USC, UCLA women advance in soccer
The USC and UCLA women’s soccer teams breezed to victories in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday.
The Trojans got goals from six players in a 6-0 win over Long Beach State at USC’s McAlister Field, improving their record to 162-2. Natalie Jacobs and Alea Hyatt scored in the first half. Tara McKeown, Leah Pruitt, Savannah DeMelo and Hailey Hite scored in the second half as USC posted its largest margin of victory in a tournament game. The six goals is a USC record for a postseason game.
USC will play the winner of the game Sunday between host Louisiana State and Boston in the second round. The game will be played Thursday in Tallahassee, Fla.
Led by Ashley Sanchez, Jessie Fleming and Hailie Mace, UCLA cruised to a 5-0 victory over San Jose State. Sanchez scored two goals, Fleming had a goal and two assists, and Mace recorded two assists.
UCLA (15-3-1) will host Minnesota in the second round Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Gophers advanced after a 2-0 win over Auburn. park and the use of a new car. The NCAA also accepted the university’s self-imposed penalties of reducing one scholarship, disassociation of one of its boosters and a $5,000 fine.
The university said that it plans to appeal the decision because it considers the vacating of wins to be too harsh and not consistent with recent cases.
Minnesota Twins star Joe Mauer has decided to retire after 15 seasons. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Mauer has taken out an ad in its Sunday paper to announce his retirement. The newspaper reported that Mauer, who missed significant time this season because of a concussion, says in the ad that his decision “came down to my health and my family.”
Mauer is 35 and his eight-year, $184-million contract expired after this season.
Trevor Rosenthal could earn $30 million over two years if he becomes the Washington Nationals’ closer and regularly finishes games.
Matt Kuchar escaped his only big mess with a 35-foot bogey putt on the 12th hole, and he rode eight birdies to a seven-under 64 that gave him a two-shot lead over PGA Tour rookie Cameron Champ going into the weekend at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Playa Del Carmen, Mexico . ... Sergio Garcia barely held onto his lead as Louis Oosthuizen’s second-round charge took him to within a shot of the Spaniard at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa. Garcia’s one-under 71 moved him to nine-under 135 overall, but his four-shot advantage from the first day disappeared as Oosthuizen (67) made an eagle and five birdies at Gary Player Country Club . ... Gaby Lopez turned 25 and celebrated with a hole-in-one that helped her to a six-under 66 and a one-stroke lead over Ariya Jutanugarn after the third round of the Blue Bay LPGA tournament in Hainan Island, China.
Stephen Curry has a mild to moderate left groin strain and will miss Golden State’s home game against Brooklyn on Saturday night . ... Denver Nuggets forward Will Barton is starting to take a few shots as he recovers from surgery to fix core and hip muscle injuries. ... The Cavaliers’ injury list continues to grow with starting forward Cedi Osman the latest addition. Osman will miss Saturday’s game at Chicago with back spasms that forced him to leave Wednesday’s loss to Orlando.
The Boston Bruins say goaltender Tuukka Rask has been granted a leave of absence from the team for a personal matter.