Harvick loses spot in final

Kevin Harvick’s bid for a second NASCAR title suffered a massive setback Wednesday when he was stripped of his berth in the championship race because his winning car failed inspection after Texas Motor Speedway.

The discovery of an illegally modified spoiler, made during a detailed post-race inspection after the No. 4 Ford returned to NASCAR’s Research and Development Center following Sunday’s race, negates the automatic berth Harvick earned into the final four. The rule violated states that spoilers must be used exactly as supplied from the manufacturer.

On top of losing his spot in next weekend’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Harvick must also close out the final two races of the season without crew chief Rodney Childers and car chief Robert Smith. Both were suspended for two races

Harvick was docked 40 driver points, and Stewart-Haas Racing was docked 40 owner points as well. Harvick enters this weekend’s race at Phoenix fourth among the remaining eight playoff drivers.

COLLEGE SOCCER

It took 120 minutes and 12 rounds of penalty shots, but Marquette is moving on to the Big East final for the first time since 2013 on Sunday.

After missing his first chance in the second round, Josh Coan’s penalty kick in the 12th frame got past Creighton goalkeeper Paul Kruse and gave the Golden Eagles a thrilling shootout win over the Bluejays in Omaha, Neb., after playing to a 1-1 draw.

MU managed just three shots on goal during the game, but Luka Prpa tied the game at the 24:15 mark. Prpa also found the net twice in the shootout. Goalkeeper Luis Barraza was huge in net for the Marquette (7-8-3), stopping 8 of 9 shots before overtime ended. The Golden Eagles made 10 of 12 penalty kicks to advance.

Marquette also defeated Xavier in a shootout in the Big East quarterfinals.

GOLF

Two golfers from Thailand were at the top of the leaderboard after Wednesday’s first round of the Blue Bay LPGA tournament in Hainan, China.

Thidapa Suwannapura shot a 4-under 68 to lead the tournament by one shot over her compatriot, Ariya Jutanugarn and Alena Sharp of Canada.

HOCKEY

Daniel Carr scored four goals, including the final tally, helping the Chicago Wolves defeat the Milwaukee Admirals, 5-3, on Wednesday morning.

Milwaukee’s Matt Donovan tied the game at the 5:53 mark of the third period, but the Admirals (83-3) allowed two scores in the next four minutes.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Brenna Wise’s jumper with 1:08 to play helped lift Indiana over UW-Milwaukee, 68-66, on Wednesday night in Bloomington, Ind.

Lizzie Odegard had a chance to give the Panthers the lead twice in the final minute, but couldn’t find the range from behind the three-point arc.

Jamie Reit had 21 points for UWM (0-1).