U.S. WNT camp colored Cardinal
Stanford defender Tierna Davidson and midfielder Andi Sullivan were among 26 players called up to the United States’ women’s national soccer team by coach Jill Ellis on Wednesday.
Training camp, which opens a year that includes qualifying for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, kicks off Saturday in Carson, concluding on Jan. 21 with a match against Denmark. The game will broadcast on ESPN on 4:30 p.m. from San Diego.
Davidson was the only returning collegiate player named to the squad — Sullivan and South Carolina’s Savannah McCaskill were the two graduating seniors invited to the camp.
Joining Davidson and Sullivan in the camp are former Cardinal Jane Campbell, Kelley O’Hara and Christen Press.
Missing from the roster were three players who continue to deal with injuries: Tobin Heath (ankle), Samantha Mewis (knee) and Rose Lavelle (hamstring). The team said Lavelle might join the team for light training and rehab.
• Menlo College goalkeeper Kaylin Swart has been called up by the South African women’s national team to participate in a pair of friendlies later this month against Sweden.
• Defender Ashley Cole agreed to return for another season with the L.A. Galaxy. The MLS club announced a one-year contract with the veteran English star.
• The New York Red Bulls traded midfielder Sacha Kljestan and $150,000 in targeted allocation money to Orlando City SC for forward Carlos Rivas and center back Tommy Redding. Kljestan set a franchise single-season record with 20 assists this past season.
• Sporting Kansas City traded U.S. national team midfielder Benny Feilhaber, a former MLS All-Star, to expansion-club LAFC in exchange for $400,000 in allocation money.
• Orlando City signed U.S. national team forward Dom Dwyer to a three-year contract.
Basketball
HAVING A BALL IN LITHUANIA >> The brothers of Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball landed in rainy Lithuania on Wednesday night to start their career at a local basketball club.
The 19-year-old LiAngelo and his younger brother LaMelo, who is 16, signed professional one-year contracts with BC Prienai last month.
“It’s surely no California and it’s cold, but I think we will like it here,” LaMelo told reporters as they walked through the crowd toward the “Party Bus,” which was to take them to Prienai around 68 miles south of Vilnius, the capital.
The brothers arrived with their father, LaVar Ball, an American media personality and businessman, and the creator of Big Baller Brand.
LiAngelo and LaMelo are expected to make their debut on Tuesday, when BC Prienai hosts Tsmoki-Minsk in a Baltic league game.
Most tickets for that night at the 1,200-seat arena have already been sold, according to the box office.
Winter sports
SHIFFRIN TRIUMPHS IN CROATIA >> Mikaela Shiffrin passed the 1,000-point milestone for the women’s World Cup season after just 14 starts.
The Olympic champion from the United States took a slalom in Zagreb, Croatia, by a huge margin for her seventh win of the season, and 38th overall.
Shiffrin leads the overall standings with 1,081 points after 16 of this season’s 38 races. Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany, who didn’t enter Wednesday’s slalom, trails by 571 points in second.
• Joey Mantia won the 1,000 meters at the U.S. speedskating trials in Milwaukee, while two-time Olympic champion Shani Davis is headed to his fourth Games.
Mantia finished in 1 minute, 9.15 seconds Wednesday night. The former inline skater from Florida finished 15th in the event four years ago in Sochi.
Skating in the third-tolast pairing, Davis clocked 1:09.23 to finish second. Mitch Whitmore was third at 1:09.32 to grab the third Olympic berth.
Tennis
NISHIKORI OUT OF AUSSIE >> Kei Nishikori pulled out of the Australian Open because his right wrist is not fully recovered enough from a torn tendon to withstand the rigor of best-of5-set matches at a Grand Slam tournament.
• Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the quarterfinals of the ASB Tennis Classic, beating Petra Martic of Croatia 6-2, 6-2, in Auckland, New Zealand.
• Top-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria is the only seeded player through to the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open in Doha. Thiem progressed with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia. Spanish seeded players Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez were second-round casualties.
• Marin Cilic of Croatia comfortably beat India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 6-3 at the Maharashtra Open, but third seed Roberto Bautista Agut was eliminated in Pune, India
• Former champ Milos Raonic lost in straight sets to 18-year-old Alex De Minaur in a second-round upset at the Brisbane International.
Jurisprudence
FORMER BOXING CHAMP APPEARS IN COURT >> Ex-boxing champion Vinny Paz, who’s accused of biting a man, knocking out his teeth and sending him to a hospital, appeared in court on a felony assault charge and was released.
Paz, a five-time world champion who broke his neck in a car crash, is known for his comeback story, which was dramatized in the 2016 film “Bleed for This,” starring Miles Teller.
He appeared in Providence (R.I.) District Court not long after turning himself in on a warrant issued by police on Tuesday. Paz, who appeared in court with black eyes, did not enter a plea and was released on personal recognizance. He was ordered to have no contact with the man he’s accused of beating and was scheduled to appear in superior court in April.
Witnesses told police that Paz accused the man of stealing $16,000
Outside court, the retired champ maintained his innocence, telling reporters, “I got robbed.” He called himself the victim and said he planned to go to a hospital after leaving court.