Sports briefs
Boys soccer
Dylan Rathway scored three goals, Daniel Sassak had two and Belle Vernon made it a perfect 10 wins by rolling over Greensburg Salem 8-1 Tuesday night in Class 3A Section 3.
Belle Vernon (9-0, 10-0) forged a 3-1 halftime lead, then scored five second-half goals, including two each by Sassak and Rathway.
Tyler Kovatch, Nick Nagy and Nathaniel Kikel scored the other goals for the Leopards.
• Bentworth scored three second-half goals to beat visiting Monessen 4-1 in Section 4-A.
Jerzy Timlin had two goals to lead the offense for Bentworth (5-5, 5-6). Jaxon Selvoski and Ryan Colbert each scored one goal for Bentworth, which broke away from a 1-1 halftime tie.
Morgan Madison had the lone goal for Monessen (2-6, 2-6).
• Elijah Cincinnati scored a hat trick and Logan Errett added three assists as Trinity downed Albert Gallatin 6-1 in a Section 3-AAA match.
Aiden Belcastro, Jeremy Naser and Tyler Johnson added the other goals for the Hillers (7-2, 7-2), who defeated Laurel Highlands by the same 6-1 score.
Nick Pegg scored for AG (2-7, 2-7).
Girls soccer
Alyssa Clutter and Courtney Lowe each had a hat trick in Trinity’s 8-1 victory over Uniontown in a designated non-section match.
Ella Nuccatelli and Emma Lorenzo also scored for Trinity (5-2).
Uniontown fell to 0-5.
Bowman to replace Johnson in No. 48 carThe most coveted seat in NASCAR belongs to Alex Bowman in a Hendrick Motorsports lineup shuffle to replace seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the iconic No. 48 Chevrolet.
Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives, who won five championships with Johnson as his engineer, will move from the No. 88 into Johnson’s ride at the end of the season. The swap announced Tuesday makes Bowman just the second driver of the team created in 2001 specifically for Johnson.
Johnson’s 19th full season is his last in NASCAR and he will move to a partial IndyCar schedule next year. His retirement opened the door for Bowman to replace a NASCAR superstar for the second time in four years. Two years ago, he replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“It’s definitely pretty similar, you go from (replacing) the most popular driver of all time to (replacing) arguably the greatest of all time,” Bowman told The Associated Press. “It’s just an honor for me to get to drive another car with a great number. I know I’m going to get a lot of the same questions I’ve answered the last couple of years, just replace Jimmie Johnson for Dale Earnhardt Jr. For everyone who has the confidence in me to do it just means the world to me.”
Hendrick Motorsports said it will address its plans for the No. 88 in the next few weeks. Kyle Larson, suspended by NASCAR since April for using a racial slur, is the leading candidate for that opening.
NHL targets Jan. 1 to begin season
Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday night the NHL is targeting a Jan. 1 start for next season.
That declaration came after recent talks between the league and NHL Players’ Association. The new date is a month after the tentative Dec. 1 start.
“It was just over a week ago that we celebrated the successful completion of our 2019-20 return to play with the crowning of the Tampa Bay Lightning as Stanley Cup champions,” Bettman said. “Based upon what we have learned and what we know and what we still don’t know, I can say that we are now focused on a Jan. 1 start for next season.”
That could mean kicking things off with the Winter Classic that has become a staple of New Year’s Day.