LEVI, Finland -- American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin easily won the World Cup slalom opener Saturday, beating reigning Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany by more than a second to send an immediate message to her rivals ahead of the Sochi Games. The 18-year-old slalom world champion led by half a second after the first run and raced seamlessly at the top of the hill in the second to extend her advantage, overcoming a mistake near the end to clock a combined time of 1 minute, 55.07 seconds. "Im really happy with how the day went and Im also really excited because it looks like there are some pretty fast girls in the back of the pack," Shiffrin said. "Im excited for the Olympics for sure but there are a couple of races between now and then, so hopefully I can just keep this going." Hoefl-Riesch, who was in a tie for third place after the first run, skied nearly flawlessly in the second but still finished 1.06 seconds behind in second place. Last years overall World Cup champion Tina Maze of Slovenia, who struggled in the giant slalom opener in Soelden last month, was third, 1.61 back. Shiffrin emerged as a major star in the discipline last season by winning both the World Cup slalom title and the world championship race, making her one of the major medal favourites for the Sochi Olympics. Her dominant display on Saturday did little to lower expectations on the teenager -- although Shiffrin thinks theres still plenty of room for improvement. "Every day there is something you can do better," Shiffrin said. "Im going to go back and study my skiing from today and study all the other girls to see who is doing what well and try to get better." Another 18-year-old also made a name for herself, as Christina Ager of Austria finished fourth in her first career World Cup start. Ager started with bib No. 53 but was fifth after the first run -- in part because of favourable winds -- and then missed the podium by just 0.07 seconds. Hoefl-Riesch has won three World Cup slaloms in Levi and made the podium for the seventh time here. "It was a great day for me. I had a good feeling in training already," she said. "Its always really special for me here because of my first win many years ago and because of my many good results here." Maze said she was happy to get back to skiing fast after the disappointing result in Soelden, where she struggled with the high expectations after her dominance last season. "I got a lot of pressure in Soelden race, it was the start of the season so it was not easy to handle all of this pressure so I felt really empty," Maze said. "But at the end I realized its nothing important, the only thing important is to ski fast." Marlies Schild of Austria, the slalom specialist who injured her knee in December 2012, returned for the first time since recovering fully but was already well behind Shiffrin in the first round by the time she missed a gate and skied out. Still, Schild was just happy to finally be able to ski without feeling any effects of the injury. "Of course I wanted to race a second run but yeah, its not so bad at all," Schild said. "Im in a good shape, I have no pain anymore and thats very important for me and I just have to wait, I think, to get a good feeling." Four-time former overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn skipped the Levi meet and will make her debut in the speed events in Beaver Creek, Colorado, after recovering from a right knee injury sustained in a crash in February. "She is back and shes strong," Shiffrin said of her teammate. "Im impressed with how strong she is. ... I dont think anybody should count her out thats for sure." For Shiffrin, the Olympic gold medal is clearly main goal for this season, although she received another memorable prize on Saturday. In a first for this year, organizers presented the winner with a live reindeer from the local Lapland region. Shiffrin named the 6-month-old reindeer Rudolf, although she wont be allowed to take him home with her. "I scared him off a bit when I jumped off the podium to meet him but I think we will be getting along," Shiffrin said. "I hope that when he gets older and trained I can go for a ride on a sledge with him." Yeezy Store China Website . The question is how many minutes will be available to them and can any of their defence or goaltending provide value? Top Picks: Following a down year in 2011-2012, Matt Duchene rebounded with his highest points-per-game (0. Adidas Ultra Boost Clearance Sale . That still leaves a big hole.You dont replace the leadership, defensive co-ordinator Billy Davis said. You just dont. Leadership is something that is earned over time. http://www.brandshoescheaponline.com/who...iple-s.html.com) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quickly found themselves a new offensive coordinator, and one thats quite familiar with the NFC South. Balenciaga Shoes Wholesale China . -- Arizona pitcher Bronson Arroyo is expected to miss a week to 10 days because of a back injury. Cheap Air Force 1 China . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April.NEW YORK -- Taylor Teagarden had no idea how much of a relief his grand slam was to the scuffling New York Mets until his teammates were congratulating him for the rare hit with the bases loaded. Teagarden homered in his Mets debut, Daniel Murphy had a two-run shot and New York beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 Tuesday night to snap a six-game skid. "If I could help get the monkey off the back, whatever it takes," Teagarden said. Called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday to replace demoted catcher Travis dArnaud, Teagarden connected for his second career slam after Marco Estrada walked the bases loaded in the sixth inning. The 30-year-old Teagarden had struck out in his first two at-bats. He said his teammates let him know just how poorly theyve done with the bases loaded after he returned to the dugout. Playing in front of a season-low Citi Field crowd of 20,206 that booed Ryan Braun in each of his four plate appearances, the Mets improved to 11 for 64 (.172) with the sacks full. "He didnt know you werent supposed to get a hit," manager Terry Collins said with a big grin. Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-0) pitched six effective innings and Murphy homered off Estrada in the third. Before the game, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Collins job is secure after the team returned from a 4-7 road trip a season-worst seven games under .500. Outhit 6-5, the Mets scored their most runs in 16 home games since a 7-6 loss in 10 innings to Miami on April 26. Matsuzaka was hit high on the outside of his right thigh by a line drive in the sixth. Making his third start of the year, the right-hander recovered to throw out Carlos Gomez and finished the inning. Collins said the plan was to send Matsuzaka out for the start of the seventh because he was at 100 pitches. "Pitch-count wise I think I wouldve been able to go into the next inning fine," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "Right now its not too bad, but it should start swelling I think by tomorrow, so well see what happens." Estrada (5-3) has given up a major league-worst 20 homers this season, and both long balls Tuesday followed walkss.dddddddddddd "I threw a lot of close pitches. Guys just laid off of them," Estrada said. "I dont understand why Im walking so many guys right now. Ive got to figure this out now because its getting out of hand." Murphy connected after Ruben Tejada walked with two outs in the third, the ball just clearing the right field wall for a 2-0 lead. Murphy, who spent his off day Monday participating in a White House summit on working families, has five homers. The Brewers cut the lead in half in the fourth after Khris Davis was hit by a pitch from Matsuzaka. Running on a full-count pitch to Lyle Overbay, Davis scored from first when Overbay hit a sharp grounder inside first base for a run-scoring double. Matsuzaka, however, kept the NL Central leaders in check. He allowed three hits and three walks, striking out five. Estrada walked David Wright and Curtis Granderson with one out in the sixth. After Chris Young struck out, Lucas Duda walked to load the bases. Teagardens drive hit off the top of the wall down the right field line and ricocheted into the seats for his first slam since 2008 with Texas. "I think the at-bats leading up were really good, too," Murphy said. Gomez, traded by the Mets to Minnesota as part of the deal that brought Johan Santana to New York in February 2008, had an RBI double in the eighth off Jeurys Familia. NOTES: Mets RHP Matt Harvey (Tommy John surgery) was scheduled to throw off a slope but that was pushed back. Alderson said Harvey is doing well. The schedule was changed because the teams doctors didnt want Harvey pitching too soon. ... Mets RHP Gonzalez Germen (virus and abscess) was activated from the 15-day DL after the game. LHP Scott Rice was sent to Triple-A Las Vegas. ... OF Eric Young Jr. (hamstring) has started running, but not at full speed. He has also been hitting. ... Brewers RHP Tyler Thornburg (elbow soreness) had an MRI. Manager Ron Roenicke said the team is waiting for a radiologist to examine the results before revealing anything. He did say its not an injury that would require Tommy John surgery. ' ' '