Galaxy’s Donovan Ricketts is chosen MLS’ top goalkeeper
The Galaxy’s Donovan Ricketts was chosen the MLS’ top goalkeeper Wednesday in a vote of the league’s players, general managers, coaches and the media.
Often overshadowed on a team that includes offensive weapons such as David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle, Ricketts was stout in goal, recording a franchise-record 11 shutouts in a regular season in which the Galaxy went a league-best 18-7-5. A two-time MLS all-star, Ricketts also set a regular-season club record with a 0.90 goals-against average, lowering his career mark to 0.96, best in league history among keepers who have played at least 500 minutes.
The 33-year-old Jamaican shut out the Seattle Sounders in the first match of the MLS playoffs last weekend and will face the Sounders again in the deciding game of the Western Conference semifinals Sunday at the Home Depot Center.
— Kevin Baxter
New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman, a former MLS most valuable player and five-time all-star, announced his retirement because of the effects of a concussion he suffered two years ago while playing against the Galaxy.
Twellman was punched in the face in a collision with Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin while heading in a shot. After eight seasons and 101 goals, sixth most in MLS history, the 30-year-old St. Louis native said he had no option but to retire.
Twellman played the rest of the season after being hurt Aug. 30, 2008. He played his final game June 7, 2009, scoring twice in a 4-0 win over New York that put him over the 100-goal mark. That was his second game of the season — and the last one of his career — as he stopped playing because of whiplash and concussive symptoms.
Former France coach Raymond Domenech will ask an employment tribunal for about $4.1 million in severance pay after he was fired without compensation by the French football federation.
Domenech’s lawyer told L’Equipe newspaper that his client was made “a scapegoat” for France’s poor performance at the World Cup, where the team was ousted in the group stage.
Tennis: Andy Roddick, Roger Federer advance at Basel
Andy Roddick defeated fellow American Sam Querrey, 7-5, 7-6 (6), and Roger Federer cruised into the quarterfinals at the Swiss Indoors at Basel, Switzerland.
The fourth-seeded Roddick had 16 aces and dropped just six first-service points against the 22nd-ranked Querrey, who served 13 aces. Roddick faces Andrey Golubev in the second round.
Roddick has returned to Basel after seven years in hopes of claiming one of the last three berths in the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London this month. Roddick was eighth in the standings coming into the tournament.
Federer, the No. 1 seed, eased past Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic, 6-3, 6-4.
Eighth-seeded American John Isner paid for squandering all eight of his break chances, losing, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5, to Dutchman Robin Haase.
Juan Monaco of Argentina ousted defending champion Andy Murray, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, in the second round of the Valencia Open in Spain.
The top-seeded Murray began sluggishly and lost his opening service game. He was broken five times total, including twice in the third set.
Third-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain lost to Gilles Simon of France, 6-1, 6-3.
Passings: Clyde King, 86
Clyde King, the former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher whose baseball career as a player, coach, manager and front-office man spanned six decades, has died. Story: AA15
