Chicago, Houston win, to meet for NWSL title
Rachel Daly scored on a header in the 69th minute and the Houston Dash advanced to the National Women’s Soccer League’s Challenge Cup title game with a 10 victory over the Portland Thorns in Wednesday’s semfinals in Sandy, Utah.
The fourthseeded Dash, the highest remaining seed in the tournament, had never been to the playoffs in seven years in the NWSL.
Houston will play the the Chicago Red Stars, who defeated Sky Blue FC (N.J.) 32 in the night match at Sandy. Chicago made it to its second straight NWSL title game, and is looking for its first championship.
In the MLS is Back tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Yuya Kubo scored off a defensive mistake just before halftime, and FC Cincinnati added a secondhalf own goal on its way to a 20 win over the New York Red Bulls. Cincinnati picked up one of the biggest wins in its young franchise history, securing a spot in the knockout round of the tournament.
Also, Johnny Russell scored in the first minute, Gerso Fernandes added an insurance goal in the closing minutes and Sporting Kansas City secured its spot in the knockout round with a 20 victory over Real Salt Lake.
Minnesota and Colorado played to a 22 draw; Minnesota had already advanced and Colorado had already been eliminated.
Lindblom signs new deal with Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers signed Oskar Lindblom to a threeyear, $9 million extension only weeks after the forward completed radiation treatments for a rare form of bone cancer.
The Flyers hope Lindblom, 23, can be among the 31 players who will travel with the team to Toronto for the Aug. 1 scheduled resumption of the hockey season. Lindblom hasn’t played since December when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a tumor that grows in the bones or in the tissue around bones. He had 11 goals and 18 points in 30 games this season. NFL: Prosecutors dropped the drunken driving and illegal handgun charges against Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Ed Oliver, who had been arrested in May during a traffic stop in Houston’s northern suburbs. Blood test results showed no intoxication Golf: David Law of Scotland shot a 7underpar 64 to take a onestroke lead over Oliver Fisher, Garrick Porteous and Renato Paratore in the opening round of the British Masters at Close House Golf Course near Newcastle, England.
Obituaries: Former UConn basketball player Stanley Robinson, a starter on the Huskies’ 2009 Final Four team, died of unknown causes at a family residence in Birmingham, Ala. He was 32.
Officials said Robinson was found unresponsive by a family member Tuesday night. He was pronounced dead at the scene 11 minutes later.
Carlton Haselrig, a Pro Bowl right guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the early 1990s who is also the only wrestler in NCAA history to win six individual national championships, died Wednesday at 54.