NEW ORLEANS AUBURN HILLS, Mich. FRISCO, Texas TORONTO — Brought in as a backup quarterback before the season, Matt D’Orazio capped off an MVP season by leading the Philadelphia Soul to the Arena Football League championship.
D’Orazio threw seven touchdown passes and ran for another score as the Soul won its first ArenaBowl, beating the defending champion San Jose SaberCats 59-56 on Sunday.
Philadelphia scored on all six of its first-half possessions and took the lead for good with three consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter.
Hammon leads Silver Stars
Former Colorado State star Becky Hammon scored 23 points and had seven assists as the San Antonio Silver Stars handed the Detroit Shock its fourth straight WNBA loss, 76-64.
• Sue Bird scored a season-high 24 points as the Seattle Storm snapped the Sacramento Monarchs’ seven-game winning streak with a 77-71 victory.
• Tamika Catchings scored a season-high 25 points as the Indiana Fever beat the Phoenix Mercury 88-84.
• Lisa Leslie scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the Los Angeles Sparks to a 92-84 win over the Minnesota Lynx.
• Shameka Christon scored 24 points in the New York Liberty’s 86-76 win over the Atlanta Dream.
• Asjha Jones scored 27 points as the Connecticut Sun beat the Washington Mystics 82-60.
Cooper strikes quickly
Kenny Cooper scored two goals in two minutes as FC Dallas defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 4-0 in MLS.
• Darren Huckerby scored his first career MLS goal for San Jose, but an earlier own goal by Eric Denton allowed the New York Red Bulls to play to a 1-1 draw.
• Jon Busch made eight saves to help the Chicago Fire preserve a scoreless draw with the Kansas City Wizards.
Nadal triumphs in Toronto
Rafael Nadal beat Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2 to win the Rogers Cup, his fifth straight victory.
• Dinara Safina beat Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-2 to win the East West Bank Classic title in Carson, Calif.
Footnotes.
Tony Schumacher completed a sweep of the three-race western swing of the NHRA season, winning the top fuel competition at the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals in Sonoma, Calif.
The other winners were Robert Hight (funny car), Dave Connolly (pro stock) and Matt Guidera (pro stock motorcycle).
• Fletcher Thornton, a high-ranking U.S. judo official, resigned amid accusations that nearly 30 years ago he molested teenage competitors he coached.
• Troy Dumais defended his 3-meter springboard title at the United States diving championships in Pasadena, Calif.
• Macho Again, runner-up in the Preakness and fifth in the Belmont, held off a late bid by favored Pyro to win the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes for 3-year-olds at Saratoga Race Course.
