seattle

SEATTLE — Albert Rusnak scored in the first minute, then notched an assist and the Seattle Sounders clinched a postseason spot with a 2-1 victory over LAFC on Saturday.

Seattle (12-12-10) began the day on the outside looking in, but finished eighth in the Western Conference and will host Real Salt Lake in the wild-card match with the top-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps awaiting the winner in the best-of-three first round.

LAFC (12-11-11) finished sixth in the West and will not have the home-field advantage in a first-round matchup with No. 3-seed St. Louis City.

Seattle grabbed the lead 51 seconds into the match when Rusnak took a pass from Cristian Roldan and scored the Sounders’ earliest goal this season. It was the fifth netter for Rusnak and the sixth assist for Roldan.

It was the fourth fastest goal in “Decision Day” history. Former Sounders midfielder Nico Lodeiro holds the record for a regular-season finale, scoring in 24 seconds for Seattle in 2022.

Rusnak added an assist when he set up rookie forward Sebastian Gomez in the 31st minute for his third netter and a two-goal lead. It was the seventh start and 20th appearance for the 20-year-old Gomez.

LAFC made things interesting when defender Eddie Segura used his head to score in the 82nd minute. Segura’s first goal of the season came with assists from defender Ryan Porteous — the second of his career — and Leo Walta — his first in his fifth league appearance.

Andrew Thomas turned away seven shots for Seattle — none better than one on a point-blank shot by Son Heung-min to keep it 2-0 in the 54th minute.

Rookie Cabral Carter had one save for LAFC in his second start and third appearance of the season..

Seattle’s Jordan Morris left in the 24th minute with a quadriceps injury.

The Sounders have missed the postseason just once since joining the league in 2009. It was only the second time the club had to wait until “Decision Day” to decide its playoff fate.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gabby Williams scored her team’s final 11 points of the third quarter and dazzled through the fourth on the way to 30 points, and the Golden State Valkyries captured a championship in just their second season by beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in a sensational first WNBA Finals Game 7 on Saturday night.

Jordin Canada scored 18 points, Allisha Gray 16 and Angel Reese had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Dream, denied another championship in the franchise’s fourth try.

Gray made two free throws with 11 seconds left then Atlanta forced a jump ball — Gray against Williams — and Veronica Burton corralled it and converted two free throws with 5.1 seconds to go.

“I’m just so blessed, this is insane!” said Burton, cut by Dallas two years ago.

Rhyne Howard’s layup tied it at 57 with 2:41 left only for Williams to answer once more with a clutch three-pointer. She converted two free throws with 1:40 remaining, then Kiah Stokes scored a late basket. Stokes pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked two more shots to cap her spectacular postseason.

Williams left Seattle with a great feeling about joining Golden State and its close-knit culture, returning to the Bay Area where she played youth basketball to build something special with the Valkyries — and she’s now done that. Fans chanted “Gabby! Gabby!” throughout the fourth quarter.

“All it took was good people,” she said. “All we heard last year was we don’t have no stars. We don’t have no talent. Yeah right! We got good people. We got good people. We got winners. We got people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win a game.”

When the final buzzer sounded, the violet-clad sellout crowd at Chase Center went into a frenzy as players sprinted onto the floor to hug and celebrate as confetti fell from the rafters.

“Ballhalla” had become “Boohalla” for this far-but-haunted Halloween night in the raucous arena. Now, with a women’s championship to its name right alongside the one earned by the Golden State Warriors in 2022.

“We gotta build a bigger trophy case,” co-owner Peter Guber said.

The team that led at halftime in the first six matchups had won every game so far, and the Dream were ahead 30-24 at the break. Atlanta also had been 16-0 this season when Reese made at least one 3. The Dream’s DeWanna Bonner became the first player in WNBA history to reach 600 career postseason defensive rebounds.

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase changed her starting lineup in a move that paid huge dividends after Golden State fell behind 2-1, inserting Kaila Charles and Tiffany Hayes and bringing Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini off the bench.

The 37-year-old Hayes, who came out of retirement two years ago and spent 10 seasons with the Dream, scored 11 points in the winner-take-all Game 7 and brought energy all series that made Nakase want to win for the veteran guard as much as anybody.

Valkyries owner Joe Lacob guaranteed a championship within the first five years for this franchise three years ago when the Bay Area was granted an expansion team, and in improbable, joyful fashion, his team accomplished it in Year 2. That after becoming the first expansion organization to reach the playoffs in its inaugural year in 2025.

During the victory ceremony, Lacob shouted out the team and its leaders, while Nakase, general manager Ohemma Nyanin and president Jess Smith hugged. And Lacob thanked the fans who have sold out Chase Center for every game since Day 1.

“Ballhalla!” Lacob hollered.

Lawrence McCutcheon, a five-time Pro Bowl running back for the Rams who went on to have a long career in the team’s front office, died Friday. He was 76.

McCutcheon’s family announced his death through the Rams. In a statement, the family said McCutcheon had “a long, courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease.”

McCutcheon played his first eight NFL seasons for the Rams, who drafted him out of Colorado State in 1972. The native of Plainview, Texas, quickly emerged as one of the most dynamic running backs of the 1970s, earning a Pro Bowl selection and leading the Rams in rushing each year from 1973 to 1977 in coach Chuck Knox’s productive offense.

McCutcheon, nicknamed “Clutch,” was a second-team AP All-Pro selection in 1974.

Rams running back Lawrence McCutcheon carries the ball against the St. Louis Cardinals in a divisional round playoff game at the Coliseum in December 1975.

(Associated Press)

He appeared in 11 postseason games for the Rams. In the Super Bowl in January 1980, he even threw a touchdown pass to Ron Smith to put Los Angeles ahead before the Pittsburgh Steelers rallied to win.

McCutcheon was the Rams’ career rushing leader when he left in 1980. After he finished his playing career with stops in Denver, Seattle and Buffalo over two seasons, McCutcheon became an executive for the Rams, eventually spending more than three decades in their front office.

McCutcheon rose to become the St. Louis Rams’ director of player personnel from 2003 until his retirement in 2016, shortly before the team moved back to Los Angeles.

“Through a decade-long playing career and another 32 years in the Rams’ front office, Clutch earned the respect and admiration of teammates, opposing players, colleagues and fans alike,” McCutcheon’s family said in its statement. “Clutch will be missed and remembered forever.”

McCutcheon’s son, Daylon, was a cornerback for the Cleveland Browns from 1999 to 2006. Lawrence McCutcheon’s grandson, Dyson, is a defensive back at Middle Tennessee.

Beacham writes for the Associated Press.

San Francisco 49ers receiver Mike Evans may have earned a spot in the trash-talking hall of fame on Sunday without even trying.

Or so he says.

Late in the second quarter of the 49ers’ 32-29 victory in Seattle, Fox Sports cameras showed Evans and Seahawks cornerback Trevon Diggs jawing after a play. In one of the season’s most meme-able moments so far, Evans put his hands on Diggs’ shoulder pads and turned the two-time Pro Bowl selection around to look at his name, as if to say, “Who are you?”

Diggs, a seven-year veteran who led the league with 11 interceptions in 2021 as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, appeared to be offended and shoved Evans in the facemask.

Retired cornerback and renowned trash-talker Richard Sherman, who played for both the Seahawks and 49ers during his 11-year career, gave Evans some high praise on X.

“Mike Evans Checking to see the name on the back of the Jersey is an all-time Gif and trash talk moment that I wish I would have thought of,” Sherman wrote.

Evans’ move was very similar to one from a 2019 viral clip in which Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews checked the back of then-career minor leaguer Scott Sabourin of the Ottawa Senators during a preseason game. (Sabourin would go on to play in 74 NHL games for four teams over seven seasons.)

But Evans, a five-time Pro Bowler in his first season with San Francisco after 12 years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, told reporters after the game that he was just trying to figure out his vocal opponent‘s identity.

“I was blocking him until the whistle, and then he said something, like I’m doing extra, something like that,” said Evans, who finished with seven catches for 113 yards and one touchdown. “I didn’t know that was him at first, because I played against him a few times and we always been cool, you know? He was a good player. I honestly didn’t know it was him, because in the helmet, it’s hard to tell sometimes.

“And we were just talking trash, and I think I like pushed him and then I was like, ‘Who are you?’ And I looked to make sure. ‘Oh, it’s f— Diggs.’”

Hmmmm, Diggs was a good player? Maybe Evans is a trash-talking master after all.