Engineers top Lancers in opener

LOCAL COLLEGES Football

Stephen MacDonald completed 18 of 25 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns, both to former Quabbin Regional star Noah Herzig (7 catches, 104 yards) as the host Engineers opened the season with a win over the Lancers.

WPI, which vaulted to a 21-0 lead, has won 11 straight season openers.

The Engineers’ Hunter Carey carried 16 times for 75 yards and a touchdown, while John Chau and Oxford’s Sam Wing also scored TDs for WPI. Dylan Wagner led the Engineers’ defense with five tackles and a sack.

Worcester State’s Mike Loveless completed 15 of 21 passes for 166 yards and also rushed for a touchdown. Teammate Nico Holmes added a rushing TD.

Joshua Vitti hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Xavier Powell with 3:47 left as the host Bison avoided a shutout. Powell completed 9 of 24 passes for 87 yards and rushed 10 times for 74 yards to lead the Nichols offense. Garrhet Manning led the Bison defense with eight tackles.

Men’s soccer

William Lopez and Teddy Donahue each scored twice, and Lucas Saia and Ben Siegel both had two assists to lift the host Cougars in their opener.

Liam Evans scored his first collegiate goal in the 87th minute as the host Falcons (1-0) outshot the Blazers, 9-2, in the second half while earning the win. Luke Speers made two saves to earn the shutout.

Jake Williams scored in the 83rd minute on a shot from 6 yards to power the host Crusaders (1-1-1) over the Pioneers (1-2). Tristan Stephani (2 saves) posted his first collegiate shutout.

Billy Chissoe connected for WPI at 67:03, but Brendan Lower countered for Worcester State in the opener for both.

Ethan Knowles and Ethan Gosper scored in the second half for the Bison in a loss to the Huskies at Hannaford Field in Gorham, Maine, in the opener for both teams.

Rubelsi Moran’s second-half goal tied the game for the host AmCats in their opener, but the Colonels netted the winner in the 75th minute.

Women’s soccer

Siobhan Lounsbury’s goal in the 58th minute broke a tie for the visiting Cougars, just 28 seconds after Natalie Gray scored to even the match for the Bison, in the opener for both teams. Clark’s Andrea Mortimer tallied in the first half.

Adrianna Westcott scored in the 36th minute, and Noelle Kennedy made it a two-goal lead early in the second half for the host Falcons in their opener.

Ava Lemansky scored in the 60th minute to tie it for the host Lancers in their opener. Worcester State keeper Ella Gumienny had eight saves.

Mia Gilmore scored twice, and Lottie McLeod had a goal and two assists to spark the visiting Engineers (1-0).

Amaia Astiasaran and Kate Carleson tallied in the first half, and Frida Larrson (2 saves) posted the shutout as the Greyhounds prevailed in their opener at D’Youville University in Buffalo, New York.

Kortney Clark had five saves for the host AmCats in a season-opening loss to the Terriers.

Field hockey

Fionnuala Gormley netted the winner at 52:45 for the host Cougars in the opener for both teams. Greer McCarty had the team’s other goal. Grace Adams connected for the Lancers.

Jenna Morse of Leominster had 10 saves for the host Falcons in a seasonopening loss to the Chargers (1-0).

Ella Moreau made 10 saves for the visiting Engineers in a setback to the Hawks in the season opener for both teams.

Kaelyn Casper scored her first goal of the season for the visiting Bison (0-1) in a loss to the Owls (1-0).

Maguire Sturgis (assist) and Sarah Potter had the goals for the visiting Crusaders (1-1) in a loss to the Huskies (2-1).

In the opener for both teams. Caroline McSweeney scored in the second half for the host Greyhounds against the Rams, ranked third in the nation in Division 2.

Men’s cross-country

WPI graduate student David Reynolds finished second in 15:30.8 over 5K at Franklin Park in Boston, leading the Engineers to second place (76 points) behind only Division 1 Northeastern in the opening meet of the season.

Women’s volleyball

Luna Colozzo had 14 kills, 7 digs and 2 aces while leading the visiting Bison past the Blazers, in the opener for both teams. Set scores were 25-11, 25-16, 18-25, 25-20.

Yvanna Torres had 24 assists and an ace, and Yumeng Liu added 17 digs, 4 assists and 3 aces to lift the Cougars (1-0) at the Roger Williams Invitational in Bristol, Rhode Island. Set scores were 25-10, 16-25, 25-17, 25-18.

Sophomore Audrey Stroupe had 11 kills, senior Olivia Deckers of Marlborough added 10 kills and 14 digs, and junior Lily Eldridge chipped in 25 assists and 14 digs for lead the Engineers (1-1) in a seasonopening loss to the three-time defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champion Gulls. Set scores were 25-23, 23-25, 25-12, 25-15.

Rachel Johnson had 13 kills, 7 digs, 2 aces and 2 blocks for the host Crusaders (1-3) in a loss to the Wildcats (4-1). Set scores were 25-18, 25-22, 25-16.

HIGH SCHOOLS Golf

Ricky Narain carded a 5-over 41 at Bedrock to lift the host Mountaineers (1-1) over the Tigers (0-1).

Liam Dunn (par 35) and Eddie Wenn (2-over 37) paced the visiting Titans (1-0) past the Panthers (0-1) at Marlborough CC.

Evan Piekos shot 39 on the front nine of the North course at Stow Acres to power the Trojans in their season opener. The Hawks’ Riley O’Sullivan also carded 39.

Fitzpatrick leads at European Masters, closes in on Ryder Cup place

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland – Aiming to seal his place at the Ryder Cup this month, Matt Fitzpatrick doubled his lead at the European Masters to two shots after the third round on Saturday.

Fitzpatrick played the par-4 18th hole perfectly and sank a six-foot birdie putt to card a 3-under-par round of 67. He has a 15-under total of 195 at sunsoaked Crans-sur-Sierre club in the Swiss Alps.

The 2022 U.S. Open champion needs to finish better than seventh alone to take the third and final qualifying place via the World Points List for Europe’s Ryder Cup team. Tommy Fleetwood holds third place though is not playing this week.

Fitzpatrick leads by two strokes from Alexander Björk, his playing partner on Saturday who shot 68, plus a second Swede, Ludvig Saberg (66), and Connor Syme (65).

Alex Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of Matt, is a shot further back tied for fifth with Nicolai Højgaard. They made 68 and 66, respectively.

Yankees’ Judge becomes fastest MLB player to 250 home runs

HOUSTON – New York Yankees star Aaron Judge became the fastest player in major league history to reach 250 home runs with a solo shot off Justin Verlander in the fifth inning Friday night against the Houston Astros.

Judge reached the milestone in his 810th career game, besting Philadelphia slugger Ryan Howard, who did it in 2010 in his 855th game.

Leading off the fifth, Judge sent the first pitch to the train tracks above the left-field stands to extend New York’s lead to 6-2. Judge smiled broadly as he rounded the bases and was greeted at the dugout with high-fives from many of his teammates.

It was the 30th homer of the season for Judge, who missed nearly two months with a toe injury. The 2022 AL MVP hit 62 last year, breaking Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 set in 1961.

– Wire reports