Montero leads Seattle to sound victory

MLS: Fredy Montero scored in his fifth straight game to lead the Seattle Sounders to a 3-1 victory over Caledonia on Thursday night in CONCACAF Champions League play at Couva, Trinidad.

Alex Caskey and Sammy Ochoa also scored for Seattle, which is 2-0 in Group 4 play.

Montero’s goal, which came just three minutes after Caledonia had cut a 2-0 Seattle lead in half, was the fifth straight competitive game in which he’s scored and the eighth time he’s scored in the past seven matches across all competitions. He’s also scored in both the Sounders’ games against Caledonia.

Seattle holds six points in two group-stage matches with a plus-4 goal differential. Its final two group stage games will be against Marathon.

Phoenix rises in win over Storm in Seattle

WNBA: DeWanna Bonner scored 24 points, Samantha Prahalis added 16 and Diana Taurasi had 13 to help visiting Phoenix beat Seattle to end a 10-game losing streak.

Camille Little had 11 points to lead Seattle (11-14) while Tanisha Wright added 10 points and eight rebounds. Reserve Tina Thompson had 10 points.

Lauren Jackson shot just 2 of 8 from the field and had six points for the Storm, while Sue Bird finished with eight points and eight assists.

NHL, NHLPA talks on hold until today

HOCKEY: The NHL’s collective bargaining talks are on hold until today.

Donald Fehr, the executive director of the NHL Players’ Association, had originally said he was “optimistic” the union would table a counterproposal Thursday. Fehr could extend a counteroffer today at the NHL’s New York office.

The current agreement expires Sept. 15, when the league has said it will lock out players if a deal isn’t reached.

The sides are at odds over hockey-related revenue. The league wants to knock down the players’ percentage to 46. The players’ share of HRR was 57 percent last season. Fehr said changes in how HRR is calculated would see the amount of money players give up to escrow increase “significantly.”

Under the NHL’s proposal, the union said current contracts would not be paid in full.

Commissioner Gary Bettman issued his second proposal to the NHLPA on Tuesday in New York, an offering he called “meaningful” and “significant.” On Wednesday, the two sides met again, and broke the proposal down with several player representatives in attendance.

The regular season is slated to begin on Oct. 11.

Louisiana-based games will go on

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: The third-ranked LSU Tigers will play their opener against North Texas in Tiger Stadium on Saturday, marking a victory of sorts for the Baton Rouge area after it was struck by weather from tropical storm Isaac.

University officials said the final determination was made after checking the stadium and consulting with area authorities to ensure the community could handle the anticipated crowd of more than 90,000.

LSU’s decision came hours after Tulane decided to keep its opener on schedule as well. The Green Wave opens against Rutgers in the Superdome in New Orleans.

For North Texas and LSU, the uncertainty caused by Isaac was nothing new. The Tigers and Mean Green had to postpone a season opener in 2005 because of Hurricane Katrina.

Bolt, Blake set meet records in Zurich

MISCELLANY: Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake set Weltklasse meet records at Switzerland’s Diamond League event.

In the 200, Bolt clocked in at 19.66 seconds in the fastest half-lap race seen in Zurich.

Earlier in the 100, Blake blazed to a dominating victory in 9.76. Bolt did not run the 100. Tyson Gay of the United States was disqualified for a false start.

• Part of roof blows off at Montreal’s arena: A large section of the roof at Maurice Richard Arena blew off.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether there were any injuries, and police blocked off a large perimeter around the arena named after the late Montreal Canadiens star.

The arena, adjacent to the Olympic Stadium, has served as the home of Canada’s national short-track speedskating team. It opened in the 1960s and was a venue at the 1976 Olympics.

• Rodriguez wins Vuelta 12th stage: Joaquin Rodriguez cycled past Alberto Contador on the final climb to win the 12th stage of the Spanish Vuelta in Dumbria, Spain, and extend his overall lead to 13 seconds.

The 13th stage today from Santiago de Compostela to Ferrol is the last before a pair of important weekend mountain stages that will test Rodriguez’s ability to hold off Contador.