Canadian women defeat U.S. in world hockey finale

Intense. Fun. Exciting. Those were the expectations heading into the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship gold-medal game, and it lived up to that as Canada defeated the United States, 32, in overtime Tuesday night.

In a back-and-forth affair that saw many chances, bigtime goals and saves by the netminders, arch rivals Canada and the United States saw their 19th golden meeting come down to overtime. Seven minutes and 22 seconds into that extra session, Canada’s captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored the game winner.

Poulin fired the shot from the left circle and it went off the crossbar, off the post, over the line and out. It took the video reviewers a few minutes to confirm the winning goal.

The win marked the Canadians first gold medal at worlds since 2012 and ended the Americans run of five championships in a row.

Colleges

Pitt women’s soccer is ranked No. 20 in the United Soccer Coaches’ Poll. Making their debut in the rankings in the 2021 season, the Panthers received the most votes outside of the top-25 in the previous week. Pitt also is tabbed No. 21 in the TopDrawerSoccer Poll. Pitt has won all four games so far this season with a goal aggregate of 16-2.

Soccer

Cristiano Ronaldo is looking to the future at Manchester United. Finalizing one of the summer’s most high-profile deals on the last day of the European transfer window, the fivetime world player of the year completed his sensational return to United after 12 years away and said: “I’m back where I belong.”

• Brazil will be missing nine of its players from the English Premier League for its next three World Cup qualifiers, including Thursday’s clash at Chile. But second place Argentina expects to have four of its Englandbased players at Venezuela on the same day. The Premier League clubs had said they would block their players from traveling to South American nations, which are red-listed by the British government because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any players who go and then return to Britain have to spend 10 days in hotel quarantine.

• Portland Timbers midfielder Eryk Williamson is out for the season because of a left knee injury that will require surgery. Williamson tore his ACL on Sunday during Portland’s 2-0 victory against the Sounders in Seattle.

Basketball

Jonquel Jones scored 21 of her career-high tying 31 points in the first half and visiting Connecticut beat the Washington Mystics (10-16), 85-75, for the Sun’s ninth consecutive victory in the WNBA. It’s the longest winning streak for Connecticut (21-6) since a 12-game run in 2006.

• Kelsey Mitchell scored 25 points and Teaira McCowan added 15 — including two free throws to cap the scoring with 15.3 seconds to play — and tied her career high with 19 rebounds and the host Indiana Fever (6-19) beat the Los Angeles Sparks (10-17), 74-72. Nneka Ogwumike made two free throws to give the Sparks a 72-64 lead with 3:05 left, but Indiana closed the game on a 10-0 run.

• The Lakers have signed guard Rajon Rondo, bringing a piece back from their 2020 NBA championship team for a role on their bench. Rondo spent last season with the Atlanta Hawks and the Los Angeles Clippers, struggling to recapture any of the magic he cooked up in Orlando during the NBA bubble, when he was arguably the Lakers’ thirdbest player for large stretches of the postseason. Rondo, 35, will sign for the veteran’s minimum.

• WNBA player Kristi Toliver, just-retired NBA player Jared Dudley and one of standout guard Luka Doncic’s former national team coaches were among the eight assistants announced for the staff of new Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd.

Hockey

The Chicago Blackhawks announced a fouryear contract extension with defenseman Connor Murphy. The deal runs through the 2025-26 season and carries a $4.4 million salary-cap hit. The 28-yearold Murphy has turned into one of Chicago’s most reliable defensemen. He had three goals and 12 assists while averaging a career-high 22:09 of ice time over 50 games last season.

Golf

Valley Brook Country Club’s Brett Carmen, who shot a first-round 67, won the Pittsburgh Open and the $10,000 purse after rain washed out the final round at South Hills Country Club.

Baseball

The Washington Wild Things’ game Tuesday against the New York Boulders was postponed due to rain. It will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader Wednesday. starting at 5:05 p.m.