The News and Observer du lieu suivant : Raleigh, North Carolina • C1

BEST BETS Friday night NFL football: Hurricane Wilma forces Chiefs and Dolphins to get ready in a hurry for game. PAGE 9C A real curveball: Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone is headed to Baltimore. PAGE 5C THE NEWS OBSERVERFRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2005 For the latest scores, go to www.newsobserver.com/sports INDEX Baseball 4-5C Golf. 12C High schools. 10C NBA 11C NFL 9C Scoreboard 2C Auto racing: Dan Wheldon dominates IRL, but Danica is still the big story.

PAGE 3C Sports 1C, Friday, October 21, 2005 WORLD SERIES WHITE SOX ASTROS Game 1 Houston Astros at Chicago White Sox 8:03 p.m. TV: WRAZ, WFXI Game 1 starters HOUSTON: Roger Clemens (13-8) CHICAGO: Jose Contreras (15-7) Inside HOW BIZARRE: For Chicago residents born after 1959, having a World Series in that town just seems unreal. 4C GOING WITH THE BIG GUNS: Astros and White Sox stick with pitching rotations. 4C Astros: karma kings City, team figure about time BY KEVIN BAXTER THE MIAMI HERALD CHICAGO First, the residents opened their arms and their wallets to tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents fleeing Hurricane Katrina. Then, a few weeks later, they them- selves fled in advance of Hurri- cane Rita.

All in all, been a pretty event- ful couple of months in Houston. That is why some folks there see a connection between their recent good works and the hometown recent good play, which Wednesday brought the team its first National League pennant and a meeting with the Chicago White Sox in the World Series. was a letter in the paper here that said it was our good karma coming back to said Frank Michel, spokesman for Houston Mayor Bill White. talk around town is a lot of people feel that With reason. Five times previ- ously in their 44-year history the Astros were a victory short of a World Series berth.

Five times they came up empty. All of that was erased with Wednesday 5-1 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team that broke heart last fall. And you know it? That win came with another potentially deadly storm, Hurricane Wilma, churning not far from Houston in the western Caribbean. us, been a long-suffering, 44 years of getting close and not getting to the big said manager Phil Garner, a former Astros player and longtime Houston resident.

has been a little bit frustrating. So this is a wonderful accomplishment for our city, for our organization, every- body been involved in Not to mention Craig Biggio, who has played in a franchise- record 2,565 major-league games before reaching a World Series. BY LUKE DECOCK STAFF WRITER TORONTO Twice, they fought back to erase two-goal deficits. They had a chance to win in regulation, another to win in overtime. There was no consolation in one point for the Carolina Hurricanes after Thurs- da 5 4 time loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

No one quickly. Play- ers lingered in ron their lockers, unable to bring themselves to unlace their skates or hang up their shin guards. Defeat hung heavy in the air. It may as well have been a playoff game, for which an overtime loss is just a loss. There were less than 16 seconds left when Ken Klee scored from the top of the left circle to win it for the Leafs, who spent the final two minutes of overtime on a power play after Eric Staal was called for high- sticking Jason Allison.

With 42 seconds to go, Rod went racing down the right wing on a short-handed breakaway, only to lose control of the puck and shoot weakly into Ed right pad. glanced up at the co reboard when he returned to his own zone, but the 30 seconds left were twice what the Leafs would need. hard to just swallow it and say we got a Car- olina coach Peter Laviolette said. here to win hockey games. in Toronto and we had a chance to win and disappointing.

not saying the guys play hard be- cause they did. They fought back and they fought hard, but here to win hockey On the night Jeff took on his former team- mates for the first time, he did lit- tle damage other than an over- time shot that clanged into Aaron right leg. But he was part of a wild finish to a wild game, one Carolina never led. Both teams had been off for four days, and the break seemed to hurt the Canes more than the Leafs early. Mistakes as damag- ing as they were uncharacteris- tic put the Canes behind, then big goals brought them back as they found their legs as the game went on.

have the ability to come back, and that shows said defenseman Oleg Tver- dovsky, who extended his points streak to four games. tells me a lot about our team. We had our chances to win, and we finish and they did. what the game is all The Canes went down early when Tverdovsky tripped over the blue line with the puck, giving Darcy Tucker a break- away and the Leafs a 1-0 lead. After another Toronto goal, Tverdovsky started the first comeback, jumping into the crease to convert a pass from Staal.

A power- play goal tied the score in the second, and the Canes were rolling. But when they had another power play and looked to take Vick, Hokies jet past Terps Va. Tech scores 21 consecutive points BY DAVID GINSBURG THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COLLEGE PARK, Md. They raced to the locker room at halftime, their helmets held high and spirits soaring after a solid performance against No. 3-ranked Virginia Tech.

Despite trail- i ng 7 3 he Maryland play- ers sensed a college football upset was in the making. Marcus Vick let it happen. The redshirt junior quarterback accounted for 344 yards of offense, including a career-high 133 rushing, and the unbeaten Hokies pulled away in the second half to a 28-9 ACC victory Thurs- day night. feel fortunate getting out of here with the win. I really thought our guys hung in Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said.

play always The Hokies (7-0, 4-0 ACC) committed four turnovers but scored 21 straight points after halftime to maintain their hope of playing for the national cham- pionship in January. The Terrapins (4-3, 2-2) came in with a three-game winning VA. TECH 28 MARYLAND 9 Virginia Tech running back Mike Imoh cuts through to the end zone. AP PHOTO BY GAIL BURTON ACC offenses off target ith about half of thefootball season ACC has no great offensive team and no clear-cut leader for best offensive player. There are candidates Wake Forest running back Chris Barclay, Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans, Georgia Tech receiver Calvin John- son, Virginia Tech quarter- back Marcus Vick, Florida State quarterback Drew Weath- erford and Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst.

But, other than Johnson, not an obvious 2005 All- America candidate in the lot. My choice for now is Vick, but that, too, says something SEE TUDOR, PAGE 8C Caulton Tudor This one really hurts CAROLINA GETS ONLY A POINT FROM OT LOSS IN TORONTO The Eric Staal is down after leaving the penalty box as the Maple Leafs celebrate their victory in overtime. GETTY IMAGES PHOTOS BY DAVE SANDFORD The Hurricanes rally twice from two-goal deficits to force the extra session, but a high-sticking penalty on Eric Staal in overtime helps the Maple Leafs score the winning goal. LEAFS 5 CANES (OT) 4 Maple Leafs goalie Ed Belfour stops Rod attempt at a short-handed breakaway goal late in overtime. Toronto scored the winner moments later.

George Tarantini, coaching during win over Longwood, says State wants to show it belongs in the ACC. STAFF PHOTO BY TAKAAKI IWABU Pack rocky road now a clear path to goal BY RACHEL CARTER STAFF WRITER RA I When George seniors signed, they chose an N.C. State soccer program that won a conference game since 1999. In 2002, their freshman season, the Wolfpack went 0-6 in ACC play and won just five games. Now, the Pack sits in third place in the ACC standings, is nationally ranked and could realize one of its goals getting a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

first years, they were really State goalkeeper Jorge Gonzalez said. record that good, and I think everybody was frustrated those two or three years. the work put it, now paying off. experience and that frustration drives Today, the 11th-ranked Pack (9-4-1, 3-2-1 ACC) faces 10th- ranked Duke (8-3-1, 2-2-1) at 7 a the lue Dev i Koskinen Stadium in Durham. Tarantini, who has coached at N.C.

State since 1986, has an overall record of 188-151-34. Six of his State teams have reached the NCAA Tournament, but the Pack has not had a winning record since 1997. That might be changing, partly because of the six seniors, including Gonzalez and forward Aaron King, who have helped the program win this season. Gonzalez, who was an All-ACC performer last season, averages 4.0 saves a game, third in the ACC. King is tied for the ACC lead with 13 goals this season.

Those seniors have seen the Pack through the tough times and to now. from a team that probably lost like eight games in my entire life to losing games SEE N.C. STATE, PAGE 7C TODAY WHAT: N.C. State soccer at Duke WHEN: 7 p.m. WHERE: Koskinen Stadium, Durham SEE ASTROS, PAGE 4C SEE VA.

TECH, PAGE 8C INSIDE TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF: Former Canes player Jeff faces his former team for the first time. 6C SEE HURRICANES, PAGE 6C.