dunking with 6:03 left in the first quarter and then following

SANDY, Utah -- A year from now, the mountains that loom beyond the eastern rim of Rio Tinto Stadium will look?the same as they do now.The U.S. womens national team? Not so much.Close your eyes for even a second, and Allie Long is a defender.Take too long coming back from a halftime hot chocolate run and, what do you know, Lynn Williams has appeared in her first game and scored her first goal for the national team.If Wednesdays game against Switzerland was supposed to be a demonstration of change, it didnt disappoint. The 4-0 win wasnt conclusive in any particular respect. But it was definitely different and thus interesting.And frankly, fun.I think its great for the environment with the national team, said Morgan Brian, who in two years has gone from World Cup rookie to wise, old sage. It makes it way more competitive, like Jills been saying. Its only going to push us to get that much better for the next three years.If U.S. coach Jill Ellis wants competition as the cycle begins for the 2019 World Cup and 2020 Olympics, Williams and Andi Sullivan highlighted the best-case scenario of what that looks like. Five players debuted for the United States in front of 14,336 fans Wednesday. None fell on their faces. Williams excelled; she scored the games first goal just 49 seconds after entering as a substitute to begin the second half. And Sullivan succeeded in the middle?of good play.I thought they were fantastic, Ellis said. As much as they were allowed to express themselves, they also fit within the system. I was very impressed. Andis poise, her passing -- I think shes mature beyond her years, in terms of her first time in, and she looked like shes been doing it for a while. Lynn, obviously a great finish. Her work rate, penetration, back to pressure -- shes pretty multi-dimensional.Just over a week ago, Williams capped a breakthrough professional season with the Western New York Flash by scoring a late equalizer in the dying seconds of overtime in the NWSL final. She and the Flash went on to claim the title in penalty kicks in Houston, and then after a quick stop back in Buffalo, she was off to Utah. On Wednesday, she?raced in on goal in the opening minute of the half. Williams slotted the ball into the net; she was?calm enough to take one final touch that opened up the shooting angle to go back across the goalkeeper.When they first told us we were going in, some nerves come over your body, Williams said. But Carli [Lloyd] came up to me and said, Just connect your first pass and go from there. And then Sam [Mewis] came up to me and said, Lynn, you dont have to be anything that youre not.Technically, Williams first pass came after her first goal, but the message holds.The play Williams made to set in motion the third goal -- after Tobin Heath doubled the lead -- was in some ways more impressive than the goal. Williams sent a sublime pass to Kelley OHara in the right corner, and OHara set up Christen Press for an emphatic finish.Its more difficult to put together the highlight package for Sullivan, but she was no less impressive. A college junior, she played the No. 6 position with confidence beyond her years.Early in the game, she turned her back at midfield and was knocked off the ball by a Swiss player. Sullivan looked at the referee as if expecting a whistle but got nothing. Far from rattled, she went about her work, connecting passes and putting the teammates in front of her in good spaces. Ellis has said repeatedly that she still doesnt know Sullivans best position, and indeed, she has excelled as a No. 8 for Stanford this season. But a longtime holding midfielder, she looked mighty comfortable there Wednesday.I think she, Lindsey [Horan] and I played pretty well together, Brian said. I think we found seams and played off of each other. She was very composed and calm on the ball.And yes, if youre doing the math at home, that adds up to three midfielders in the center of the field. The biggest surprise before the game wasnt the names in the lineup. More jarring was the way the U.S. women lined up, placing midfielder Allie Long between Becky Sauerbrunn and Emily Sonnett in the last line of a 3-5-2 formation. Given that Ellis just released one center back from contract (Whitney Engen) and says she is looking to add to the position, it might seem a curious move to play three of them together, especially when one isnt a center back by trade.I think in our attacking weve been kind of rotating to get to that shape, Ellis said, pointing most recently to the game against the Netherlands last month. I said, You know what, its time for us to kind of, honestly, experiment and try new things. What I like about Allie is she has a profile; shes good in the air, shes a very good communicator. And her passing gives us the ability to play those penetrating balls and keep possession and build.Playing somewhat shorthanded and rather listlessly, Switzerland didnt do much on the offensive end, but the U.S. women had a couple of dicey moments after miscues. Still, there was no denying the amount of buildup play the United States was able to accumulate.We only have three in the back, which gets a little scary sometimes, Brian said. But we have some of the best defenders in the world, so its a pretty great formation for us. It gives us a lot of numbers centrally to be able to combine and play a good brand of soccer, which I think we enjoyed tonight.The first test to replicate the energy comes Sunday against the same Swiss team in Minnesota.The coaching staff and the veteran players have been super proactive about getting us up to speed and including us in this team, which is really special, Sullivan said. To be able to bring in a bunch of new players and still put on a performance like we did tonight, I think that says a lot about the leadership of this team.What does it mean? Who knows. It was one game in October, a long time from any game that matters. But if any conclusion can be drawn, it is that this will be interesting. Cheap Running Shoes Online .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Wholesale Running Shoes Australia . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. http://www.cheaprunningshoesaustralia.com/ . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. Clearance Running Shoes Australia . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. Cheap Running Shoes Online Outlet . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. PHILADELPHIA -- Kyrie Irving had 19 of his season-high 39 points in the fourth quarter and LeBron James added a triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 112-108 comeback victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.Kevin Love chipped in 25 points and 11 rebounds to help the defending champions (13-2) improve to their fourth straight win.Joel Embiid led seven players in double figures with 22 points for the 76ers, who have lost three straight. Embiid also had nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks.The Cavaliers never led through the first three quarters, but Irving got hot early in the fourth to put Cleveland in front. He gave Cleveland its first lead on a layup 2:38 into the period and had 10 of the first 13 Cavaliers fourth-quarter points on a variety of jumpers and drives. His layup with 7:51 left gave Cleveland its biggest lead to that point, 90-86.Love was limited to 28 minutes after receiving stitches for a cut over his right eye sustained early in the first quarter.Cleveland trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half. The Cavaliers got as close as 72-70 on James Jones 3-pointer with 3:53 left in the third quarter. But the 76ers scored nine of the next 10 points, capped by Dario Sarics 3-pointer that made it 81-71. James had four and Love two as the Cavaliers ran off the final six points of the quarter to enter the final period down 81-77.The Cavs missed their first 14 shots, but Philadelphia couldnt take full advantage and led just 10-2 before James driving layup with 6:50 left in the first quarter resulted in Cleveelands first field goal.ddddddddddddJames and Embiid got into a verbal altercation late in the first quarter. Richard Jefferson was whistled for a foul on Embiids drive, and James questioned the call. Embiid went toward James direction, but officials stepped between the players. The incident drew a rise in the crowd.James provided a couple of first-half highlights, dunking with 6:03 left in the first quarter and then following a missed free throw with a dunk with 1:17 to go in the first half. He has three triple-doubles this season.TIP-INSCavaliers: Smith went 0 for 11 from the field, including 0 for 7 from 3-point range. . Channing Frye (personal) was not with the team. Fryes father died Thursday. . Cleveland beat Philadelphia 102-101 on Nov. 5. . The Cavaliers arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday night following their attendance at the Ohio State-Michigan football game. . James 3-pointer with 5:01 left in the second period was his 1,000th as a member of the Cavaliers. . Cleveland has made at least 10 3-pointers in every game this season.76ers: Jerryd Bayless (left wrist) didnt play. Bayless missed the first 13 games of the season with a left wrist injury. . Embiid didnt play in Fridays 105-89 loss to the Bulls and wont play Monday night at Toronto, marking the sixth game he will miss this season as part of his rehab plan after sitting out the last two seasons with a foot injury.UP NEXTCavaliers: At Milwaukee on Tuesday night.76ers: At Toronto on Monday night. ' ' '