U. S. women strike quickly in qualifier

Alex Morgan scored 12 seconds in and added a goal in the 62nd minute and the U. S. women’s soccer team opened regional qualifying for the Rio Olympics with a 5- 0 victory over Costa Rica in Frisco, Texas, on Wednesday night.

The first goal by Cal alum Morgan was the fastest in CONCACAF Olympic qualifying history, and the team said it is believed to be the fastest in U. S. history.

The match was the Americans’ first competitive game since winning the World Cup. They have won three straight Olympic titles and four of the five in women’s soccer.

Carli Lloyd and Crystal Dunn also scored first- half goals, and substitute Christen Press, a Stanford alum, scored in the 83rd minute.

In Wednesday’s other Group A opener at Toyota Stadium, Maribel Dominguez scored a hat trick as Mexico routed Puerto Rico 6- 0.

Liverpool’s American owners apologized to fans and reversed planned increases in ticket prices in the wake of a walkout by 10,000 fans during a home match Saturday.

“On behalf of everyone at Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool Football Club, we would like to apologize for the distress caused by our ticket pricing plan for the 2016- 17 season,” said John Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon, who also own baseball’s Boston Red Sox.

Barcelona broke the club record with its 29th consecutive unbeaten game when its secondstringers salvaged a 1- 1 draw at Valencia in the Copa del Rey semifinals. Barcelona reached its third straight Copa final 8- 1 on aggregate after it won the first leg 7- 0 at Camp Nou last week.