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HOUSTON -- When Stanford goalkeeper Andrew Epstein started to lift himself off the ground after his game-winning save in penalty kicks on Sunday, all he saw were his teammates racing towards him.At first, he wasnt sure it was over.Once his teammates made it 20 yards down the field in celebration, Epstein knew they had beaten Wake Forest and were back-to-back national champions.At that point youre just so happy, said Epstein, who had four saves in regulation and two more in the shootout. Its your favorite friends walking up the field towards you. Its a pretty special sight and Im lucky to have seen that two years in a row with my teammates flying on me. Thats a great feeling.Epstein made a pair of diving stops and Corey Baird and Sam Werner scored Stanfords final shootout goals to give the Cardinal their second straight College Cup title, 5-4 over Wake Forest after the teams played 110 scoreless minutes.Stanford didnt allow a goal in the tournament, becoming the first team since Wisconsin in 1995 to accomplish the feat and win the national championship.The game was the sixth national championship to go to penalty kicks, and the first since Virginia beat UCLA in 2014.Stanford finished 15-3-5 after beginning the season 0-3-1.Going into winter something felt a little missing, like we had to take that time to encourage and develop every single one of our players into something like those guys were last year, junior Drew Skundrich said. Over time we did that. We did very well in spring, everyone trained well over summer and we got after it right away in preseason.Dropping those first few games just made us realize this is a new year, a new team, new challenges and we need to take everything we can to get back to this stage and thats what we did, he said.Wake Forest finished 19-3-3. Stanford beat Wake Forest 2-1 in overtime in the quarterfinals last season on the way to its first national title.We had the opportunity to win the game today in penalties, Wake Forest coach Bobby Muuss said. I felt comfortable and confident with the group of guys that were stepping out there but it just wasnt our day unfortunately.Cardinal coach Jeremy Gunn improved to 4-1-1 in the College Cup. Prior to leading Stanford to the national championship last season, Gunn guided Charlotte to the 2011 College Cup as well.Its an exciting journey every time a college coach starts the year with a team and weve been fortunate to be standing at the end of the season a couple of times, Gunn said.Wake Forest came out firing in the second half, recording three shots and a corner in seven minutes.Stanford answered with its attack and Wake Forest goalkeeper Andreu Cases Mundet was solid. In the 71st minute, Mundet saved a shot while on his back, somehow keeping the ball from crossing the line fully. Seven minutes later, he made a dive to the left to deflect away Adrian Alabis header.The opening 30 minutes belonged to Stanford, with the Cardinal outshooting Wake Forest 4-1 and holding a 3-1 edge in corner opportunities. Two of the corner attempts came in the opening five minutes.Wake Forest ended up outshooting Stanford 10-9, and leading 5-4 in corners.BACK TO BACK CHAMPSStanford became the first mens soccer program to win two straight titles since Indiana accomplished the feat in 2003 and 2004. The Cardinal became the fourth program to win back-to-back national titles, joining St. Louis, Indiana and San Francisco.NO FUN FIELDThe field conditions were a topic of conversation all weekend at BBVA Compass Stadium.On Friday, following Wake Forests 2-1 win against Denver, Muuss remarked it was like playing on sand and after Sundays season finale, the comments werent much better.I think its disrespectful to college soccer, Muuss said when asked about the field conditions. What happened this weekend I think its a catastrophe for our game.The field was replaced in the middle of last MLS season, which meant it isnt in prime condition yet, which Muuss believes shouldnt be the case for a match like a national championship.The field didnt lose the game for us today, it just made for pretty sloppy NCAA Final Four, which is supposed to be the pinnacle of college soccer, he said. The programs and everybody that hurts college soccer or talks badly about college soccer is the professionals and we just played soccer in a professional stadium. So the stadium had nothing to do, it was out of their control, but I feel like its a catastrophe for college soccer.Nike Air Force 1 Bílé . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Nike Air Force 1 Pánské Levně . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. http://www.airforce1levne.com/ . McPhee said that Ovechkins father Mikhail is in stable condition after having the surgery this week and is no longer in intensive care. "Weve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad," he said. Ovechkin and his Russian national team were eliminated from the mens hockey tournament in Sochi on Wednesday with a 3-1 quarter-final loss to Finland. Nike Tanjun Pánské . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Air Force 1 Pánské . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup.BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins see the glass as half-full despite their 6-5 overtime loss to the Chicago in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final. But they have plenty to ponder en route to Chicago for Game 5 Saturday even if the team mantra was clearly to look forward not back. The best-of-seven series has become a best-of-three. The Bruins, who bottled up the Chicago attack in winning Games 2 and 3, had hoped to arrive in the Windy City holding a commanding 3-1 lead. "You move on. Its one loss. Weve got two wins, weve got two losses," Boston coach Claude Julien said Thursday after an optional skate following a video session at TD Garden. "Its about preparing for the next game, and our mood is fine. "Who wouldnt be happy to be in the Stanley Cup finals? Youve got to remember where we are and whats at stake here, and certainly not hang your head over a loss." Julien saw lots of positives: his team scored five goals, came back twice from two-goal deficits and the power play was working. But he admitted that the Bruins have to put in a better start and make better decisions throughout. Boston also allowed the speedy, skilful Hawks too much space and too many options, he added. "Theyre a good team," he said of Chicago. "Ive said that all along, and theyre going to get their chances. Weve just got to minimize them." Instead the Bruins and Hawks went on a wild roller-coaster ride, with Hawks defenceman Brent Seabrook deciding the game on a slapshot through traffic in overtime. Chicagos reunited line of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell buzzed all night. It combined for two goals and three assists and all three made a nuisance of themselves. Toews refused to be budged from in front of the net all game and Bickell helped free his captain on Chicagos second goal, slyly kicking out one of Zdeno Charas skates to topple the giant Bruins defenceman. By the time Chara had got back on his feet, Toews had tipped in Michal Rozsivals point shot for the goal. To his credit, Chara did not complain although he gave the referee a quizzical look. Asked about Charas play on the night, Julien didnt mince words. "I think he was OK. Theres no doubt they went after him and he was OK because our whole team was OK. I dont think anybody on our team can stand up today and say I thought I had a great game, and thats why were sitting here today tied 2-all." Chicago clearly felt that it had brought the six-foot-nine Chara down to size somewhat. "Chara, hes one of their key players," Toews said after the game. "Hes a great player. We know his No. 1 advantage is his size, rreach and strength.dddddddddddd "I think at the same time you cant give him too much respect and want to compensate the way you play as a line considering the fact hes out there against you guys. I mean, theres certain ways you can expose him. I think the dumpings that we made tonight were going to his side. We made sure we were outnumbering him everywhere we went, taking away his stick first thing. "We just try not to be intimidated by his size. You have to get to the net, find a way inside, not be, like I said, intimidated by that. We can outwork him, and we did that tonight, and we want to continue that." Apprised of those comments, Bruins forward Brad Marchand called his captain one of the best defencemen in the league and then refused to take the bait "Theyre welcome to say whatever they want," he said of the Hawks. "Were just worried about how we have to play, in the (dressing) room. "Z (Chara) steps up and plays his best. We can expect that." Julien was his normally affable self Thursday, although he took the time to remind his listeners that Bruins hockey was more than "being rough and tumble and not much else." Whatever it is, Boston didnt showcase its brand in Game 4. The Hawks even enjoyed success in the faceoff circle, normally the Bruins domain, narrowing the deficit in faceoff wins to 39-38 from the lopsided 40-16 of Game 3. Boston was sluggish once again at the start. The Blackhawks were outshooting them 7-1 at one point. Chicago got bodies in front of Tuukka Rask. At the other end of the ice, the Hawks blocked more shots than the Bruins for the first time in the series. "I think both sides were pretty poor on the D (defence) side of the puck," said Boston forward Chris Kelly. "Its a game of mistakes," he added. "And I think both sides made their fair share of mistakes." Added defenceman Adam McQuaid: "We werent at our best, theres no question about that." The Bruins were looking to leave the negatives behind them as they headed west. "Theres nothing you can do about it. Look to the next one," said Kelly. "It would have bee a nice game to win, for sure," added Marchand. "But at this point of the season, whether you win or lose, youve got to let the game go and focus on the next one. It comes too quick and the next one means too much." Said Julien: "I dont think anything positive will come out of just worrying about what happened last night." "Nothing you can do about it today, but you can do something about if for the next game," he added. ' ' '