similar struggles in terms of acceptance and popularity and Title IX. Here we

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Brad Evans scored on a penalty kick in the 81st minute and the Seattle Sounders beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on Sunday night in a game where both teams finished with 10 players.The Sounders (13-13-5) have won four straight and are fifth in the Western Conference in the race for six playoff spots. The Whitecaps (9-15-8) were eliminated from playoff contention.Evans earned the penalty when his cross struck sliding Vancouver defender Jordan Harveys arm in the Whitecaps box. Evans beat past goalkeeper David Ousted to the middle of the net.Pedro Morales scored on a penalty kick for Vancouver (9-15-8) in the 25th minute, and Osvaldo Alonso tied for Seattle in the 39th.Morales was ejected by referee Ricardo Salazar in the 53rd for an elbow to the head/throat area of Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan. Evans was sent off in the 84th minute for what appeared to be an attempted head-butt on Whitecaps defender David Edgar.IMPACT 1, ORLANDO CITY 0ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dominic Oduro scored in his second straight game, Evan Bush had his sixth shutout of the season and Montreal beat Orlando City to move into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.Montreal (11-10-11) has won two in a row and sits a point ahead of fifth-place D.C. United. Orlando (7-11-14) was eliminated from playoff contention.Oduro scored in the 56th minute when he used the outside of his right foot to beat goalkeeper Joe Bendik on breakaway. Six minutes prior, Ignacio Piatti had a one-on-one opportunity but he had a heavy touch near the 18-yard box and Bendik came out of his area to deny it. Custom Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Toronto Blue Jays Pro Shop . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/ . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Wholesale Blue Jays Jerseys . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Julie Foudy played on the U.S. womens national team for 17 years and won two Olympic gold medals during that time. Her first, in Atlanta in 1996, was especially meaningful, because it was also soccers debut as an Olympic sport.They said womens soccer would never get a World Cup -- or be in the Olympics. But in 1991, we got that World Cup. And in 1993, we found out wed get to be an Olympic sport. We were so pumped. My teammates and I had been fighting for it, so we were very excited get womens soccer in the Olympics -- and to have it in our home country.The crowd went absolutely berserk when the U.S. athletes walked in during the opening ceremony. We were the last country because we were the host nation. Youre waiting forever and waiting forever and then you finally get to go. We were rocking really cute red blazers and little white hats with red trim. (I still have the blazer.)I think Bruce Willis and Demi Moore were the first people we saw on the sideline and we high-fived. I was like, How cool is that? Theyre with their kids, high-fiving people. I dont think I realized how special it was to be in your own country at the time because it was our first Olympics.In the semifinal against Norway, we wanted to show the United States how cool our team was. The crowd was huge -- 64,000 fans -- and this was a period when we were still fighting to get recognition and support, so this was our chance to showcase this group.We had lost to Norway in the World Cup the year before and had to watch the Norwegians do this whole slow centipede victory march after they won, and that was still on our minds. How dare they do that? So we get a chance to get them again -- which we were ecstatic about -- and this time around we knew we werent going to fall to them.At halftime we were down a goal and I remember walking into the locker room and feeling like, Were fine. It was just a totally different atmosphere from the year before. This time, in the end, we got to finish them off.It can get super emotional when youre playing at home. The challenge was not being too pumped because you get so excited and so over-hyped. You dont want to be on this roller coaster of emotions, similar to a sugar high where you come crashing back down.The stadium was packed with more than 76,000 fans for the final against China and we had never really had that before, so you can imagine the excitement. It was always the challenge of appreciating the moment and soaking it in, which we were good at, but not letting that moment drain your energy. We actually talked about it a lot.We knew China was very good. The players were skillful, fit and well-trained, but we also knew this: We could be sstronger than them mentally.ddddddddddddI might have missed the dog pile. Shannon MacMillan scored the first goal -- and it was key to get in there and get a goal early to calm the nerves. After she scored, I just remember Mac sliding headfirst into the turf and all of us sliding in behind her. I think I ended up a little short of the celebration. Maybe I thought the grass was a little wetter than it was.When we won, we were up there on the podium, belting the national anthem at the top of our lungs. I remember thinking, does it get any better than this? Youre with your best buddies who youve worked so hard with, and to win the first-ever womens soccer gold in your home country, it was insane. It was surreal.We knew right away that people were mad. Only highlights of the final were aired on NBC -- not the whole game. Here you have a packed stadium with chanting Americans and I remember thinking, Wow, that tells you something. Theyre pretty set in how they cover sports and there will be a paradigm shift after this.At the 2000 Olympics, NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol pulled us all in and apologized for not covering us more in 96. He said, We missed out on that one and I take the blame.There was really a feeling that this could be a pivotal moment for women in sports in this country. All of these women in Atlanta -- some we knew, some we didnt -- we all had similar struggles in terms of acceptance and popularity and Title IX. Here we were collectively so successful, which isnt surprising given that many of us had been given the opportunity to play thanks to Title IX. After having to fight for so much, we thought maybe this was the breakthrough that was needed to get people watching and paying attention.On off days at the Olympics we had to be off our feet, so we would lie down and watch all the other sports on TV. We would watch and cheer the other women on all day. That was super fun. I was ecstatic for softball, for basketball, for the gymnasts, knowing that we all had worked so damn hard to get there.The 1996 Olympics also set the stage for the 99 World Cup to happen. At the time, FIFA did not want a big 99 World Cup. They wanted to keep it regional in smaller stadiums in the East. And U.S. Soccer said, No, we want to go big.That 1996 Olympic team somehow had the confidence to keep saying, We can do better. We can do more. We can do bigger. We should set the standard. Thats what I loved about that group.There was always a shared belief that this could be a tipping point for sport and women. And we helped tip it. ' ' '