The schedule made it the most important week of the season for the University of California womens soccer team. Making it a successful week was left to goalkeeper Emily Boyd.In coming up with a total of 19 saves while allowing just one goal over the 200 minutes of a 1-1 draw against No. 10 UCLA and a 1-0 win against No. 7 USC, Boyd not only steered Cal to its best ever Los Angeles road trip but also left the path clear for a programs first Pac-12 title in nearly 20 years.It sounds like the kind of workload worthy of the espnW national soccer player of the week.The week began with a game at UCLA, a host that surely had a little extra motivation after losing at Cal by seven goals a season earlier. But try as the Bruins might, they couldnt solve Boyd. Nor was she just catching hopeful lobs from long distance to pile up saves that looked more impressive in the box score than on video. When UCLA super freshman Jessie Fleming is showing off a first touch worthy of her Olympic resume to create a chance eight yards from goal, there isnt much margin for error. But there Boyd was, coming off her line just in time to deflect the shot. And there she was in the second half, diving to her right to stop another of Flemings five shots on goal and deadening the rebound enough to corral it without further incident.There was so little margin for error, in fact, that merely being something less than perfect meant the Bears walked off the field with a tie rather than a win against the Bruins. After meeting every test for 89 minutes, Boyd made a good reaction save on a short-range shot from Courtney Proctor, but she couldnt stop Proctor from volleying the resulting loose ball into the goal to level the score.How did the goalkeeper deal with that frustration? First by saving all three UCLA shots on goal in overtime. But even more importantly for Cals fortunes, after a couple of days to stew on the draw, by making eight saves to keep USC off the scoreboard Sunday.Cals schedule has offered up UCLA and USC in back-to-back games, in one order or the other, every season since 1997. Only once in the first 19 seasons of that arrangement did Cal come away from those two games without at least one loss against those schools -- and that only when they came through the Bay Area in 2011. That more or less sums up Cals existence over that span. It has often been a very good program, just never quite good enough to be the best.Now trailing only Colorado in the Pac-12 standings, and with its rivalry game against Stanford on its own field in early November, Cal has a path to a conference title. And while it is a path with little room to slip up, opponents this past week found it even more difficult to slip one by Boyd. Swell Bottles Sale . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. sWell Traveler Sale . Howard Ganz, an MLB lawyer, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos that Rodriguezs claims do not come "remotely close" to what is needed to overturn an arbitration decision in federal court. http://www.swellwaterbottlesale.com/Swell-Bottle-17-Oz-Sale/ .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Swell Water Bottle Clearance . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play. Swell Water Bottle Sale . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. ST. LOUIS -- Mike Matheny managed with a playoff intensity. His offense didnt respond.Its baseball, youre going to have times when you just dont get it done, Matheny said after his St. Louis Cardinals fell 2-1 to the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night. Tonight was one of those times guys make good pitches in big situations and we couldnt finish it off.The Reds third win in their last four games dealt a blow to the Cardinals playoff hopes.St. Louis remained one game behind San Francisco for the NLs second wild card, with the New York Mets 1 1/2 games ahead of the Giants.The Cardinals had the tying run at third base in three of the games final four innings and with less than two outs in the eighth and ninth. St. Louis was 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left eight on.Its not the lack of effort for sure, but nobody wants to hear that, second baseman Greg Garcia said. You got to get it done especially in crunch time and thats where we are in right now. Its a tough one to swallow.The Cardinals had second and third with one out in the eighth and Kolten Wong tripled to lead off the ninth. Each time, Reds closer Raisel Iglesias wriggled out of the jam.Garcias fly ball to left was too shallow to score Wong and was the second out of the ninth.I didnt do my job, Garcia said. I let my team down and you cant do that right now. Its tough.Cardinals starter Mike Leake (9-12) allowed five hits and two runs in five innings, striking out six.Leake was lifted for pinch-hitter Matt Adams in the fifth and he grounded into a double play that scored Aledmys Diaz for the Cardinals lone run.Matheny brought closer Seung Hwan Oh in with one out in the eighth inning. Oh struck out both batters to get the Cardinals out of a jam after Adam Duvall tripled to lead off the inning.Oh left the game with two outs in the ninth after reaggravating a groin injury.Matheny made two double switches and brought Oh in early to maximize the Cardinals opportunities.They all sting, Matheny said. When you have that many chances to score and take over the game, yeah that hurts and theres no question about it.dddddddddddd.Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani (9-5) allowed one runner in each of the first four innings, but only once during that span did the Cardinals have anyone in scoring position. He stranded five runners, including two in the sixth, his last inning. He allowed six hits and one run.It was the fifth quality start out of six in DeSclafanis career against the Cardinals. He improved to 4-1 with a 2.13 ERA against St. Louis.I face them more often, DeSclafani said. I feel I learn more about them and they learn more about me so its a constant adjustment.Duvall drove in his 101st and 102nd runs with his third-inning single. He has seven RBI in the series.Iglesias earned his fifth save in six opportunities.They werent going down easy thats for sure with Wong hitting that triple, Duvall said. But Iggy bared down and showed that he had some nasty stuff and was able to come out of it.SPECIAL GUESTSThe St. Louis Blues attended the game and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk threw out the first pitch. The Cardinals wore hybrid Blues/Cardinals jerseys during warm-ups.ROSTER MOVESThe Reds claimed IF/OF Patrick Kivlehan off waivers from the San Diego Padres and placed SS Zack Cozart on the 60-day DL list. This is the fourth organization Kivlehan has been a part of this season.TRAINERS ROOMReds: 2B Brandon Phillips (left hand) and OF Scott Schebler (left hamstring) were scratched from the lineup.Cardinals: OF Matt Holliday (thumb) is not on a live batting practice schedule.UP NEXTReds: RHP Dan Straily (14-8, 3.74 ERA) has made 11 starts in which he allowed three hits or fewer. He is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three career appearances against St. Louis.Cardinals: RHP Alex Reyes (4-1, 1.58 ERA) has earned a win in his last three appearances. He is 0-0 with a 2.57 ERA in three career appearances against Cincinnati. ' ' '