plays on their second series, positioning Stover to kno

LONDON -- Canadas Eugenie Bouchard stumbled in her first two Grand Slam semifinal appearances this year. The third time proved to be the charm Thursday at the All England Club. Bouchard defeated Romanias Simona Halep 7-6 (5), 6-2 to become the first Canadian to advance to the womens singles final at Wimbledon. It was the latest achievement in what has already been a historic run for Bouchard at the sports most prestigious event. "After doing well in the past few (Grand) Slams, Ive been believing since the beginning of the tournament that I can do really well," she said. "Im just trying to take it one match at a time. Its really important not to get ahead of ourselves. "I totally feel like I belong, and Im just so excited for the next match." The 20-year-old from Westmount, Que., has yet to lose a set in her six matches so far at Wimbledon. No Canadian had ever reached the womens singles quarter-finals here in the Open era -- never mind the final -- before Bouchard. There could be a Canadian in the mens singles final as well. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., will take on Switzerlands Roger Federer on Friday with a berth in Sundays championship on the line. This is uncharted territory for Canadian tennis. Before this tournament, no Canadian had ever reached a mens or womens Grand Slam singles final, according to Tennis Canada. The last Canadian to reach a singles semifinal at a major was Robert Powell at Wimbledon in 1908, the organization said. Montreal native Greg Rusedski reached the U.S. Open final in 1997 but he was representing Great Britain at that time. The 13th-seeded Bouchard, who converted her sixth match point to complete the 94-minute victory, will next face sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova on Saturday. "To get to my first Grand Slam final, its very exciting. Its what Ive worked so long for, you know," Bouchard said. "So Im just proud of myself for todays effort." Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, beat fellow Czech left-hander Lucie Safarova 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the early semifinal. Bouchard lost in the semifinals at the years two previous majors, the Australian Open and French Open. Shes projected to rise to No. 7 -- the highest ranking for a Canadian woman -- by reaching the final and would go to No. 6 by winning the championship. Bouchard would also be the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova won the 2006 U.S. Open at age 19. "Ive put in a lot of hard work and its been kind of years in the making to me," Bouchard said. "So I believe in myself and I expect good results. Ive had a good start to the season, but I expect myself to do even better than that." In a semifinal that was delayed twice in the first set -- first by a left ankle injury to Halep, and then when a woman spectator fell ill during the tiebreaker -- Halep double-faulted on break point in the second set and then was broken again by Bouchard to give the Canadian a 4-1 lead. The third-seeded Halep, who saved three match points in the seventh game and two more in the final game, appeared to be increasingly affected by her ankle injury and looked down at her feet several times after hitting shots. "It was difficult to continue ... I felt a big pain in the moment, but then was better with the tape," Halep said. "But still, I couldnt push anymore with my leg. My first serve was really bad after that." On Bouchards first match point, Halep hit an ace, but Bouchard did not appear ready to receive, and she went to speak with chair umpire Kader Nouni. But the point stood and Bouchard failed to clinch the match. "When Simona tossed I heard someone scream in the crowd," Bouchard said. "It had happened a few times already. This time I didnt feel prepared to return, so I put my hand up. I felt like we should have replayed the point, but he said, no, it was her point. Just happy I kept my focus and didnt get distracted." The tiebreaker was delayed briefly when the female spectator became ill. With Halep leading 3-2, Nouni jumped from his chair to alert security officials to the womans illness and told both players to go to their sideline chairs. Temperatures on Centre Court were 25 degrees Celsius under sunny skies. Following a delay of about five minutes and after the woman was escorted from the seating area by medical staff, the tiebreaker resumed. The woman returned to her seat later in the match after treatment. Halep had never been past the third round at a Grand Slam until last year, when she made it to the fourth round at the U.S. Open. Then she reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January, and got to the final at the French Open last month, losing to Sharapova. In the first semifinal, Kvitova -- the only womens player born in the 1990s to have won a major title -- improved her record to 25-5 on the Wimbledon grass. The 24-year-old has made at least the quarter-finals for five years in a row. "I know how (it feels) when you hold the trophy so I really want to win my second title here and I will do everything I can," Kvitova said. She saved her best for last: Up to 6-all in the tiebreaker, Safarova had won more total points, 40-39. From there, though, Kvitova won 31 of the last 48 points in the match. Kvitova beat Bouchard 6-3, 6-2 in their only previous meeting, a second-round match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto last August. "I find her as a very solid and talented player," Kvitova said. "She is confident in her game right now. Shes moving very well ... shes playing aggressively." After sealing the victory, Bouchard appeared pleased with her performance but kept the jubilation to a minimum. "Its not like a surprise to me -- I expect good results like this," she said. "So for me, I was like, OK good. Its a step in the right direction. I get to play in the final and I still have another match so its not a full celebration yet." Bouchard is the only woman to have advanced to all three Grand Slam semifinals this year. The 2012 Wimbledon junior champion said shes proud to be the first Canadian to make it this far in the tournament. "Its always exciting and special when I can make history," she said. "My job is not done, I want to go another step further. So Im going to stay focused and enjoy it after." Also Thursday, Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver and American Jack Sock upset the second-seeded duo of Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil in mens doubles quarter-final play. The third-seeded team of Torontos Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia dropped a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4 decision to fifth seeds Leander Paes of India and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic will play Grigor Dimitrov in the other mens semifinal Friday. The final is scheduled for Sunday. Cheap MLB Jerseys . - Mike Magee converted two penalty kicks in a 10-minute span of the first half and the Chicago Fire beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Sunday. Cheap Houston Astros Jerseys .C. -- Carter Ashton had a pair of goals and added an assist as the Toronto Marlies downed the Charlotte Checkers 5-2 on Saturday in the American Hockey League. http://www.cheapastrosjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-jose-cruz-jr-jersey . -- Conner Bleackley got it done in regulation time and in the shootout. Cheap Craig Biggio Jersey .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. Cheap Nolan Ryan Jersey . The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias.New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Once again, the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns felt right at home in the Big Easy. Terrance Broadway threw for 227 yards and Hunter Stover kicked three field goals as the Ragin Cajuns won an unprecedented fourth straight New Orleans Bowl with a 16-3 triumph over Nevada. Broadway completed a crisp 26-of-31 passes with a first-quarter touchdown to C.J. Bates, though it was Louisianas defense that played the biggest role in the programs latest successful venture into the Superdome. Louisiana (9-4) held the Wolf Pack to season-low totals in points and total yards (213), with Nevada (7-6) mustering just 89 on the ground after rushing for 223 or more in five straight games coming in. Cody Fajardo, Nevadas dual-threat quarterback, was kept squarely in check in his final collegiate game, throwing for a mere 124 yards on 14-of-29 passing and gaining 49 yards on 13 carries. Elijah McGuire put up 153 yards from scrimmage to help the Cajuns close out the season with an eighth win in nine tries, with James Butler recording eight catches for 53 yards in the victory. The 10 a.m. local time kickoff seemed to affect the West Coast-based Wolf Pack, as Louisiana thoroughly dominated the first quarter of play. The Ragin Cajuns outgained Nevada by a 137-35 margin in total yards for the period, while scoring on their first two drives to build a 10-0 lead. Broadway, who completed his first 14 passes, marched Louisiana 77 yards in just eight plays on the games opening possession, which the senior quarterback capped with a 17-yard touchdown strike to Bates on 3rd-and-9. The Cajuns grinded out 60 yards in 13 plays on their second series, positioning Stover to knock through a 46-yard field goal with 2:55 left in the first quarter. Nevada was able to move into the red zone on its third drive of the day, with Fajardos 9-yard connection with Jarred Gipson on 4th-and-4 extending the sequence. The Wolf Pack came up empty, however, when Sean Thomas knocked the ball loose from Wyatt Demps following a short catch and Louisiana recovered at its own 11.dddddddddddd An 8-yard shank by Ragin Cajuns punter Daniel Cadona shortly after the turnover gave Nevada back the ball at the opposing 26-yard line. The Wolf Pack later had a 1st-and-goal from the 1, but a false start penalty and two Fajardo incompletions forced them to settle for Brent Zuzos field goal that cut the lead to 10-3 late in the second quarter. Lenny Jones came up with a big defensive play for Nevada midway through the third quarter to keep it a one-score game, sacking Broadway with the Cajuns in scoring range and recovering the resulting fumble. However, the Wolf Pack offense crossed midfield just once in the second half, when they were stopped on downs at the Louisiana 35 with around nine minutes left. The Ragin Cajuns created some more distance by putting together a 15-play, 77- yard trek that overlapped the third and fourth quarters and consumed nearly 7 1/2 minutes. It again ended in a Stover field goal, this one from 30 yards away with 11:51 to play. Stover tacked on a 35-yard kick with under five minutes remaining to increase the lead to 16-3, with Broadways 31-yard pass to Gabe Fuselier on third down setting up the attempt. Game Notes Nevada had scored at least 20 points in every game this season, while its previous low mark for total yards was 256 at San Jose State on Sept. 27 ... McGuire, the 2014 Sun Belt Player of the Year, had 99 rushing yards on 16 attempts and five catches for 54 yards ... Fajardo became the first FBS player this season to pass for over 2,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000 ... Stovers three field goals tied a New Orleans Bowl record held by former Cajun Brett Baer, who did so against East Carolina in 2012 ... Louisianas four New Orleans Bowl wins are the most in the games history, breaking a tie it had held with Southern Mississippi ... The Sun Belt has now won each of the last six New Orleans Bowls ... Nevada has lost seven of its last eight bowl appearances. 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