AIR FORCE HOCKEY ADVANCES TO EAST REGIONAL SEMIFINAL
providence, r.i.» Air Force jumped to a four-goal lead before Western Michigan scored twice in the third period to draw within one, but the Falcons held on for a 5-4 victory over the Broncos and advance to Saturday’s East Regional Championship against No. 3 seed Harvard.
Jordan Himley and Kyle Haak had first-period goals for Air Force, and Haak struck again in the second to give Air Force a 3-0 lead.
Phil Boje ballooned the Falcons’ edge to four goals before the Broncos scored three times in the third period.
• Harvard blanked Providence 3-0 on 41 saves from Merrick Madsen and goals by Tyler Moy and Adam Fox in the second period, and another from Moy with just over a minute left.
• Charlie McAvoy scored midway through the second overtime to lift Boston University to a 4-3 win over defending national champion North Dakota in the semifinals of the NCAA West Regional.
BU freshman goalie Jake Oettinger made a career-high 56 saves, including 19 in the third period.
Rhett Gardner opened the scoring for UND, but the Terriers answered with three goals. • Willie Raskob scored in overtime to lift Minnesota Duluth 3-2 over Ohio State. Minnesota Duluth scored twice in the second period, then Ohio State answered with two goals in the third.
Ex-Penn St. president convicted
B harrisburg, pa.» Former Penn State president Graham Spanier was convicted of hushing up child sexual abuse allegations in 2001 against Jerry Sandusky, whose arrest a decade later blew up into a major scandal for the university and led to the firing of football coach Joe Paterno.
The jury found Spanier guilty of one misdemeanor count of child endangerment over his handling of a complaint against the retired assistant football coach but acquitted him of conspiracy and a second child endangerment count.
Spanier, 68, showed no emotion when the verdict was read after 13 hours of deliberations. He could get up to five years in prison. His lawyer said he will appeal.
Larson fastest in qualifying
B fontana, calif.» Although Kyle Larson has been in second place for most of this NASCAR season, nobody could catch him in qualifying.
Larson turned a lap in 38.493 seconds in his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, hitting 187.047 mph to claim the pole for Sunday’s race.
Denny Hamlin clocked in at 38.507 seconds to earn the fifth front-row start of his career at Auto Club Speedway. Brad Keselowski was third, and Martin Truex Jr. was fourth. Truex’s Furniture Row Racing teammate Erik Jones qualified 14th.