U.S. SCORES LATE BUT BEATS DOMINICAN
U.S. coach Jason Kreis was dismayed by his team’s scoreless first half against the Dominican Republic in qualifying for the Olympic men’s soccer tournament.
“I felt that we were just way too cautious about the game,” Kreis said. “We just weren’t getting the job done. So for me it was mostly about positioning but also about intent and attitude.“
Jackson Yueill redirected
Sebastian Salcedo’s cross for the go-ahead goal in the 60th minute to get the offense untracked, and second-half substitute Hassani Dotson added a pair of goals in a 4-0 victory on Sunday night at Guadalajara, Mexico.
Djordje Mihailovic, another second-half sub, had a goal and two assists for the U.S., trying to reach the Olympics for the first time since 2012.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Mexico beat Costa Rica 3-0 on goals by Uriel Antuna, Alexis Vega and
Sebastian Cordova.
Mexico leads Group A on goal difference over the U.S. and meets the Americans on Wednesday to determine matchups in the semifinals against teams from Group B, most likely Honduras and
Canada. Semifinal winners qualify for the Olympics.
More soccer
While its neighbor is chasing a quadruple, Manchester United now has only one route to ending a four-year trophy drought. Losing 3-1 to Leicester in the FA Cup quarterfinals leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with realistically only the Europa League to produce his first trophy as United manager. United faces Granada in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
After Kelechi Iheanacho’s double eliminated United, Leicester has the easier route to the final after being drawn to play Southampton.
The other semifinal will pit Man City against Chelsea, which beat Sheffield United 2-0 in Sunday’s other quarterfinal.
Local colleges
The No. 10 UC San Diego women’s water polo team defended the Harper Cup and took down crosstown rival No. 15 San Diego State 10-7 at Canyonview Aquatic Center. The Tritons have won the Harper Cup five times in a row.
• The UCSD softball team (2-5) split a two-game nonconference series with crosstown rival USD (8-15). The Tritons won the first game 7-3, but the Toreros took the second one 5-4.
• The San Diego State softball team (13-7, 1-2 MW) scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning and loaded the bases in the seventh but was unable to come through in a 9-8 loss at Nevada (11-7, 2-1).
Hockey
The San Diego Gulls broke a five-game AHL losing streak with a 4-2 victory at the Tucson Roadrunners. The Gulls trailed 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of play but scored three unanswered goals.
College basketball
UNLV promoted assistant Kevin Kruger, putting a familiar name in charge of a program trying to regain its former luster.
The school announced that Kruger, the son of Oklahoma and former Rebels coach Lon Kruger, will replace T.J. Otzelberger, who left to become the head coach at Iowa State.
Kruger spent the past two seasons as an assistant at UNLV after returning to his alma mater in 2019.
Tennis
Serena Williams is the latest Grand Slam champion to withdraw from the Miami Open. Williams pulled out Sunday, citing recent oral surgery. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer announced earlier they would skip the tournament, which begins Tuesday.
• Daria Kasatkina won the St. Petersburg (Russia) Ladies Trophy when wild card Margarita Gasparyan retired from their all-Russian final with a lower back injury. The eighth-seeded Kasatkina was leading 6-3, 2-1 when Gasparyan’s back problems forced her to retire.
Skiing
An aggressive second run lifted teenager Alice Robinson ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin to win a giant slalom that ended the women’s World Cup ski season in Switzerland. Robinson had been fourth fastest in the opening run, trailing 2018 Olympic champion Shiffrin by 0.77 seconds, yet turned it into a victory by 0.28 at Lenzerheide. It was the 19year-old New Zealander’s third win in giant slalom on the World Cup circuit.