unter-productive. So its great. I love the rotation, Rochell said.Kelly believes the way the Irish played in the second half against Syracuse built confidence.I think that there was that sense of, this is going

HOUSTON -- One way or the other, October owes McCall Zerboni a ring.The veteran midfielder was supposed to get married Saturday in Portland, where she and her fiancé own a house and where they both worked until about this time a year ago. But because of what Zerboni and her Western New York Flash teammates did in Portland a week ago, eliminating the NWSL regular-season champion from the playoffs on its own field, the vows will have to wait.No professional womens soccer league in the United States has crowned a fourth champion, bookkeeping that will change when the Flash face the Washington Spirit on Sunday at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. With 29-year-old Zerboni as but one example, the league has two finalists that embody persistence.I think the longer you play the more sacrifices youre making, the more things you miss out on, Zerboni said. The more it becomes a bear to find that spark, to find that inspiration to keep doing what youre doing. My biggest quality that I possess is that I want to do this for the sake of the sport, for my nieces, for my daughters to come. To help grow this sport. It takes a lot of commitment and a lot of sacrifice, especially when youre older and you want to settle down.It is fair to say neither the Flash nor the Spirit arrived here solely on the coattails of superstars.While the game will be played in the stadium she calls home during the NWSL season, Carli Lloyd wont be on the field. Nor will Alex Morgan or Christine Sinclair. Only three players who were part of the U.S. Olympic roster will participate in Sundays game, and one of those was an alternate. Only one player, Washingtons Ali Krieger, was part of the U.S. World Cup title last year (although it is worth noting that four Canadian Olympic bronze medalists are in Houston this weekend).The biggest star present is likely Washingtons Crystal Dunn, whose stock took off when, left off the U.S. World Cup roster, she instead used 2015 to dominate the NWSL.All of that might not be ideal for advertisers, but it is a strong advertisement for a league that is still very much a work in progress.The two teams in the final were center stage for two of the leagues most ignominious moments this season. Western New York hosted a game played on a makeshift field so narrow as to reduce the game to little more than a farce, drawing widespread criticism from players and eventually an apology from commissioner Jeff Plush. In September, Washington clumsily, and without league consultation, played the national anthem with no players on the field in advance of a game against Seattle, lest Megan Rapinoe kneel in protest.But the same teams are here as proof that the product, packaging mishaps aside, is sound.Both finalists were question marks when the season began. The Spirit were a playoff team in each of the past two seasons -- in each case slipping in as the last of four seeds -- under the direction of Mark Parsons. When Parsons left to replace Paul Riley in Portland, it was difficult to read the move as anything other than a tacit acknowledgement of Washingtons ceiling, the equivalent of a college coach trading a successful mid-major for a power conference fixer-upper.Yet under Jim Gabarra, coaching a Washington team for the third time in as many pro leagues, the Spirit matched the Thorns for the most wins and had the regular-season title within grasp.There was a huge adjustment process, Spirt midfielder Christine Nairn said. Last year we just kind of wanted to possess, and sometimes over-possess. Whereas everything this year, were doing it with purpose. He wants us to always play faster. Jim is always challenging us to play one- and two-touch. Even when were not comfortable taking one and two touches, hes honing that into our heads almost to the point that its second nature. Through all that hardship of turning the ball over in practice or seeing it on film, were peaking at the right time.Roster continuity helped, the coach new but the core familiar. Almost all of Sundays likely starters were around last season. Many go back beyond that, while Tori Huster, Krieger and Diana Matheson have been regular minute recipients in each of the teams four NWSL seasons. Look around the league and there arent a whole lot of players like Huster, a four-year starter who lives the low-paying, low-security year-to-year existence of a non-allocated player.Shes a ball winner, Dunn said of the holding midfielder. She hunts the ball down. She just works hard, and thats basically what this team is made up of is players that are hard working. Thats not easy to come by. You have a couple of players on a team that are usually like, Im going to grind through, but three people cant make up for 11 players. Whats unique about this team is basically the whole team grinds and works hard.Western New York has plenty of potential star power, from Olympic alternate Sam Mewis to newly crowned league MVP Lynn Williams, who it was also announced Thursday will join the U.S. national team for its training camp and pair of games later this month against Switzerland. It also has Jessica McDonald, who at 28 years old has the curious combination of claims to fame of having played for more teams than the league has played seasons (five teams in four seasons) while also scoring more league goals (31) than any player but Seattles Kim Little.Williams, who furthered her rising star with two overtime goals in the semifinal, and McDonald give the Flash a front line that spearheads an aggressive high-pressure style. And in McDonald, Williams has a willing and able mentor, just as Mewis does in veteran midfielders like Zerboni and Abby Erceg.I am a mom, and Im a wife, so you can only live so long off of this salary, McDonald said. But it has been an incredible adventure overall because this league has to start somewhere. Its just to help build this league, not just financially but add on more teams, and for this league to continue in the future for little girls who want to play. So Im OK with right now and just trying to continue to create some type of history.And hopefully crush some more records, as well.Like McDonald and Huster, Zerboni knows a landscape without a professional league. She won a WPS title in 2011, the high point of her soccer life soon followed by the nadir when the league collapsed. Yet here she is, the twists and turns of pro sports bringing her back to the Flash (and fiancé Scott Vallow, an assistant coach for Western New York) after beginning this season with Boston.When that was taken away from me, it just kind of opened up this feeling that I would never want someone to feel the way that I did, Zerboni said of the WPS. The women that I played with didnt deserve it. ... Something like that was very devastating to all of us. From then on, I think it sparked a fire inside of me that I will do everything I can to make this work.So even a wedding can wait. For the Flash and Spirit, there is a soccer game to play.Cheap Custom Heat Jersey . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Custom Heat T-shirts . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. http://www.customheatjersey.com/ .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Cheap Heat Jerseys . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. Chris Bosh Jersey Large .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents.SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dames new defensive philosophy is to do less with more.After three seasons using a complicated scheme that depended heavily on a core of players under defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, coach Brian Kelly has changed things up after firing his long-time friend. He has simplified the defense, requiring fewer play call changes. He also gave more players opportunities to get on the field in a 50-33 victory win over Syracuse, a game where the Irish held the Orange to six points in the second half.That might not seem like a major improvement, but for a team with the nations 106th-rated defense that is giving up 461 yards and 33.4 points per game, any sign of progress is welcome. The next challenge for the struggling Irish (2-3) is a game Saturday at North Carolina State (3-1), which has the nations 21st- rated offense at 505 yards a game.The Irish have allowed six straight teams from Power Five conferences to score at least 30 points and the Wolfpack is averaging 40. Irish players are confident that the new simpler scheme, using more players and the enthusiasm brought by new defensive coordinator Greg Hudson will lead to better play.We knew we had to change something, because obviously what we were doing wasnt working, defensive end Isaac Rochell said.With Kelly making the decisions on defense, the Irish reverted to using more three-man fronts -- the style they used before VanGorder arrived with his 4-3 scheme -- and defensive backs played more conservatively. Irish players said they were able to play faster because the scheme was simpler.I would say itts not overly basic, but its not overly complicated, Rochell said.ddddddddddddDefensive end Jay Hayes said players felt comfortable.So guys were playing loose, playing free, running around with a lot of energy, he said.The Irish used five freshmen defensive backs against Syracuse and had four of them on the field at the same time. The Irish have played 13 freshmen already this season, the most ever in Kellys seven seasons as Irish coach.Kelly had said last week that he couldnt take a player who hadnt played in game yet and suddenly put them in for 70 plays. But he came close with freshman cornerback Troy Pride Jr., who was on the field for about 60 plays after not playing previously.I wanted to play him, and I thought we should have played him. So Im making those personnel decisions, Kelly said. We played him a little too much, quite frankly.Irish players said playing fewer plays as they rotated in and out allowed them to play with more energy.Its great for us. If we wouldnt have rotated, I would have played 90-plus plays. Its counter-productive. So its great. I love the rotation, Rochell said.Kelly believes the way the Irish played in the second half against Syracuse built confidence.I think that there was that sense of, this is going to work out pretty good. So I think there is a bigger trust and understanding and knowing that go were going to be in pretty good shape defensively, he said.Its been a while since the Irish have been able to say that. ' ' '