U.S. women Believe again

Thanks to the gift of an own goal, the United States women’s national team earned a 1-0 victory over England to retain the She Believes Cup last night in Orlando, Fla.

In the 58th minute, Megan Rapinoe’s left-wing cross deflected off an initial England defender and spun toward its goal. Just before the ball reached keeper Karen Bardsley, defender Millie Bright stuck her boot out and barely touched the ball, which then caromed off Bardsley’s hands and into her own net.

Former Boston Breakers all-star keeper Alyssa Naeher made two stops to earn the shutout.

Earlier, Amandine Henry, Eugenie Le Sommer and Valerie Gauvin scored and France wrapped up the She Believes Cup with a 3-0 third-place victory over Germany . . . .

Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala scored twice inside three minutes as Juventus stunned Tottenham to reach the Champions League quarterfinals with a 2-1 victory to advance 4-3 on aggregate.

Liverpool advanced Tuesday and Manchester City went through last night with a 5-2 victory over Basel despite losing 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

Nolasco to Royals

The Kansas City Royals agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Ricky Nolasco that includes an invitation to their major league camp.

The 35-year-old spent the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, where he went 6-15 with a 4.92 ERA a year ago. Nolasco has a reputation for being durable, going 114-118 with a 4.56 ERA across 12 seasons with the Angels, Dodgers, Marlins and Twins.

Kansas City reached a deal with him one day after placing right-hander Jesse Hahn on the 60-day disabled list with a sprained right ulnar collateral ligament . ...

Reliever Tyler Clippard agreed to a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays and will report to big league spring training.

The 33-year-old righthander had been working out with major league free agents in Bradenton. He had said last week that he wanted a major league contract.

Clippard was 2-8 with a 4.77 ERA in 76 games last season with the Yankees, White Sox and Astros, who did not put him on any of their postseason rosters. He is 34-24 with a 3.11 ERA in 11 major league seasons . ...

St. Louis closer Luke Gregerson is expected to be sidelined for several days with tightness in his oblique.

Harvick penalized

Kevin Harvick has been stripped of the playoff points he earned for winning at Las Vegas because of violations discovered on his Ford.

NASCAR ruled that Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team violated the rule requiring rear window support braces holding the rear window glass rigid, as well as a rule requiring the right side rocker panel extension to be aluminum.

The penalty is the loss of the seven playoff points Harvick earned for winning Sunday’s race and both stages. It was Harvick’s second consecutive win of the season.

Harvick also was docked 20 points. Harvick now has six playoff points instead of the 13 he had earned through three races.