Guild Wars » ring the fourth. Wright opened the fo

MONTREAL - The gloom of starting the season with three straight defeats hasnt descended on the Montreal Impact just yet. The players and their new, as-yet winless coach Frank Klopas, were upbeat this week as they prepared to face the Union on Saturday in Philadelphia. "The effort and intensity have been very good," said Klopas. "Everybodys shown theyre ready to play. Those setbacks will go away if we keep working like we have been." There is reason for optimism, starting with the return of star forward Marco Di Vaio and midfielder Andres Romero from the three-game suspensions they incurred from a scuffle at the end of their playoff game in October in Houston. The 38-year-old Di Vaio, a 20-goal scorer last season, may help them end a goalless string that has reached 205 minutes after being shut out in their last two matches. "Hes a competitive person, but its for the right reasons — for the group," Klopas said of Di Vaio. "His ability to create, and wanting ball in difficult moments, and to score goals... dont mean anything to him unless it helps the team win." Di Vaio is likely to step in for Andrew Wenger, who had a goal in a season-opening 3-2 loss in Dallas while filling in as the lone forward. It was not clear if Romero would start in his usual left midfield position or be available off the bench. There were also reports this week that the club is close to signing a third designated player to go with the Italian Di Vaio and Argentine midfielder Hernan Bernarello. Ignacio Piatti, an attacking midfielder who usually plays on the left wing, is believed ready to ink a deal that would see him join the Impact in June from the San Lorenzo club in Argentina. The team that opened camp with no significant signings, despite a late season plummet from first to fifth place last season, looks ready to make some changes. They also added fullback Heath Pearce during camp. A former Major League Soccer all-star with the New York Red Bulls who is coming off hip surgery, Pearce saw his first game action off the bench in a 2-0 loss at home last week to the Seattle Sounders. "I feel healthy and fit," the 29-year-old Pearce said. "Its been a long process. I feel young again." It was uncertain if he will start at left back, where the teams first round pick in this years draft, Eric Miller, has been impressive. Pearce likes how the Impact have not hung their heads despite the losses. The team started the 2013 campaign with four straight wins. "I dont think theres cause for alarm right now based on our results," he said. "Ive been in situations before where seasons didnt start well and Ive see a complete change in attitude and things get really dark and negative, but here its been upbeat." Defence has been an issue as Montreal has conceded six goals while scoring only twice. They have been lively on attack, leading the league with 57 shot attempts and 20 on target, but aging centreback Matteo Ferrari and converted fullback Hassoun Camera have been overwhelmed at times on counterattacks and set pieces. The Impact are missing centre back Adrian Lopez, who is due to resume practising soon after knee surgery, and the oft-injured Nelson Rivas. They hope to fix their defensive problems against Philadelphia. Montreal is 3-1-1 with 10 goals against the Union scored since joining MLS in 2012. The Union (1-1-1), coming off a 2-1 loss in Columbus, made major off-season changes including the addition of American midfielder Maurice Edu and midfielders Vincent Noguiera and Cristian Maidana. But they also have injury issues on defence, with converted forward Aaron Wheeler now playing in the middle. Impact goalkeeper Troy Perkins said the Union are a puzzle. "With the players they have, especially the new players theyve added, you dont know what youll get," he said. "You dont know if theyll be a high press team or if theyll sit back and counter or if theyll try to play possession. "So you just have to go in and play your game and make them adapt to you." The Impact start the season with three of four games on the road, but after Philadelphia they will be back at Olympic Stadium for their next two against New York and Chicago. Note _ The Impact have loaned 20-year-old midfielder Zakaria Messoudi to the Ottawa Fury of the NASL. The former Canada u20 player is a product of the Impacts academy. Cheap New Balance Shoes Online Australia .com) - They didnt meet in the regular season, so Sam Houston State might be saying it won the de facto title game between the two Southland Conference co-champions Saturday. Cheap New Balance Shoes Australia . "That was a great lift for the staff," Padres manager Bud Black said. Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal homered, and Chase Headley drove in three runs, as the Padres beat the Chicago Cubs 11-1 on Friday night. http://www.cheapaustralianewbalance.com/. A player confirmed to TSN on the condition of anonymity that he received his ballot yesterday. Another confirms hes been told to expect his shortly. "The unions executive committee insists a strike vote does not mean were pushing away from the table," the player said. "But we want the league to know were serious about our position. New Balance Clearance Australia . Marcus Olsson, 23, joins Blackburn on a free transfer from Swedens Halmstads. He made 139 appearances and scored 17 goals in his four years with the club. He earned his first caps for Sweden this month, featuring against Bahrain and Qatar. New Balance Sale Australia . A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week.BOSTON -- Putting together a five-game winning streak and getting 10 games above .500 were once common achievements for the Dallas Mavericks. Now, both are season highs as Dallas slowly works its way back into playoff contention in the Western Conference. Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points, Shawn Marion finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and the Mavericks beat the Boston Celtics 102-91 Sunday night to extend their winning streak to five straight. "There are encouraging signs, but theres no way we can exhale or start feeling good," coach Rick Carlisle said. Jose Calderon added 18 points and Monta Ellis played through a sore hamstring and scored 11 for Dallas, which won for the sixth time in seven games and pulled 10 games above .500 for the first time this season at 31-21. "Were looking to move up," Nowitzki said. "If you look at the standings, (places) five through eight is only separated by a couple of games. Wed love to keep pushing." Vince Carter scored 14, Devin Harris had 12 points and Samuel Dalembert grabbed 11 rebounds for Dallas. The Mavericks led by six at halftime and pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring the Celtics 28-18. "The third quarter and the start of the fourth killed us and took us out of the game," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. Rajon Rondo had 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for Boston, which had won three straight games. Jeff Green scored 18 and Jared Sullinger had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics. Boston managed to stay close through the first half despite shooting 27 per cent, then Dallas took command early in the third quarter and pulled ahead by as many as 24 points before the Celtics rallied when it was too late. "We still kept it close. That was the beauty of it," Sullinger said. "We played hard, but they just got awway and the deficit was so big we couldnt dig ourselves out of that hole.dddddddddddd." The Mavericks opened the second half on a 16-5 run, holding the Celtics to two field goals through the first 6:29 of the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Green got Boston within 53-43, but Calderon answered from beyond the arc and Marion and Dalembert followed with layups to extend the Mavericks lead to 60-43. "In the third quarter, we were doing the same kind of defence, but now we were sharing the ball and making open shots and thats what the difference was," Calderon said. Bostons only scoring run in the period was a 4-0 spurt late on layups by Kris Humphries and Kelly Olynyk, which Dallas negated in the last minute on two foul shots by Harris and an alley-oop from Harris to Brandan Wright with 5 seconds remaining to give the Mavericks a 72-56 lead entering the fourth. Wright opened the fourth with another alley-oop from Carter, who added a layup for Dallas eighth point in a row and the Mavericks lead was up to 76-56. The Celtics put together a late run to make it close down the stretch before running out of time. Rondo and Green hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Boston within 96-84 with 2:25 remaining. Johnson added another 3-pointer with 1:18 to get the Celtics within 98-89, but Calderon hit a layup to put the Mavericks back up by double-digits. NOTES: Olynyk finished with 14 points and Humphries scored 10 for Boston. ... Marion got his seventh double-double of the season. ... The Mavericks had one other four-game winning streak this season, but had reached five beating Utah on Friday and Boston on Sunday. ... Rondo was the only Boston starter to make more than two field goals in the first half with four. ... Nowitzki scored 15 in the first half. ... The Celtics shot 27 per cent (13 for 48) in the first half and opened the third quarter 2 for 10. ' ' '