<strong><span class="subhead">An Arctic winner for Vonn</span></strong></p><p><strong>Lindsey Vonn</strong> felt right at home north of the Arctic Circle.</p><p>Picking up where she left off last season, the defending overall champion won the World Cup slalom opener Saturday. Vonn, a speed specialist from Burnsville, Minn., had never finished among the top three in the slalom.</p><p>&#8220;This is such an incredible way to start the season,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Vonn beat <strong>Maria Pietilae-Holmner</strong> of Sweden by 0.40 seconds.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Sorenstam cuts deficit to 1</span></strong></p><p><strong>Annika Sorenstam</strong> made up 5 strokes on leader <strong>Angela Stanford</strong> on Saturday in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, shooting a 5-under 67 to cut her deficit to just 1 stroke with one round left.</p><p>Making her second-to-last start before leaving the LPGA Tour, Sorenstam eagled the par-5 10th and added six birdies on the Guadalajara, Mexico, course.</p><p>Australia&#8217;s <strong>Katherine Hull</strong> (66) was 2 strokes back. South Korea&#8217;s <strong>Jee Young Lee</strong> (69) was 7 under.</p><p>&#8226;<strong>Chapchai Nirat</strong> of Thailand took a 2-stroke lead at the Singapore Open. He was 2 strokes ahead of <strong>Simon Dyson</strong> of England, <strong>Thomas Bjorn</strong> of Denmark and <strong>Lam Chih Bing</strong> of Singapore. <strong>Phil Mickelson</strong> was 4 strokes off the leader.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">KU and MU soccer</span></strong></p><p>The Missouri and Kansas women&#8217;s soccer teams will each play for a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16 today. The Tigers, ranked 13th in the nation, will face Illinois at 1 p.m. in Columbia. The Jayhawks, making their first NCAA appearance since 2004, play host to No. 5 Stanford at 3 p.m.</p><p>Three area Division II teams play in NCAA second-round games today as well. Central Missouri faces Texas A&amp;M-Commerce at 1 p.m. in Warrensburg, and Washburn plays Truman at 2:30 p.m. in Canyon, Texas.</p><p>&#8226;Emporia State won its first MIAA volleyball championship Friday night, beating Washburn in a three-game sweep.</p><p>&#8226;Baker beat Graceland 4-2 Saturday night for the Heart of America men&#8217;s soccer title.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Red Bulls reach MLS Cup</span></strong></p><p><strong>Dave van den Bergh</strong> scored in the 28th minute and the New York Red Bulls defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 in Major League Soccer&#8217;s Western Conference finals on Saturday night to reach the MLS Cup for the first time in the club&#8217;s history.</p><p><strong>John Wolyniec</strong> sent a low cross in front of the goal, which was deflected by Real Salt Lake goalkeeper <strong>Nick Rimando</strong>. The attempted clearance went directly to van den Bergh, who scored in the empty net.</p><p>New York will take on the Columbus Crew, also playing for the MLS Cup for the first time, next Sunday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.