Öffentlicher Bereich » ominated by defence, Atletico pressed Val

LAKE LOUISE, Alta. -- American Lindsey Vonn will make her long-awaited World Cup skiing debut Friday. The reigning Olympic womens downhill champion hasnt competed since tearing ligaments in her right knee and breaking a bone in her leg at the world championships in February. She skipped Thursdays training run but the American ski star said via Twitter she intended to make her return to racing here. "Ive decided to take today as a "rest day" but I will be racing tomorrow," Vonn said. "I cant wait for my first race." Downhill races are scheduled for Friday and Saturday followed by Sundays super-G. Germanys Maria Hoefl-Riesch was the fastest in training Thursday with a time of one minute 56.52 seconds. Norways Lotte Smiseth Sejersted was second, followed by Austrian Anna Fenninger. Larisa Yurkiw of Owen Sound, Ont., is the lone Canadian in the downhill and was 23rd. Vonn has won a record 14 World Cup races at Lake Louise, which has earned the nickname "Lake Lindsey" because of her dominance. She swept all three races the last two years. But the 29-year-old arrived at the Alberta resort with questions surrounding her knee. She partially tore one of the surgically-reconstructed ligaments while training in Copper Mountain, Colo., two weeks ago. Vonn didnt compete in the first downhill of the season last weekend in Beaver Creek, Colo. Vonn was 22nd in the first training run Wednesday. "You know if your body is ready or not and I know that mine is ready," she said in a statement posted on the U.S. Ski Federation website. "Normally this is the first downhill of the year, so for me this feels like a normal beginning of the season. It feels pretty awesome. "My goal (Wednesday) was to ski solid and to ski my race line and I did that. I knew that if I could accomplish all those things in one run, then I dont need a second run. Its the smart choice for me to not ski today in order to prepare for (Friday)." Vonn is a four-time overall World Cup champion. She needs three more World Cup wins to match the record of 62 held by Annemarie Moser-Proell. . Justin Schultz Penguins Jersey . As each game passes (each has played close with the exception of last night) it becomes clearer just how evenly matched these two teams are and how one mistake, or one bad inning, is likely to sway the result. Bryan Rust Penguins Jersey . Forward Iker Muniain scored the winner in the 70th minute after Bilbaos incessant pressure recovered the ball and sparked a counterattack inside Barcelonas half. Neymar was once again tagged to pick up Messis goal-scoring duties, but when he wasnt frustrated by slippery footing Bilbaos defence got the better of him. http://www.penguinsauthenticofficial.com...-jersey/.Impact president Joey Saputo confirmed Thursday that he is part of a group of investors whose offer to buy the 105-year-old Italian club was accepted by the teams board of directors. Mario Lemieux Penguins Jersey . The Brazilian-born strikers brace drew him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the leagues leading scorers with 17 goals apiece through 16 rounds. "The important thing is to help the team win, not the goals," Diego Costa said. After a first half dominated by defence, Atletico pressed Valencia into its area and Diego Costa did the rest. Larry Murphy Jersey . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere.STANFORD, Calif. -- For nearly 9 minutes, Arizona made defensive stop after stop. In that critical sequence, the top-ranked Wildcats held Stanford scoreless and helped preserve their perfect start to the season. This confident, unbeaten group believes it should be doing that all game long. For Arizona, three straight defensive stops is called a "kill." Nick Johnson kept Arizonas unblemished record going for another game, hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining and two free throws with 5.8 seconds left as Arizona survived for a 60-57 victory Wednesday night for its school-record 21st straight win. "Were an outstanding defensive team. It isnt as if we changed any scheme, we just buckled down and had a lot of players playing very hard, and our ability to hold them to what we did is a big reason we won. Our defence won the game tonight," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "No question we have to execute better on offence and we have to be more confident at the line." After Johnson hit a jumper in the middle of the key with 2:36 remaining to make it 55-53, Dwight Powell answered on a baseline drive with 1:21 to go before Johnson delivered once more. Johnson finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists and T.J. McConnell added 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Arizona (21-0, 8-0 Pac-12), off to the programs best start in conference play in more than a decade. Arizona is one of three unbeaten teams left in Division I, joining No. 2 Syracuse, which also won Wednesday night. Fourth-ranked Wichita State hasnt lost either. Powell and Josh Huestis each scored 13 points for Stanford (13-7, 4-4), which outshot Arizona 38 per cent to 36 per cent. "For 38 minutes, I thought we were right there," Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. "Credit Arizona for making the plays they had to make at the end. Nick Johnson stepping up, whether at the foul line or whether it was a 3-point bucket late. Ive watched a lot of tape of them, hes done it all year." Johnson missed a free throw with 228 seconds left and Stanford called timeout.dddddddddddd Huestis missed a 3 from the left wing and Aaron Gordon secured the rebound, but he also missed a free throw giving the Cardinal one final shot. Chasson Randle missed a long 3 just before the final buzzer for Stanford. After a 3-pointer by Huestis with 10:03 remaining, Stanford didnt score again until Powells layin at 1:21 -- and Powell missed two free throws at 4:36 that would have put his team ahead. "Thats what we should have done the whole game. We came out a little lackadaisical and after that we turned it up when the sense of urgency turned up, and after that we kind of locked down," Gordon said. "It was good to come on the road and get a win, regardless of whether we won by 20 or we won by three like we did." Arizona, ranked No. 1 for a school-record eighth consecutive week, overcame a slow start on the way to an eighth straight win against Stanford. The Cardinal beat two Top 25 teams already with victories at then-No. 10 Connecticut and at then-No. 17 Oregon earlier this month. But not this time given their struggles in the waning moments at Maples Pavilion, which hosted a No. 1 mens team for the first time since losing 72-69 to Arizona on March 1, 2003. The Wildcats had a large contingent of fans in the crowd cheering "U of A! U of A!" Anthony Brown beat the halftime buzzer with a basket to put Stanford ahead 31-30. Arizona had trailed at halftime several times already this season only to produce a big second half. Arizona is on such a roll the players expect to win, even when they might not be at their best in a hostile environment. "One of the things we need to do is play defence at a high level more consistently and I think that will help us out a lot," forward Brandon Ashley said. "When we were down, we werent thinking about being down. For any team to be competitive, at any level, you have to be confident in yourself." Stanfords last home win against a No. 1 team came against Arizona, 82-74, on Feb. 4, 1988. ' ' '