In a World Series chock full of momentum swings, reversals of fortunes, and late game heroics, the most surprising thing about last night's deciding game seven was perhaps the fact that it was the most pedestrian game of the series.
The Houston Astros scored early, building a 5-0 lead by the third inning, and there was little drama in the game itself as they cruised to a 5-1 victory and the franchise's first ever World Series championship since debuting as a National League team in 1962, when they known as the Houston Colt .45s.
George Springer was named the series most valuable player, and short stop Carlos Correa gained a ring and gave away another, proposing to his girlfriend after the game. Spoiler alert, she said "yes." It was another rough night for Dodgers starter Yu Darvish, who was unable to get out of the the second inning for the second time in the series. The win went to Astros starter Charlie Morton, who worked out of the bullpen last night, pitching the last four innings to get the victory. And we should give a nod to the folks at Sports Illustrated, who featured series MVP George Springer on their cover back in 2014 with a headline and subsequent story predicting that the Astros would be World Series champs this year, a prognostication that proved spot-on.
In the NBA last night, the Boston Celtics have now won six in a row after pummeling the Sacramento Kings 113-86 in Boston. Rookie Jaylen Brown and veteran Kyrie Irving each scored 22 to lead the Celtics to the win.
In the NHL, veteran Patrick Marleau had a goal and assist to help the Toronto Maple Leaf's end a three game losing skid with a 3-1 win over the Ducks in Anaheim.
To local playoff results now, and in girl's division one high school soccer, CVU and South Burlington went to overtime in the semi-finals yesterday, with a shot at the state title championship game on the line. It took just about two and a half minutes for the game to be decided in OT when Charlotte Hill buried the only goal of the contest to give the Redhawks a 1-0 victory and a date against Burr and Burton for a third straight year. CVU goes into that title match as the top seed in division one and with a perfect 16-0 record.
Trying for the upset will be the Burr and Burton Bulldogs, who beat Colchester 2-0, but will enter the D-1 finals as the defending champs.
In division two, Rice Memorial gets a chance to earn the state crown for the first time in 18 years after topping Mount Abraham 2-0 on the strength of two quick goals. The first came on a floater off the foot of Alison Rouleau just over a minute into the match, and Abby McKeown doubled the lead just a few minutes later, converting a corner kick for the only goals the Green Knights would need. They'll take on two-time defending champions Milton for the D-2 title Saturday, after Milton ousted Montpelier 2-0.
In the division three semi-finals Green Mountain shut out Vergennes 3-0, and Thetford topped Peoples 1-Nil.
In division four it was top-seeded Arlington beating Long Trail 4-1 and Proctor defeated Richford 6-1.
Boy's high school soccer semis in division two, Harwood shut out Woodstock 7-0 and top-seeded Lake Region got by U-32 3-1. In division three, Stowe returns to the finals after shutting out Twin Valley 3-0.
In high school field hockey playoffs, division three action, Lyndon beat Missisquoi 3-2, and in a game that went to double overtime, Stowe beat Windsor 3-2
In men's college soccer, UVM captured the America East regular season title yesterday for the third time in school history after running to a 1-1 draw with New Hampshire.The Catamounts also get a first round bye in the America East tournament with that title, and will take on either Albany or UMBC when the Catamounts host the semi-finals at Virtue Field November 8th. Jon Arnar Barddal scored for UVM, while goalie Aron Runarsson stopped five shots to give UVM the point they needed to finish atop the standings and earn the tournament's number one seed.
Meanwhile UVM earned that draw playing without Geo Alves and Dani Rovira, who were suspended before the game due to what UVM Athletic Director Jeff Schulman said was an eligibility infraction that occurred last January, prior to both players' enrollments at UVM. Alves and Rovira are both part of the development academy for the New England Revolution, a professional Major League Soccer team, and were invited to practice with the team last year. That in itself is not illegal, but apparently that practice also included an informal scrimmage against other clubs, and under NCAA guidelines, players are allowed to practice with professionals under specific conditions but not against outside competition. UVM learned of the potential conflict over the weekend and informed NCAA officials who said Alves and Rovira would have to sit out the final regular season contest against UNH.
Elsewhere in men's college soccer, top-seeded Castleton advanced to the North Atlantic Conference Championship game with a 2-0 victory over fourth-seeded New England College last night at Spartan Stadium.
Castleton stays unbeaten in conference play and will host Colby-Sawyer in the title match Saturday night.
Fidele Rutayisire tallied first for Castleton and assisted on the insurance goal in the second half by Seraphin Iradukunda.
