MARKHAM, Ont. -- Britni Smith didnt know how it happened. One moment she was on the ice taking a shot, the next she was lifting the Toronto Furies first Clarkson Cup. Smith scored in overtime Saturday as the Furies shut out the Boston Blades 1-0. She struggled to describe how it happened. "I honestly dont even remember how we got in their end," Smith said as she held back her emotion. "But the puck went from (Natalie) Spooner behind the net over to Prevo (Caroline Prevost), I saw some ice in front of me, skated ahead, got a perfect pass on the tape. I shot high-blocker and it just twirled in. "Once I saw it cross the line, hands in the air and that was it." The sixth Canadian womens hockey league championship was the first time Toronto (3-1) and Boston (3-1) met in the championship game and the only time the Furies qualified for the final in club history. Toronto was a surprise finalist after defeating the number-one ranked, three-time Clarkson Cup champion Montreal Stars on Friday in the round-robins lone shootout. The Blades were undefeated in the round robin with an impressive 3-0 record, allowing just four goals against in the entire tournament. The Boston-Toronto rivalry was in full effect as both teams fought hard to the finish. Spooner, who scored the shootout winner in Fridays victory over the number-one ranked Stars, was named the tournaments most valuable player. "This year couldnt really have been better for me," said Spooner. "Obviously nothing beats winning an Olympic gold medal but this is pretty sweet right now and I am really happy about it." Christina Kessler was named the tournaments most valuable player after performing stellar in net for the Furies with 25 saves against Boston following up Fridays spectacular 34 save spectacle. "Kess is amazing," said Furies forward Alyssa Baldin. "It is great to have a goalie like Kessler behind you." Blades forwards Hilary Knight, Kate Buesser and Kelli Stack were offensive stars throughout the tournament. Knight, who scored four goals against Calgary on Friday, led the tournament with five goals while Buesser led with seven points. Boston has three members of Olympic silver medallist American team on its roster including Stack and Knight while Toronto has four members of gold-medal winning Canadian squad playing for the Furies, including Jennifer Wakefield, Tessa Bonhomme and Spooner. The Blades were 5-2 against Toronto during the regular season and in the second day of round-robin action Boston defeated Toronto 2-1 in its closest game of the tournament. The pace of the final was quick from the start. Boston had the majority of quality scoring chances in the first 20 minutes and forced Kessler to make nine first-period saves. After a scoreless two periods, both teams speed and goaltending was on full display in the third. Kessler was forced to make a breakaway, short-handed save robbing Knight while Toronto failed to capitalize on the power play as the game headed to overtime. A day after scoring four goals against Calgary, Knight failed to score for Boston against Toronto while Buesser was also kept scoreless. Buesser finished the tournament leading with three game winning goals. Boston goaltender Brittany Ott played fantastic for the Blades, making 25 saves in front of a sold out crowd. During the regular season Boston was 5-2 against Toronto, and on the second day of round-robin action Thursday the Blades defeated Toronto 2-1 in Bostons closest game of the tournament. Cheap Soccer Jerseys .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record. Cheap Soccer Jerseys China . However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand. https://www.fakesoccerjerseys.com/. Blatter also told reporters Saturday after meeting with Qatars emir that the decision to award the tournament to the desert nation is "not reversible." There have been calls to move the tournament because of Qatars intense heat. Fake Soccer Jerseys . PAUL, Minn. Soccer Jerseys China . Picard had a goal and two assists to help Canada improve to 2-0 at the tournament. Seven different players scored for the two-time defending champions. "Today all four lines played excellent," said head coach Laura Schuler.NEW YORK -- Years before Michael Sam was born, gay-rights activists Kate Kendell and Paul Guequierre were already die-hard National Football League fans. Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, grew up in Ogden, Utah, far from any NFL city, and became a fan of the Los Angeles Rams because shes an Aries and liked their uniforms. For Guequierre, raised in Whitewater, Wisconsin, and now a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, it was a family affair. Treasured season tickets for the Green Bay Packers were acquired by his grandfather, passed on to his father, and now are his. The cover photo of his Facebook page shows the towering statue of a Packers wide receiver. For Kendell, Guequierre and other gay fans of the NFL, their passion for pro football was rewarded May 10 with a moment they describe as thrilling: the decision by the Rams -- now of St. Louis -- to make Sam the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team. "I feel like my support for the NFL now doesnt have an asterisk come with it," Kendell said. "Its now truly Americas game." The milestone has made gay fans more enthusiastic and already is drawing newcomers into the fold. Many may become Rams fans or -- like Guequierre -- henceforth consider St. Louis "my second favourite team." The NFL says it hasnt done any marketing research to gauge the size of its gay and lesbian fan base. Gay sports fans surveyed by Outsports said pro football was their favourite sport by far. Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler said that Sam -- if he makes the Rams roster -- will further boost the NFLs popularity among gays. "People who have never liked football are buying Michael Sam jerseys," he said. "People who have never watched a game watched the draft." As of midweek, Sams Rams jersey was the No. 2 seller among rookies at NFLShop.com, trailing only Johnny Manziel, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback drafted by the Cleveland Browns. Sam -- although drafted 249th out of 256 players -- also was among just 10 draftees selected by the league to be featured on special bronze and silver commemorative coins, according to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. Howard Bragman, a public relations expert who has been working with Sam, expects the NFL and advertisers to capitalize on fans excitement over Sams debut. "The first time he plays, youre going to have huge numbers watching," said Bragman, the vice chairman of Reputation.com. "The NFL is a business," Bragman added. "It understands very well that LGBT fans are passionate, they have good incomes, theyre concentrated in NFL cities." Sam already has done a nationally televised ad for Visa. "The tide has turned," Bragman said. "Martina Navratillova said she lost endorsements after she came out.dddddddddddd Youll find that Michael will do very well." That doesnt mean the NFLs advertisers will shift their focus away from heterosexual young males, nor are sexy female cheerleader squads likely to disappear. But gay fans may be all the more at peace with such things. "We know who theyre marketing to with those ads," said Guequierre. "Most (gay) people I know are OK with that. We dont feel like were being left out." Now based in Washington, D.C., Guequierre, 36, tries to attend at least one Packers home game per year, and makes his tickets for the other games available to relatives and friends, including a lesbian couple who are devoted fans. Guequierre said gay fans, like gay athletes, increasingly feel less pressure to conceal their sexual orientation while at games. He recalled an incident at a Packers game a few years ago, when he stood up and vocally scolded a fan behind him who had called a Chicago Bears player a homophobic slur. "No one else gave me a hard time," Guequierre said. "The guy looked embarrassed. ... He came across as the bad guy." Guequierres passion for football extends to the playing field -- hes an avid competitor in the D.C. Gay Flag Football League, which has 20 teams and about 275 players. One of the main sponsors is Nellies Sports Bar, one of a wave of gay sports bars that have opened up in cities nationwide. Doug Schantz, co-owner of Nellies, says there are now 25 TVs in the bar, all tuned to sports, with pro baseball and the NFL neck-and-neck as the most popular. "With the Redskins, it doesnt matter if theyre bad or good," Schantz said. On the other side of the country, Kate Kendell has settled into San Francisco, and is a zealous 49ers fan -- though her girlhood love of the Rams is now rekindled. She has raised her 17-year-old son to share her football passions. "On Monday nights, we break with tradition of sitting around the table as family," Kendell said. "We all watch the game. I leave office early to make sure were there for kickoff." Kendell expressed delight that gay youths would now be able to grow up with openly gay sports stars as role models. "Many of my gay male friends are not sports fans -- not because of lack of interest, but because their earliest introduction to sports made them feel stigmatized and shamed," she said, evoking epithets such as "You throw like a girl." "While surely there will continue to be homophobic remarks, there is a sense of a corner being turned," she said. "What I feel more than anything is a sense of elation and joy, that the game I loved since I was a kid I can now embrace without reservations." ' ' '