Sports briefs 11/6
Girls soccer
Abbey Spalla of South Fayette was named one of three finalists for the Moe Rosensteel Award for the most outstanding player in Southwestern Pennsylvania girls high school soccer on Thursday.
Spalla, a Penn State recruit, joins defending winner Emily McKee of Fox Chapel and Irelyn Hobbs of Montour as finalists.
McKee could become the first two-time winner of the award, which is in its eighth year.
The award is in honor of former Ringgold girls soccer player Moe Rosensteel, who died after being struck by lightning shortly after graduating high school in 2019.
Spalla is seeking to become the second local soccer player to win the award. Former Peters Township goalie Molly Kubistek won it in 2024.
Women’s soccer
Top-seeded Grove City forged a three-goal lead and went on to a 3-1 victory over Waynesburg in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference semifinals Wednesday evening.
Waynesburg (9-9-1) and Grove City (13-2-4) were scoreless at halftime, despite multiple solid opportunities for both sides. The Wolverines came out firing in the second half, scoring three goals in 11 minutes to go up 3-0.
Amanda Pepe scored Waynesburg’s lone goal inn the 87th minute.
Waynesburg goalkeeper Lex Greenlief had a busy night during which she made 13 saves.
Bucs’ Horowitz is arbitration eligible
Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Spencer Horowitz is among 28 players with two-to-three years of service time who are eligible for salary arbitration, it was announced Thursday.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages, Toronto closer Louis Varland and Texas left-hander Jacob Latz also are among the players to make the so-called Super-2s cutoff.
Philadelphia outfielder Johan Rojas was just under the cutoff at 2 years, 131 days. Rojas started the season at 2 years, 36 days but during spring training was suspended for 80 games for a positive test for a banned performance-enhancing substance. He had surgery on June 21 to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow, and when his suspension ended four days later, he was placed on the 60-day injured list for the rest of the season.
The top 22% of players by service time with at least two years but less than three are eligible for arbitration as long as they had at least 86 days of service this year.
NFL
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has filed for bankruptcy, claiming $3.5 million in debts, most of it connected to civil litigation involving his high-speed crash in Texas and allegations of assault by a former girlfriend.
The filing made Wednesday in Texas lists $677,054 in personal assets, including $421,825 in what is listed as deferred compensation. Rice is in the final year of a four-year rookie contract with a total value of $6.5 million and a 2026 base salary of $1.6 million.
Rice’s largest debtor is owed $979,837 as part of a settlement for his role in the 2024 crash in Dallas that left multiple people injured and led to a six-game suspension by the NFL.
The 26-year-old is disputing potential debts in ongoing civil cases, including a combined $700,000 in lawsuits filed by crash victims and another $200,000 from the ex-girlfriend who alleged he assaulted her multiple times from 2023-25.
NBA
Bronny James has been assigned to the Los Angeles Lakers’ G League affiliate again.
The Lakers made the move Thursday, also assigning first-round pick Cameron Carr to the Coachella Valley Lakers.
James has moved up and down between the NBA and the G League throughout his three-year career. The oldest son of LeBron James has only played mop-up minutes during the Lakers’ 7-2 start to the current season, making five appearances and scoring 0.8 points per game in 2.4 minutes per contest.