Sports briefs
Boys soccer
Andy Palm scored two goals in the first half and Trinity went on to a 5-0 victory over Albert Gallatin in a Class 3A Section 3 match Thursday at Hiller Field.
Matteo Lesako opened the scoring with a goal only two minutes into the contest. Palm added his two goals to give Trinity (6-4, 6-4) a 3-0 halftime lead.
Faiden Hodgson and Cooper Cincinnati had goals in the second half.
- Charleroi remained undefeated with a 6-0 victory over Beth-Center in Class A Section 2.
The Cougars (7-0, 11-0) scored five goals in the first half. Arlo McIntyre had two goals. Ethan Hartley, Bryce Large, Dylan Klinger and Landon Barcus also scored.
- Trevor Kovatch scored three goals, including two in the first half, powering Belle Vernon to a 4-2 win over Waynesburg in Class 2A Section 3.
Brandon Yeschenko had the other tally for the Leopards, who lead the section at 9-1 (10-1 overall).
Goals by Waynesburg’s Dalton Taylor and Owen Haught tied the score at 2-2 early in the second half before Yeschenko scored the game-winner with nine minute remaining.
The Raiders are 2-8 in section and 3-9 overall.
McGuffey blanked Washington 2-0 in Class 2A Section 3.
The win keeps the Highlanders (8-2, 10-3) within striking distance of first place. Wash High slipped to 4-6, 4-9.
Girls soccer
Julia Spergel opned the scoring with a goal and ateammate Ella Neupaver struck the game-winner from 35 yards out as Peters Township slipped past Bethel Park 2-1 in Class 4A Section 2 on Wednesday night.
PT improved to 8-0-1 in section and 10-0-1 overall. BP is 4-5, 5-5-1.
In baseball
Anthony Santander homered, DL Hall worked out of a sixth-inning jam and the Baltimore Orioles clinched the AL East title with a 2-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.
Dean Kremer (13-5) allowed two hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight, and the Orioles reached 100 wins for the sixth time in team history and first since 1980. Baltimore prevailed in a brutally tough division that relegated the Red Sox and New York Yankees to afterthoughts.
Now the Orioles – two years after losing 110 games – will enter the postseason as the top seed in the American League.
In the NHL
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to miss the first two months of the NHL season after undergoing back surgery.
The team announced the stunning injury news Thursday, midway through training camp and with opening night less than two weeks away.
General manager Julien BriseBois said Vasilevskiy had a successful microdiscectomy to address a lumbar disk herniation. The recovery could sideline arguably the best goalie in the world for 25 or more games.
In auto racing
The NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race will remain at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2024 after this year’s event – the first race for NASCAR’s top series there in 27 years – attracted a capacity crowd thrilled to return to stock car roots.
NASCAR also announced that it will return to the 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next season for the 30-year anniversary of stock cars racing at the historic venue.
In football
The XFL and USFL plan to join forces.
The spring pro football leagues announced in a statement Thursday they would merge going forward. The statement said details of the new league would come out at a later date.