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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, October 21, 2007

Assist by Hawaii's Kai helps U.S. to 1-1 tie

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

United States forward Natasha Kai reacts after assisting on Heather O'Reilly's match-tying goal against Mexico.

JAKE SCHOELLKOPF | Associated Press

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Heather O'Reilly saved the U.S. women's soccer team from a season-ending loss to Mexico, scoring the tying goal with an assist from Hawai'i's Natasha Kai in the second half of a 1-1 draw yesterday at Albuquerque, N.M.

Lindsay Tarpley collected the ball just onside on the wing and carried it inside before sending a pass to Kai, who started the second half at forward in place of Abby Wambach.

Kai drew the defense, then finessed a ball across the goal to O'Reilly, who slipped the ball past Sophia Perez for the score in the 62nd minute.

"Natasha Kai started it off with her explosiveness, for her to get in a position like that," O'Reilly said for the Kahuku High and University of Hawai'i alum. "You know if you work hard, you are going to get rewarded and that's what I tried to do to get in the box. She played a very unselfish ball across."

It's the first time in 22 matches between the countries that the United States didn't win.

"We got a little fatigued throughout the game," O'Reilly said. "But I have to hand it to Mexico. In the other games, once we started getting goals, we broke them as a team. In this game, once we scored, they didn't let up at all."

The Americans nearly got the winner in the 79th minute of the friendly, but Kai couldn't get anything on a shot while she was on the ground with Perez out of the net.

Shannon Boxx put a shot in the goal during stoppage time, but the U.S. was offside on the play, overturning the score.

RUGBY

SOUTH AFRICA TOPPLES ENGLAND IN FINAL, 15-6

South Africa won its second Rugby World Cup by beating defending champion England, 15-6, yesterday at Saint-Denis, France, in a final where all the points came on penalty kicks.

Percy Montgomery was 4-for-4 on kicks for South Africa, Francois Steyn added another. Jonny Wilkinson had two for Britain.

"I'm sitting here and trying not to cry, Springboks captain John Smit said. "It's a feeling you can't put into words. It's a reward for four years of dedication and hard work. England gave us a good run. But we responded well to their technical kicking."

The Springboks also kicked for all their points in their first championship, on home soil in 1995.

South Africa, which went unbeaten and averaged almost 44 points in six wins to reach the final, had demolished England 36-0 in pool play 36 days ago.

TENNIS

FEDERER, NALBANDIAN IN MADRID MASTERS FINAL

Defending champion Roger Federer will play David Nalbandian in the final of the Madrid Masters in Madrid, Spain.

Federer defeated Nicolas Kiefer, 6-4, 6-4, and Nalbandian defeated third-ranked Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-6 (4), yesterday.

The top-ranked Swiss will play for his seventh title of the season against the 25th-ranked Argentine, who reached his first final of the year. Federer won his 18th straight match to reach his 10th final in 13 events.

"We've had some tough battles over the years," said Federer, who beat Nalbandian in the semifinals last year. "He won the first five, and he was the kind of player I was scared to play against."

HENIN TO PLAY GOLOVIN FOR ZURICH OPEN TITLE

Justine Henin rallied to defeat Nicole Vaidisova, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, yesterday and advanced to the final of the Zurich Open in Zurich, Switzerland.

The top-ranked Henin will play Tatiana Golovin, who defeated Francesca Schiavone, 6-0, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

"She pushed me a lot in the first set and I was reacting," Henin said. "I had little concentration problems."

ULTIMATE FIGHTING

MIDDLEWEIGHT SILVA RETAINS CHAMPIONSHIP

Anderson Silva retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight championship, stopping Rich Franklin early this morning in Cincinnati.

Before a sellout crowd, Silva (20-4) knocked down the hometown favorite Franklin (24-3) with a right to the head late in the first round. After a series of knees to the head, the referee stepped in and stopped the fight with 3:53 left in the second round of the scheduled five-rounder.

Silva (20-4), a Brazilian nicknamed "Spider," took the championship title away from Franklin last October.

In the match preceding the main event, heavyweight Tim Sylvia (26-3) unanimously outpointed Brandon Vera (8-1).