get past the Padres to pull within four games of .500. The Giants dropped Wednesday’s game 3-1 and fell five games below .500 at 4-9.

#5 The San Jose Earthquakes were able to pull off a huge win in a 3-0 shutout over the Portland Timbers on Saturday at Avaya Stadium. It was the Quakes first win of 2019 and our very own London Marq was there.

London does the Headline Sports podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com