SEATTLE -- By his own admission, Cristian Roldan was trying to be a nuisance.He wound up being the hero.Roldan broke a tie in the 31st minute, and the Seattle Sounders wrapped up an MLS playoff berth with a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Sunday in the regular-season finale.The Sounders (14-14-6, 48 points) made the playoffs for the eighth year in a row. They have never missed the postseason since joining MLS in 2009. Seattle will go in as the Wests No. 4 seed, hosting Sporting Kansas City in a knockout round game on Thursday night.Real Salt Lake (12-12-10, 46 points) also got in, thanks to Portlands 4-1 loss at Vancouver that eliminated the defending champion Timbers. RSL will be the Wests No. 6 seed and visit Los Angeles on Wednesday.Nicolas Lodeiro helped set up Roldans goal when he floated a corner kick from the left wing side into the box. Goalkeeper Nick Romando slapped away Roman Torres header, but the ball deflected off defender Luke Mulholland, who was standing just to Rimandos right. It went straight to Roldan, who drilled it in from two yards in front for his fourth of the year.I was put in the box to be a pest, and shield guys away from our big guys, from Chad Marshall and Roman, and to pick for them, Roldan said. I was lucky enough to get away from my runners and kick the ball into the back of the net.Roldan, who played out of position on the right side of midfield for part of the day before moving back to his customary center midfield spot, has gotten considerably more playing time since Brian Schmetzer took over as interim head coach in late July.The kid has blossomed -- he does everything, Schmetzer said. That wasnt his normal position tonight, and he showed he can still make an impact in games.The Sounders have blossomed as a whole, going 8-2-4 under Schmetzer during the past 2 1/2 months. Still, they needed a win on Sunday, or a Portland loss -- and got both -- to secure a place in the postseason.The last two results we had (a 0-0 tie with Houston and a 2-1 loss at Dallas) werent wins, and we needed to get into the playoffs on our own, so we didnt have to rely on anybody else, Schmetzer said. We wanted to make sure we get the nice little bump and the confidence and everything that comes along with a win like this against a tough team to beat.The teams traded goals in the first four minutes.Alvaro Fernandez put the Sounders on the board in the third minute with his first of the season, scoring from a yard in front after Jordan Morris sent a nifty backheel pass across the 6-yard box.Just 90 seconds later, Mulholland pulled Salt Lake level. Jordan Allen, under pressure inside the box from Sounders defender Joevin Jones, tapped the ball to his left. Mullholland raced up to it just to the left of the 6-yard box and sent a shallow shot across the goalmouth that slipped just inside the right post for his fourth of the year.Real Salt Lake is winless in its last seven (0-4-3), its last victory coming on Aug. 26 at home against Colorado. But coach Jeff Cassar insisted that as of now, that slump is in the past.Its a new season. What I told the guys is were in the playoffs for our body of work that weve done throughout the year, not what weve done in the last four games, Cassar said. Now its all about rest and recovery and getting ready for L.A. Air Max 1 Wholesale China . The move comes after the Canadiens were approached by the Buffalo Sabres for permission to speak to Dudley - a former Sabres player and head coach. "The Sabres called for permission and I appreciate that, Im flattered, Dudley told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. Discount Air Max 1 . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. http://www.discountairmax1.com/ . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Air Max 1 Sale Outlet . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. Air Max 1 Wholesale . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. LINCOLN, Neb. -- Tom Banderas has lived the Nebraska football dream as a player. For four years, hes lived it as a dad.Tom was a rugged tight end with sneaky good hands -- a glorified guard, he calls himself -- for Tom Osborne-coached teams from 1985-87 that were fixtures in the top 10.His son, Josh, never wanted to go anywhere but Nebraska, and now hes winding down his senior season playing some of the best football of any linebacker the 17th-ranked Cornhuskers have had in recent years.Tom, a longtime Lincoln insurance agent, shows up at practice at least once a week, usually on Tuesdays. Afterward he and Josh, still in practice gear, meet on the field to discuss football and life.I love it, Josh said. Having him around, its always good to have family close. A lot of other guys dont get that. For Thanksgiving I get to go home. Other guys are from eight hours away. I love him coming down and talking, and he gets to learn a little about whats going on and get the inside, which I know he likes.When Josh started playing flag football in grade school, Tom instilled in him that putting on the Husker helmet is an honor thats earned through hard work, and lots of it. Josh never took his eye off the prize, developing into a four-star recruit at Southwest High in Lincoln .Tom and Amy Banderas celebrated senior day with Josh last Saturday and then watched him make nine tackles against Maryland. Josh will start his 30th game when Nebraska closes the regular season at Iowa on Friday, and he said hes never forgotten what his dad told him.The way I put it, Tom said, is that 60 percent of that crowd in the stadium, whether 80 years old or 5 years old, would give two toes on their left foot to go down there and play a single play, Tom said. Thats the responsibility you have to those 92,000 fans, to give 250 percent on every single play. Thats your responsibility, take it or leave it.Josh has taken it and run with it. He was voted a captain in August, and his 80 tackles lead the team. Hes averaged 10.2 tackles a game from his middle linebackers spot since Oct. 15, the best six-game stretch by a Nebraska defender since Lavonte David averaged 11.5 in 2011.With 219 career tackles, hes in position to crack the top 15 at Nebraska if he keeps playing, as coach Mike Riley says, like an all-star.Hes really emerged even more this year as a real leader, and then his preparation is just about perfect, Riley said. Hes made not only tackles but really decisive kind of defining-type tackles.Josh credits his defensive linemen and fellow linebackers for keeping blockers off him, allowing him make all those stops. He said his confidence has never been higher.As a freshman he was forced to play right away because the Huskers were thin at his position. He said he wasnt ready. Even as a sophomore he struggled, which caused anxiety because he knew coach Bo Pelini had him on a short leash. He would look over his shoulder because if he made a mistake, he would go to the bench.dddddddddddd He considered transferring.I look back, and I didnt like playing football, he said. I wasnt playing confident. I was playing scared. If I would have redshirted, that would have benefited me. That would have been good to get a year under my belt, learn the system and get a little stronger.His turning point came at the end of his sophomore season, the 2014 Holiday Bowl against USC. Pelini had been fired about three weeks earlier, and the assistants stayed on to coach the bowl game. Josh made a career-high 14 tackles.It was kind of like, `Im going to play, and I dont care. This is the last game of the season. Maybe this is going to start a new phase for me, he said. So I went out and played football like I did in high school. That flipped things.So did the hiring of Riley and linebackers coach Trent Bray. Josh wouldnt criticize how he was handled by the previous staff. He said he meshes better with the style and system of the current staff. But Tom said the importance of the coaching change cant be overstated.It was a resurrection, in a way, for his career, Tom said.Nebraska was a model of stability when Tom came to Lincoln from Oak Grove, Missouri. He appeared in 28 games and got as much joy from knocking down defensive ends in Osbornes triple-option offense as he did from catching passes. Toms time to shine came whenever quarterback Steve Taylor caught opposing defenses loading up to stop the run and saw him running wide open. Tom caught 16 passes in his career, 10 for touchdowns. In 1987, he was second in the Big Eight with six TD receptions.So who had the better career, Tom or Josh?I defer to the boy on that, Tom said, laughing.With Joshs college career two or three games from being over, Riley wonders what Tom will do come January.I just see a picture of a dad, a former player, all that, really enjoying watching his son, Riley said. We talked about it the other day when we were walking out, that the hard part for Toms going to be Joshs graduating. Hes just going to have to come down and watch the other guys practice.As it turns out, theres another Banderas, Anthony, and he would love to live the Nebraska football dream, too. Anthony just finished his junior season at Southwest High. Hes an outside linebacker whos getting looks from Kansas State and, yes, Nebraska.Tom said Anthony will show whether he has what it takes to play for the Huskers during his senior season. Meanwhile, Tom is soaking up these last few weeks of the season with Josh, who as a toddler would bumble around the house in his dads old helmet while wearing a Nebraska jersey and football pants.Thats thousands of kids in this great state of Nebraska, Tom said. But how neat is it that he was able to go ahead and earn that right to go do what I did?---More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '
