Toronto FC earns MLS final berth
Huge comeback puts East champs into title game against Seattle
Benoit Cheyrou and Tosaint Ricketts scored 2 minutes apart in extra time, and Toronto FC advanced to the MLS Cup final, outlasting the Montreal Impact 5-2 in the rain Wednesday night in Toronto for a 7-5 aggregate victory.
It took extra time and 12 goals to decide the two-leg Eastern Conference final. Toronto will host the Seattle Sounders on Dec. 10 in the MLS championship game, becoming the first Canadian team to play for the title.
Toronto trailed 3-2 after Game 1 in Montreal and fell further behind after the Impact scored first. Only once before in MLS playoff history had a club trailed by as many as three goals in a two-leg aggregate series and come back to wine. The San Jose Earthquakes were down 4-0 in 2003 before rallying to beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 5-4.
College football
Quarterback Malik Zaire, who won the starting job at Notre Dame last season before a broken ankle ended his season, plans to graduate in December and use his final year of eligibility at another school. He was beaten out for the starter’s job this season by DeShone Kizer.
Texas running back n D’Onta Foreman says he will leave the Longhorns to enter the NFL draft after rushing for 2,028 yards this season as a junior. Forman also scored 15 touchdowns and is a finalist for the Doak Walker Award given to college football’s top running back.
A former Penn State n assistant football coach is getting an additional $5 million over his treatment by the university following Jerry Sandusky’s arrest on child molestation charges five years ago. Judge Thomas Gavin ruled in favor of Mike McQueary’s whistleblower claim against the university Wednesday, adding to a jury’s $7.3 million verdict issued last month for defamation and misrepresentation.
Quarterbacks Lamar n Jackson from Louisville, Deshaun Watson from Clemson and Jake Browning from Washington, along with two defensive stars Jonathan Allen of Alabama and Jabriill Peppers of Michigan, are the finalists for the Walter Camp player of the year award. Jackson is the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy and has accounted for 51 touchdowns.
Miscellany
California Chrome is scheduled to make the next-to-last start of his career on Dec. 17 in the Winter Challenge at Los Alamitos, the Orange County track where the world’s richest thoroughbred has been based for nearly three years. California Chrome has never raced at his home track.
UFC star Conor McGregor n has obtained a license to professionally box in California, according to an ESPN.com report. California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster confirmed the licensure. The news will only add to speculation of a boxing match between McGregor and retired poundfor-pound king Floyd Mayweather.