CHICAGO — Brandon
Saad drove the net and had
the puck poked away by
Andrei Vasilevskiy. When
he somehow found it again,
Saad gave it a desperate
backhand whack that just
happened to send it right
between Vasilevskiy’s mov-
ing pads.
Saad refused much cred-
it for his tiebreaking goal
in Game 4 of the Stanley
Cup Final. He knows that a
few fortunate bounces have
been the only differences
in four games between the
Chicago Blackhawks and
the Tampa Bay Lightning,
who seem determined to
take this championship
series down to a fantastic
finish.
Saad scored with 13:38
to play, and captain
Jonathan Toews got his
first goal of the series as
the Blackhawks beat the
Lightning and their rook-
ie goalie 2-1 Wednesday
night, knotting the Final at
two games apiece.
The 22-year-old Saad’s
latest clutch goal was the
offensive highlight of a
gritty, defense-dominated
night at the United Center.
Corey Crawford and the
20-year-old Vasilevskiy, the
Lightning’s surprise starter,
both had stellar moments
before Saad beat his fellow
youngster for the winner.
“I was really pretty lucky,”
Saad said. “I just saw space
going to the net. Tried
to drive and create some
chaos. Just try to get some
wood on it and get to the
net, and it found a way in.”
Chaos reigned again
in the final minute for
Crawford, who capped
his 24 saves with a fran-
tic last stand. Lightning
captain Steven Stamkos
had two golden chances
to force overtime, but the
Blackhawks survived.
Game 5 is Saturday.
In 2012, Waiakea left-
handers Quintin Torres-
Costa and Kodi Medeiros
provided a one-twopitch-
ing force at the HHSAA
Division I baseball tour-
nament. They combined
to allow one earned run
in three games to lead
the Warriors to their first
state championship, then
went their separate ways.
If Torres-Costa so
desires, he can try and
reunite with his former
teammate in the pros. He
was selected Wednesday
in the 35th round of the
Major League Baseball
draft by the Milwaukee
Brewers, the team that
picked Medeiros in the
first round last year.
“It’s kind of unreal
that we were both draft-
ed by the same team,”
said Torres-Costa, who is
back on the Big Island
after turning around his
career as a reliever at the
University of Hawaii. “It’s
always been my dream to
play pro baseball.”
He learned of his selec-
tion when he received
a congratulatory call
him while he was driv-
ing home, and shortly
thereafter he talked with
Brewers area scout Josh
Belovsky.
“(He) said I reminded
them of Kodi,” Torres-
Costa said, “and that I
have some good pitch-
es. I just don’t throw as
hard.”
COLOGNE, Germany
— Five days after beat-
ing the Netherlands for
the first time, the United
States defeated Germany
in Germany for the first
time.
The Americans could
not be more confident
heading into next month’s
CONCACAF Gold Cup.
“It makes us world
champions, right?” goal-
keeper Brad Guzan joked
after Wednesday night’s
2-1 victory over the
Germans.
Bobby Wood, whose
90th-minute goal Friday
gave the U.S. a 4-3 win
in Amsterdam, scored in
the 87th minute for the
improbable victory in an
exhibition against the
nation that won last year’s
World Cup.
U.S. captain Michael
Bradley passed to Brad
Evans, wide on the right
flank, and Evans made a
25-yard diagonal pass to
Wood, who had entered
in the 74th minute. Wood
trapped the ball just out-
side the arc, swiveled, took
a touch and sent a 23-yard
shot on a hop past goal-
keeper Ron-Robert Zieler.
“I think we did that like
20 times yesterday,” Wood
said. “It’s kind of funny
that it happened that
exact way.”
It was just the second
international goal for the
22-year-old from Hawaii,
whose German club,
Erzgebirge Auehas, was
relegated to the third divi-
sion during a season in
which he was slowed by
injury.
“Bobby Wood is a work
in progress,” U.S. coach
Jurgen Klinsmann said.
“He had a very difficult
season.”
The U.S. had lost its pre-
vious two games against
the Germans in Germany:
4-2 in 2002 and 4-1 in
2006. The Americans
survived a scare in injury
SPORTS
INSIDE
| PAGE 2B
NBA Finals
lookahead
THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
ONLINE
| WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM/SPORTS
B
Honolulu native
Wood leads U.S. to
victory over Germany
BY NESHA STARCEVIC
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SOCCER |
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY
MLB DRAFT
Germany’s Antonio Ruediger, right, and United
States’ Bobby Wood battle for a ball during the
friendly match between Germany and the United
States on Wednesday
.
MARTIN MEISSNER/
THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS
SEE
SOCCER
PAGE 4B
USA
, USA,
USA
The last three wins for the United States
Date
Score
Opponent FIFA Rank
Wednesday
2-1
Germany
1
June 5
4-3
Netherlands
6
April 15
2-0
Mexico
23
* The US team is currently ranked 27th in the world.
The only other time the U.S. beat two top-10 teams
in a two-week span was Portugal and Mexico
at the 2002World Cup. The U.S. also tallied its
third win in 13 games against FIFA No. 1 teams
NHL |
STANLEY CUP FINAL
Milwaukee picks Waiakea grad Torres-Costa
BY MATT GERHART
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
SEE
TORRES-COSTA
PAGE 4B
KNEEL BEFORE SAAD
Lose the playoff beards,
NBC boss tells the NHL
The NHL playoff beard is the stuff of tra-
dition and is grown by grizzled veterans and
baby-faced rookies alike.
As initially introduced by Ken Morrow
of the New York Islanders, who won four
straight titles in the late 1970s and early
1980s, the beard begins at the start of a
team’s postseason run and does not come off
until a team either is eliminated, or better
yet, hoists the Stanley Cup. The tradition
has extended through all of hockey’s ranks
and has even been used to raise millions for
charity.
However, NBC Sports Chairman Mark
Lazarus would like the tradition to stop, and
since NBC pays the NHL $2 billion in rights
fees, his voice actually counts.
For Lazarus, the noble concepts of team
building and camaraderie are trumped by
the idea that the beards partially obscure
the players’ faces, thus making them more
difficult to recognize on television.
“The players won’t like this, but I wish
they all would stop growing beards in the
postseason,” Lazarus told the Chicago
Tribune. “Let’s get their faces out there. Let’s
talk about how young and attractive they
are. What model citizens they are. (Hockey
players) truly are one of a kind among pro-
fessional athletes.”
“I know it’s a tradition and superstition,
but I think [the beards do] hurt recognition.
They have a great opportunity with more
endorsements. Or simply more recognition
with fans saying, ‘That guy looks like the kid
next door,’ which many of these guys do. I
Chicago
2
Tampa Bay
1
Series tied 2-2
Factoid
:The Stanley
Cup Final is very evenly
matched.with the Lightning
registering 104 shots,nine
goals,twowins,while the
Blackhawks have 107 shots,
nine goals,twowins.
BLACKHAWKS EVEN FINAL AT
2-2 ON BRANDON SAAD’S GOAL
BY GREG BEACHAM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — The
University of Hawaii at
Manoa is suing former
basketball coach Gib
Arnold, saying he deceived
the school into believing
his team complied with
NCAA regulations.
The lawsuit filed in
state court in Honolulu
on Wednesday accuses
Arnold of fraud and negli-
gence. The school is seek-
ing unspecified damages.
The university is also
asking the court to weigh
in on a contract dispute
with Arnold. The former
coach has filed a griev-
ance against the school,
saying he’s entitled to $1.4
million in damages on the
grounds the university
violated the terms of his
contract when it fired him
without cause last year.
The NCAA in January
accused the basketball
program of violating
coaching and recruiting
rules.
Hawaii sues former coach
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
SEE
BEARDS
PAGE 4B
Three years after pitching Waiakea to the state
championship, Quintin Torres-Costa went in the
35th round of the Major League Baseball draft.
WEST HAWAII TODAY FILE PHOTO
Chicago Blackhawks’ Brandon Saad congratulated by teammate Brad Richards after scoring during
the third period of Game 4 onWednesday
.
CHARLES REXARBOGAST/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
