Two regulars in the Major League Soccer playoffs, the Seattle Sounders and Sporting Kansas City, square off Thursday in a playoff-opening, knockout-round match at CenturyLink Field.Sporting KC is in its sixth consecutive postseason, while Seattle has reached the postseason in all eight years of its existence.For the third straight year, Sporting Kansas City (13-13-8) opens its postseason campaign away from home. SKC enters on the heels of consecutive shutouts, drawing against Real Salt Lake 0-0 on Oct. 16 before defeating the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 on Sunday.Seattle (14-14-6) got hot late. Following a 3-0 loss to Sporting on July 24, the Sounders were in ninth place in a 10-team Western Conference. Two days later, the team fired longtime coach Sigi Schmid.Under interim coach Brian Schmetzer, Seattle finished the season 8-2-4 to claim the fourth-place spot and a home match in the knockout round. The turnaround was even more surprising considering star goal-scorer Clint Dempsey has been out since late August due to an irregular heartbeat. He will not return to action in the postseason.Sporting relies on two key offensive players. Forward Dom Dwyer finished fifth in MLS with 16 goals. Midfielder Benny Feilhaber tied for third in the league with 13 assists, including nine in his last 11 appearances.Midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro has played an integral role in Seattles resurgence, amassing four goals and eight assists since his debut on July 31. Forward Jordan Morris set an MLS record among American rookies with 12 goals.Dating back to 2015, Sporting Kansas City owns a five-game unbeaten run against Seattle with four clean sheets. Goalkeeper Tim Melia is 3-0-1 vs. the Sounders with zero goals conceded. Prior to the five-game surge, Kansas City had just one win in its first nine league meetings with the Sounders.Statistics suggest that Sporting Kansas City is fighting an uphill battle Thursday night. In 14 knockout-round games since 2011, the road team has prevailed just twice. Furthermore, SKC is just 2-15-5 all-time in road playoff matches, including a last-minute loss to the New York Red Bulls in 2014 and the longest penalty kick shootout in MLS postseason history one year ago, a stunning setback to the Portland Timbers.The Sounders have experienced their fair share of playoff difficulty, as well. Despite reaching the playoffs every year since 2009, Seattle has yet to reach an MLS Cup final. The Sounders are 2-0 in the knockout round but have fallen in the conference semifinals five times, including last seasons exit versus FC Dallas.The SKC-Seattle winner will face the leagues top regular-season team, FC Dallas, in the Western Conference semifinals. The first leg of the home-and-home affair will be played Sunday in Kansas City or Seattle, with the return leg scheduled for Nov. 6 in Frisco, Texas. Mitchell Loewen Jersey . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. C.J. Moore Jersey . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. http://www.wholesalelionsjerseys.com/?tag=youth-matt-prater-jersey . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Miles Killebrew Jersey .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Trey Flowers Jersey . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. LOS ANGELES -- A Southern California community college football player was suspended for five years on Monday after knocking out a referee during a game, but his school said the punch was accidental and the penalty will be appealed.I knew I wasnt going to play the next game. ... I didnt think it would be years, Bernard Schirmer of Mount San Antonio College said after learning of the suspension.However, the 19-year-old man said in a telephone interview that he takes full responsibility for his actions and accepts whatever punishment he ultimately will receive.The commissioner of the Southern California Football Association suspended Schirmer for what was termed a Level 1 Decorum Infraction, which carries a minimum 60-month suspension.A letter from football association Commissioner Jim Sartoris to the college says an officials game report stated that Schirmer was disqualified during the third quarter of Saturday nights game in Ventura for an unsportsmanlike act -- punching a referee and knocking him out cold.The decision to suspend the player was made after viewing video of the incident and reviewing a report provided by the head referee, Sartoris said.Video streaming live from the game showed the line judge falling to the ground.I talked to him yesterday. Hes a little sore from going down so hard, but he said he had no headache or anything else, Rich Kollen, director of football operations for the Southern California Football Association, said Monday.Kollen said the man has not seen a physician. He is scheduled to officiate at anoother game Saturday.ddddddddddddSchirmer was arrested on suspicion of battery after the incident, booked at Ventura Countys jail and released on bail. The district attorneys office will decide whether to file criminal charges.The player said he has not heard anything more from police about the case.Schirmer, who stands 6-foot-6 (2 meters) and weighs 275 pounds (122 kilograms), said he was having words with a defensive end who had pushed him.I let him get the best of me, Schirmer said. I tried to approach him and my teammates were holding me back and I had no idea that the official was, like, hugging me or something.Schirmer said when he becomes frustrated or angry on the football field, he hits his helmet to refocus -- once even giving himself a mild concussion.So during Saturday nights confrontation , he struck the side of his helmet.The next thing I know, the ref was on the ground ... I honestly thought somebody else hit him, Schirmer said.The school looked at the enlarged video frame by frame and concluded that Schirmer accidentally struck the official with his forearm. The college will appeal what could be a career-ending suspension, sports information director Brian Yokoyama