Ohio State’s Young to serve two-game ban
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State star defensive end Chase Young will be held out of one more game as punishment for breaking NCAA rules by accepting a personal loan.
The penalty was announced by Ohio State in a statement Wednesday. The school had sought immediate reinstatement from the NCAA. A four-game suspension had been reported.
The situation worked out as well as it could have for the second-ranked Buckeyes. Young, a preseason All-American and the nation’s leader in sacks, was held of the 73-14 rout of Maryland last week and will miss Saturday’s game against 50-point underdog Rutgers.
He’ll return for showdowns with No. 9 Penn State and No. 14 Michigan to end the regular season.
Ohio State announced the day before its game with Maryland that Young would be held out amid concerns he violated NCAA rules by taking a loan last year from someone he describes as a “family friend” for living expenses. Young explained his “mistake” in a tweet and said the loan had been paid back. In other college news:
• The University of Texas System board of regents is expected to approve an annual salary increase in excess of $500,000 for vice president and athletics director Chris Del Conte, per this week’s agenda book. Del Conte’s contract with the school, which ran through 2024, would also be extended through 2027.
Del Conte's base salary in fiscal year 2020 would rise from $1.54 million to $2.08 million. He is guaranteed $2.45 million in the final year of this amended contract.
Dynamo acquire Quintero in trade
The Houston Dynamo acquired forward Darwin Quintero in a trade with Minnesota United FC.
The Dynamo will also will receive Minnesota’s natural third-round draft pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft in exchange for forward Marlon Hairston and $600,000 in total allocation money.
Quintero, 32, registered 21 goals and 20 assists in two seasons with Minnesota. He played a role in more than 40 percent of Minnesota's 95 goals during that span.
This season, the Colombian led the club to its first appearance in the MLS playoffs and a trip to the U.S. Open Cup final. He scored more than 100 goals across all competitions with Club Santos Laguna and Club América from 2009 to 2017 in LigaMX.
Quintero will reunite with Dynamo forward Christian Ramirez, who played with Minnesota in 2017-18 before being dealt to Los Angeles FC then Houston. His move fits with new coach Tab Ramos' desire to play more aggressive, attacking soccer.
“Darwin’s track record speaks for itself," Dynamo general manager Matt Jordan said. “We are confident that Darwin’s ability to play a variety of attacking positions and create chances for himself and his teammates in the final third make him an ideal fit for the Houston Dynamo.”
Ibrahimovic leaving Galaxy
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Los Angeles Galaxy are officially parting ways after two seasons.
The 38-year-old Swedish superstar scored 56 goals in 52 MLS games after joining the Galaxy in March 2018. Ibrahimovic was an elite, steady scorer for the five-time league champion club, but the Galaxy won just one playoff game in his tenure, and he lost the MLS MVP award this year to LAFC’s Carlos Vela, who scored an MLS-record 34 goals to Zlatan’s 30.
In other news:
• The Chicago Fire have parted with coach Veljko Paunovic after four seasons. The 42-year-old Serbian was 41-58-37 with one playoff appearance.
Nadal rallies from 5-1 deficit
Facing match point at 5-1 down in the third set, Rafael Nadal gave himself about a one-in-a-thousand chance of turning things around against Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals in London.
Those odds turned out to be more than good enough for the top-ranked Spaniard.
Nadal saved that match point with a perfect drop shot and then rallied to beat Medvedev 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (4), keeping alive his chances of advancing from the group stage.
“Today is one of those days that one out of 1,000 you win and it happened today,“Nadal said. ”In that moment (facing match point), what you think is probably in five minutes you are in the locker room, because that’s the more normal thing. In that moment, you play with not much pressure because you are almost lost.”
Nadal looked headed for a second straight loss at the season-ending tournament but won five games in a row to go up 6-5 in the deciding set before winning the tiebreaker.
The win gives Nadal a 1-1 record after two roundrobin matches, while Medvedev fell to 0-2.
In the late match, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-2 for his second straight win, a result that guarantees him a place in the semifinals. In other news:
• Bob and Mike Bryan say they will retire after the 2020 U.S. Open, closing a professional tennis partnership that includes a men’s doubles record of 16 Grand Slam titles.
The 41-year-old American twins have won 118 titles in all, including 39 at ATP Masters tournaments.
Islanders, Caps continue to roll
Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, Derick Brassard had a goal and two assists, and the streaking New York Islanders held off the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 at Uniondale, N.Y. Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves and the Islanders earned a point for the 13th straight game — a span including 12 victories and one overtime loss. Mathew Barzal also had a goal and an assist. …
T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored in a shootout to lift the Washington Capitals over the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 at Philadelphia. Brendan Leipsic had a goal in the first period and Braden Holtby made 30 saves for the Capitals, who extended their point streak to 13 games (11-0-2) and increased their NHL-best total to 32 points.