Sports briefs 10/23
Boys soccer
Aaron Scheib, Tristian Walker and Owen Hammond had two goals each as No. 13 Ambridge (14-4-2) secured a 9-0 victory over No. 20 Charleroi in the preliminary round of the Class 2A playoffs on Thursday.
Alex Lusty, Emmitt Olenic, and Brady Phillips added a goal each for the Bridgers, who advanced to play No. 4 Elizabeth Forward in the first round on Monday. Charleroi finished the season 6-8-3.
Girls soccer
Bentworth prepared for the upcoming WPIAL playoffs with a 7-0 rout of Penn Hills in nonsection play Wednesday.
Brielle Dillon sparked the Bearcats’ attack by scoring two goals. Joelie Conkle, Joa Johns, Bella Moyer and Megan Keturakis tallied the other goals as Bentworth finished the regular season with a 15-2 record.
• Undefeated South Park built a two-goal lead in the first half and went on to a 3-1 victory over visiting Belle Vernon in a nonsection match Wednesday.
Belle Vernon will enter the WPIAL playoffs with an 11-3-4 record. South Park is 18-0.
The lone goal for Belle Vernon was scored by Raegan Sobczak in the second half off an assist from Deulla Lightfoot.
Men’s soccer
Waynesburg moved above the .500 mark in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play with a 3-0 victory over visiting Westminster on Wednesday.
Matthew Serrano got the Yellow Jackets (5-4-1, 8-6-2) going with a goal in the 15th minute.
Antonio Baires found the net with a penalty kick in the 59th minute, and John Engel sealed the win with his eighth goal of the season, coming in the final six minutes. Engel has scored a goal in six consecutive games.
Goalkeeper Zach Reed had his fifth shutout.
• California suffered a 2-1 loss against Seton Hill in PSAC West action Wednesday.
California (2-5-1, 3-8-4) lost both meetings to Seton Hill this year by 2-1 scores with the Griffins scoring the game-winning goal in both contests around the 78th minute.
Cal tied the score in the 66th minute when freshman Ryan Moessner registered his sixth goal of the season off an assist from Ryan Maloney.
Women’s soccer
California scored a pair of goals in the first half and went on to a 2-0 victory over Salem in a nonconference match Wednesday night at the Phillipsburg Soccer Facility.
Cal opened the scoring in the 21st minute with an unassisted goal by sophomore Macrina Robb, her third of the season. The Vulcans added to the lead at the 36:45-mark when senior Kaitlin Bickhart converted a penalty kick.
NFL
Los Angeles Rams All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua left practice early with a calf injury Thursday, creating yet another major injury concern for Los Angeles.
Nacua couldn’t finish the Rams’ second practice since they lost six-time Pro Bowl receiver Davante Adams for six to 10 weeks with a hamstring injury.
Nacua has 37 catches for 417 yards and a touchdown while playing in just four games this season.
NHL
Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is out 2-4 weeks with what the team called an upper-body injury, ending his ironman run of 546 regular-season games that was the second-longest active streak in the NHL.
Only Colorado’s Brent Burns at 1,017 has played more consecutive games.
Baseball
Todd Benzinger, a member of the Cincinnati Reds’ 1990 World Series championship team, has died. He was 63.
In an announcement Thursday, the Reds said Benzinger died on Wednesday.
Benzinger played nine seasons in the major leagues, including with the Reds from 1989-91 that included that title run.
Golf
Karis Davidson had six birdies in eight holes but bogeyed her ninth Thursday for a 6-under 66 and was tied for the first-round lead at the LPGA’s BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea.
Davidson, who started on the 10th hole Thursday, was level with Yuri Yoshida on the Pine Beach Golf Links southwest of Gwangju. Davidson and Yoshida are both seeking their first wins on the LPGA Tour.
No. 3-ranked Haeran Ryu shot 67 and was tied for third. Her round included a chip-in birdie from off the 5th green. Also tied for third were Americans Lucy Li and Lauren Coughlin and European Solheim Cup player Julia Lopez Ramirez.