K-Heart Sports – 10/03/22

K-HEART SPORTS – 10/03/22 – 0700
 
MOORHEAD, MINN. (MSU) – Minot State got a pair of goals from Chloe Allan in a 3-0 shutout victory at MSU Moorhead on Sunday. The Beavers broke the scoreless tie when Allan notched her third goal of the season in the 56th minute. The Beavers added another score on a goal from Brooklyn Casey — her second goal of the season — in the 71st minute, assisted by Maddy St. Yves. Minot State went ahead 3-0 on Allan’s 81st-minute goal, her fourth of the season. Mila Robichon assisted the goal. Maddie Kindred made four saves and now has five shutouts on the season. Minot State improved to 5-2-4 overall and 5-1-2 in NSIC action with the win.
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VIKINGS-SAINTS
 
LONDON (AP) — Justin Jefferson bounced back from two quiet games and Greg Joseph made amends for a missed extra point. The Vikings star receiver scored a touchdown and beat Marshon Lattimore on a 39-yard reception to set up Joseph’s 47-yard field goal with 24 seconds left and Minnesota hung on for a 28-25 win over New Orleans on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Many of the Vikings (3-1), though, thought they were headed to overtime when Saints kicker Wil Lutz lined up for his 61-yard tying attempt. And why not? Lutz had hit a 60-yarder on their previous possession. This one had the distance but hit the left upright and then the crossbar before bouncing out as time expired. “When it left his foot I thought it was going in,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “It felt like that thing had a real good chance to go through and obviously a couple of bounces later we’re able to walk off as the winning team.”
 
Joseph’s go-ahead kick came after he had missed an extra point earlier in the quarter after Jefferson ran it in from 3 yards with 4:15 left in the fourth quarter. The missed kick left the Vikings with a 25-22 lead. The Saints then had an eight-play drive and Lutz made a 60-yard field goal with 1:51 left to tie the game for the Saints (1-3), who have lost three straight games. “I thought they were both in,” Lutz said. “I hit them both on the screws. The second one just moved a little more left. So kind of shocked it didn’t bounce in.”
 
Jefferson had 10 receptions for 147 yards after being limited to a total of nine receptions and 62 yards in the past two games, He was pleased to finally see some single coverage. “Lattimore pretty much followed me the whole game, pretty much was a one-on-one battle the majority of the game,” Jefferson said. “I was telling (O’Connell) the whole game we should throw it up, give me a chance to go up and make a big play.”
 
Joseph was 5 for 5 on field goals as the Vikings squandered multiple scoring chances, but still held off a New Orleans team that played without key starters including quarterback Jameis Winston and running back Alvin Kamara. Kirk Cousins completed 25 of 38 passes for 273 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Vikings under O’Connell are off to their best start since going 4-0 in 2016.
 
The Saints arrived early in the week to acclimate to the time difference but their losing streak is now at three games under coach Dennis Allen. “We still have to find a way to not hurt ourselves with penalties and the turnovers, and that’s got to change,” Allen said.
 
Down 16-7, Saints backup quarterback Andy Dalton led two scoring drives to help New Orleans take 22-19 lead. Saints tight end/quarterback Taysom Hill took a direct snap and ran it in from 2 yards for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter and Dalton found a wide-open Jarvis Landry for the 2-point conversion. Dalton completed 20 of 28 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown. After the Saints cut Minnesota’s lead to 16-14 on Latavius Murray’s 1-yard run late in the third quarter, the Vikings drove again and Joseph made it 19-14 with a 46-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
 
The Vikings led 13-7 and had first-and-goal on the 3 after Jefferson’s 41-yard reception in the third quarter, but were pushed back by a delay of game penalty. Cousins then threw short to Adam Thielen instead of going to a wide-open Jefferson in the back of the end zone. One play earlier, Cousins threw behind Jefferson in the end zone and the receiver couldn’t hold on.
 
SLOW START
 
The Saints began slowly again despite emphasizing a quick start all week. Alexander Mattison weaved through traffic for a 15-yard touchdown reception on Minnesota’s opening drive. The Saints had no first downs in the first quarter, but safety Tyrann Mathieu intercepted a pass and Dalton then drove the Saints 60 yards and found Chris Olave for a 4-yard touchdown pass — the rookie’s first NFL touchdown — to make it 7-7 early in the second quarter. The Vikings squandered two good opportunities deep in Saints territory late in the second quarter. Tight end Johnny Mundt dropped a short pass on a third-and-1 from the 10 and Minnesota opted for a field goal. On the next possession, Dalton fumbled on a strip-sack by Za’Darius Smith and Dalvin Tomlinson to give the Vikings the ball on the 20. They again settled for 3 points after an incompletion and a false start penalty. Joseph’s 36-yard field goal gave the Vikings a 13-7 lead going into halftime.
 
GOOD LUCK IN LONDON
 
The Vikings improved to 3-0 in London games — with wins in three different stadiums. The Vikings beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-27 in 2013 at Wembley Stadium and topped the Cleveland Browns 33-16 four years later at Twickenham Stadium. This was the fifth NFL game at Tottenham, the Premier League club’s stadium that cost more than $1 billion to build and opened in 2019.
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VIKINGS-CINE INJURY
 
LONDON (AP) — Minnesota Vikings rookie Lewis Cine sustained a “lower-leg fracture” against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday and will stay in London to undergo surgery, coach Kevin O’Connell said. Cine was carted off the field in the first quarter at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in what O’Connell described as a “very tough moment for our team.” Cine, the 32nd pick overall in last spring’s NFL draft out of Georgia, was blocking on a punt return when he sustained the injury. Cine clutched his left leg as he went down. Players from both teams took a knee as medical personnel stabilized Cine’s lower left leg and put him on a cart to leave the field. “He will be having surgery to fix that here,” O’Connell said. “As soon as he’s able to make the transition back to the Twin Cities we’ll do that.” Vikings personnel are staying in London with Cine. The 22-year-old Cine was born in Haiti and moved to Florida with extended family at age 4. His journey to the NFL brought him through Massachusetts and Texas as a youngster before enrolling at Georgia.
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PACKERS-PATRIOTS
 
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Mason Crosby made a 31-yard field goal as time expired in overtime, and the Green Bay Packers topped New England 27-24 to spoil Patriots rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe’s NFL debut. Zappe played the majority of the game after Brian Hoyer left with a head injury. Aaron Rodgers bounced back from a dreadful first half to continue his recent home mastery of AFC teams. The Packers are 18-1 in the last 19 home games Rodgers has started against AFC foes.
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TWINS-TIGERS
 
DETROIT (AP) — Eric Haase and Victor Reyes homered and the Detroit Tigers took advantage of Minnesota’s sloppy play, beating touted pitching prospect Simeon Woods Richardson and the Twins 5-2 Sunday. Woods Richardson made his big league debut five days after turning 22 years old, making him the youngest pitcher in the majors this season. The Twins’ defense did him no favors at the start, committing three errors in the first inning. The Tigers turned the two throwing errors by catcher Ryan Jeffers and a misplay by first baseman Jose Miranda, along with Miguel Cabrera’s single, a wild pitch, a walk and a stolen base, into two runs.
 
Woods Richardson (0-1), acquired in July 2021 from Toronto in the trade for pitcher José Berríos, allowed three runs — two earned — and three hits in five innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out three.
 
Haase hit his 14th home run of the season, and second in as many days, in the third. He is second on the team in home runs to Javier Báez, who has 16.
 
The Twins scored two unearned runs in the fifth. Jeffers reached on a fielding error and scored when Carlos Correa walked with the bases loaded. Nick Gordon’s sacrifice fly scored Gilberto Celestino.
 
Joey Wentz made his seventh and final start of the season for Detroit, allowing two unearned runs on two hits while walking four and striking out four in 4 2/3 innings. Tigers relievers Will Vest, Garrett Hill, Jason Foley, Alex Lange (7-4) and Gregory Soto combined to throw 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Soto picked up his 30th save with a perfect ninth.
 
Reyes homered to lead off the bottom of the eighth off former teammate Michael Fulmer. It was Reyes’ first home run since July 2 against Kansas City. Cabrera added a single for his 1,846th career RBI.
 
UP NEXT
The Twins move to Chicago for their final series of the season. RHP Bailey Ober (2-3, 3.18) will start tonight. Ober will face the White Sox for the third time this season and is 1-0 with an 0.73 ERA with one walk in 16 strikeouts in the previous two starts.
 
 
 
 

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