HOUSTON -- Stanford got off to a rough start this year, but rebounded in a season where everyone wanted to take the Cardinal down to make it back to the College Cup.After winning the first national championship in program history last season, No. 5 Stanford continues its title defense in the second semifinal on Friday night against No. 9 North Carolinas. In the first semifinal, No. 2 Wake Forest faces undefeated No. 6 Denver.Stanford had with three ties and a loss in its first six games before winning 13 of its next 16 games to win a third straight Pac-12 championship and return to the College Cup.I think it was kind of a wakeup call seeing how hard we were going to get played and I think we adapted to that as the season progressed, said defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce, who was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last month.Stanford hopes to become the first team since Indiana in 2003-04 to win consecutive national championships. Coach Jeremy Gunns team is the first to return to the College Cup the season after winning the national championship since Wake Forest returned in 2008 after winning it all in 2007.Stanford lost some key players from last season, including MLS Rookie of the Year and the reigning Hermann Trophy winner Jordan Morris. But it returns six starters from last seasons team. Five of those players were named to the All-Pac-12 first team last month, and one was on the second team.We had some great players leave after last year and I think some people wanted to write us off this year, Gunn said.Stanford is led by Co-Pac-12 player of the year Foster Langsdorf. The junior forward has led the teams attack this season, scoring 15 goals, including one in each of Stanfords three tournament games. In their 10 Pac-12 games, Langsdorf scored 12 goals.North Carolina comes to Houston for its first College Cup appearance since winning a national championship in 2011. The Tar Heels also reached the national semifinals in 2009-10.Some things to know about the College Cup.H-TOWN CONNECTION: The Tar Heels come to Houston with many connections to the area. Three Houston Dynamo players, defenders Jalil Anibaba and Sheanon Williams and goalkeeper Tyler Deric, played at North Carolina, while head coach Carlos Somoano is from nearby Seabrook, Texas. The Tar Heels leading scorer, Tucker Hume, said players from the Dynamo have reached out to them and that theyll be at Fridays game.My formative soccer years and experiences were done right here in Houston, Somoano said. So for me its very special to be back here.YOUTH MOVEMENT: After losing key players from last season, including three who were selected in the top 12 of the MLS SuperDraft, North Carolina has had to rely on its youth in 2016. The Tar Heels have 12 players who have appeared in all 20 games this season, six of whom are either freshmen or sophomores. Sophomore forward Nils Bruening leads the team in goals with eight, while redshirt sophomore goalkeeper James Pyle has allowed just 10 goals this season.Theyve been a bit of a revelation for us, Somoano said. Its just fascinating to see how they evolve through the year. Theyre not the same players now than they were in August.FAMILIAR FACES: Denver head coach Jamie Franks and Wake Forests Bobby Muuss have plenty of history. Muuss was an assistant coach for the Demon Deacons during Franks freshman season in Winston-Salem and was the coach at Denver from 2007-14, with Franks serving as his assistant for three seasons. When Muuss took over at Wake Forest before the 2015 season, Franks took his place at Denver.I love Wake Forest . but at the end of the day, these are my boys, Franks said. These are my kids, and Wake Forest is standing in our way.WAKE EYES REDEMPTION: Last season, Wake Forest was the No. 1 team in the country with a 17-2-2 record before falling in the quarterfinals to the eventual national champions Stanford in overtime. This season, the Demon Deacons enter the College Cup with an 18-2-3 mark with a pair of shutouts in wins over Coastal Carolina and Virginia Tech.DOMINANCE REWARDED: Since Franks took over as the Denver head coach, the Pioneers have lost just one game, a defeat to SMU that ended the 2015 season. The team feels its 35-1-6 record under Franks it has not received enough credit, mostly because the Pioneers play in the Summit League. This is Denvers first appearance in the College Cup and the players are embracing their underdog role.Its more a historical thing than an actual thing because no one in our locker room is surprised to be here, we expected to be here, sophomore forward Andre Shinyashiki said. Wholesale Nike China Jerseys . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed. Wholesale Cheap Jerseys . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. http://www.wholesalejerseys.tv/ . LOUIS -- Heading into the final stretch of the season, the issues for the Chicago Bears banged-up defence only seem to be getting worse. Wholesale Authentic Jerseys . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Going into their first Junior World Cup, it might have been fair to say the Austrian hockey team - ranked lowest amongst the participants -- were rank outsiders. Their results in Lucknow are not doing justice to the tag. After holding Argentina to a draw in their opening game, Austria produced yet another upset beating Korea 5-2 in their second Pool A match in Lucknow on Saturday. With four points from two games, the side coached by former India manager Cedric DSouza are currently top of their group and within touching distance of a quarterfinal spot (the top two teams make the last eight)Im ecstatic with the result. Im very proud of the team, says DSouza who also coaches the Delhi Waveriders franchise in the Hockey India League. DSouza said that the fact that the team went in to the tournament as the weakest on paper played to their advantage. We went into the tournament as the lowest ranked side (the Austrian senior team is currently 21st in the FIH rankings. Korea is 11th and Olympic champions Argentina are 2nd) We were the minnows. But that meant that there was no pressure on us, says DSouza.As a result Austria could focus on their strengths. In teams such as Germany, Australia and India, a number of players are in the senior squad as well. Our players dont have the benefit of playing at that high level. We needed to keep our defensive structure. And we have been able to maintain our discipline, he says.DSouza said he knew the Koreans would press hard against his side. Against Korea we knew they would be very attacking so our plan was to hit them on the counter. We played fast and passed often because if we kept the ball for too long, we would be in trouble, says DSouza.That strategy played out perfectly in Lucknow on Saturday. Field goals from Marcel Hilbert (8th minute) and Pit Rudofsky (21st minute) put Austria 2-0 up before Joohan Park (35st minute) pulled one back for Korea just before the break through a penalty stroke. Oliver Binder, who had scored the equalizer against Argentina on Friday, scored Austrias third in the 39th minute through a penalty corner, before Park scored his second through yet another penalty sttroke in the 56th to reduce the deficit.dddddddddddd Franz Lindengrun made it 4-2 in 60th minute through a penalty corner and Pit Rudofsky rounded off an impressive win in the 62nd minute, scoring his second through a field goal.While the win puts his side in a great position to qualify for the quarterfinals, DSouza says that isnt the teams target. Speaking to ESPN before the tournament, DSouza had said that the seeing the senior team through to the 2020 Olympics was his primary goal, and he viewed Junior WC as a way to groom the youngsters for Tokyo. There are four players who are under 18 in our side for this tournament. This is a great sign for us, he said.For DSouza Saturdays result would be a great milestone on a journey that started in January this year when he was picked as Austrias coach. He had coached Viennese club SV Arminen between 2010 and 2013, helping the side win its first title in 15 years. The president of the Austrian Hockey Federation, Walter Kapounek, had then told him that if there was ever a vacancy for the national teams coach, he would be the first to get a call. Four years later Kapounek drove from Vienna to Antwerp to make the offer in person to DSouza who was then doing commentary for the Hockey World League. At that point I had an offer for a five year contract from a club in Scotland. But I had told them to give me a month to think about it. And then suddenly on the 29th day, Walter drove down to Antwerp to ask me to prepare Austria for the 2020 Olympics. It was a no brainer to agree. What else can you call it but destiny, says DSouza.While his side has had two great results, they have an even bigger challenge coming up next. On Monday, they play Australia. The boys have had a spring in their step after the game against Argentina, but we have a really hard game against Australia. Regardless of the result we need to take lessons from the game. Ive told the boys that our journey is to the 2020 Olympics. Anything else - win or loss-before then is just a pitstop, he says. Cheap NFL T-shirts Discount Jerseys Wholesale NFL Gear Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping China Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys NFL Jerseys China Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap Stitched Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic ' ' '