WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
Team USA blanks Germany to reach finals
MONTREAL (AP) β Team USA is going to the Women’s World Cup championship.
Carli Lloyd converted a penalty kick in the 69th minute and assisted on Kelley O’Hara’s first international goal in the 84th minute in the Americans’ 2-0 victory over Germany in the semifinal in Montreal. Goalkeeper Hope Solo recorded her fifth straight shutout before a crowd of about 54,000 at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
England and the defending Women’s World Cup champion Japan play Wednesday night for the right to play the Americans in Sunday’s championship in Vancouver.
WOMEN’s WORLD CUP-BLATTER
No Sepp for women’s final weekend
MONTREAL (AP) β FIFA (FEE’-fuh) President Sepp Blatter will skip the Women’s World Cup final in Canada. He is avoiding a visit to North America at a time when U.S. officials are pursuing a criminal investigation into the game’s ruling body.
According to FIFA, Blatter’s second-in-command, secretary general Jerome Valcke, will also be absent from the biggest event in women’s soccer “due to their current commitments in Zurich.”
NASCAR-CONFEDERATE FLAGS
Daytona to offer Stars and Stripes in exchange program
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β Daytona International Speedway will not ban the Confederate flag from track property this weekend. But the track will offer the American flag to those who wish to fly it on property.
Daytona President Joie (JOH’-ee) Chitwood says the speedway will offer an exchange program in which fans can trade a flag for the American flag. Daytona’s hosts NASCAR races on Saturday and Sunday nights this weekend.
Chitwood said there’s not enough time to plan and enforce a ban on the Confederate flag, which NASCAR chairman Brian France does not want flying at NASCAR events.
NASCAR has taken a strong stance against the flag since nine black churchgoers were slain in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17. The suspect, Dylann Roof, embraced Confederate symbols before the attack.
MLB-GIANTS ROTATION
Cain, Peavy coming back
MIAMI (AP) β Matt Cain and Jake Peavy are headed back to work for the San Francisco Giants after lengthy stays on the disabled list.
Cain is scheduled to start Thursday against Miami. Cain hasn’t pitched since July 2014 due to elbow surgery and a strained flexor tendon.
Peavy is to start Friday at Washington after being sidelined since April 17 with a strained back.
Cain will replace right-hander Tim Lincecum (LIHN’-sih-kuhm), who will be placed on the disabled list with a bruised right forearm after being hit by a line drive Saturday.
MLB-PHILLIES-MACKANIN
Mackanin to manage through end of seaosn
PHILADELPHIA (AP) β The Philadelphia Phillies say Pete Mackanin will stay as their manager for the rest of the season. He took over on an interim basis last Friday after manager Ryne Sandberg resigned.
This is Mackanin’s third stint as an interim manager after working in a similar role previously with the Reds and Pirates.
WIMBLEDON
Day 2
LONDON (AP) β The defending women’s champion has won her first match of the year at Wimbledon as have former men’s champions Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal (rah-fay-ehl nah-DAHL’).
Second-seed Petra Kvitova (kuh-VIHT’-oh-vuh) rolled to a straight sets win. The two-time Wimbledon champ pulled out of a warmup event last week at Eastbourne, England, citing a viral illness.
Federer, Murray and Nadal all advanced with straight sets wins as well.
There were two upsets on the women’s side of things as Eugenie Bouchard (boo-SHARD’), who was runner-up at Wimbledon last year, fell in the opening round to a qualifier, while third seed Simona Halep (HAL’-ehp) became the highest seeded player eliminated so far, losing to the 106th ranked player in the world.
The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, have pulled out of women’s doubles at Wimbledon. The duo has won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles as a pair, most recently at Wimbledon in 2012.
NBA-MOVES
New home for a well-traveled player
UNDATED (AP) β The Oklahoma City Thunder have sent Luke Ridnour and cash to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for a trade exception and the rights to forward Tomislav Zubcic. That makes four NBA teams in the last week for Ridnour. He was to Charlotte in a deal involving Memphis on Wednesday, then almost immediately dealt to the Thunder.
Ridnour has played for five NBA teams in 12 years and has a career scoring average of 9.3 points per game.
In other NBA news:
β Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova (dehl-uh-veh-DOH’-vah) and Iman (EE’-mahn) Shumpert all received qualifying offers from Cleveland. That means the Cavaliers can match any offers those players get from other clubs this summer. The Cavs have also announced that forward Mike Miller exercised his $2.85-million option for next season.
NHL-TRANSACTIONS
Chicago ships Saad to Columbus
UNDATED (AP) β The Blackhawks have traded forward Brandon Saad (SAHD) to Columbus in a seven-player deal.
The 22-year-old Saad set career highs with 23 goals and 29 assists in 82 games this past season, while helping Chicago to its third Stanley Cup title in six seasons.
The Blackhawks also sent forward Alex Broadhurst and defenseman Michael Paliotta to the Blue Jackets for forwards Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin and Corey Tropp and a fourth-round selection in the 2016 draft.
In other news:
β The Calgary Flames have signed Dougie Hamilton to a six-year contract reportedly worth $34.5 million The Flames acquired Hamilton from the Boston Bruins on Friday for the 15th, 42nd and 57th picks in the draft.
β The New York Islanders have signed forward Anders Lee to a four-year contract. Lee scored 25 goals in 76 games as a rookie last season, finishing second on the Islanders in goals and fourth among NHL rookies.
β The San Jose Sharks have picked up goalie Martin Jones from Boston. The Sharks sent a 2016 first-round pick and unsigned forward prospect Sean Kuraly to the Bruins for Jones who was acquired from the Kings in a draft day trade Friday.
β Alexander Semin’s (SEHM’-ihns) time with the Carolina Hurricanes is over. The Hurricanes placed the forward on unconditional waivers with the intent to buy out his hefty contract. Semin must clear waivers at noon Wednesday before his deal can be bought out. Under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, he will be owed $14 million, two-thirds of the amount remaining on his deal, over six years.
β Forward Brian Flynn has agreed to a two-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens. He was acquired by Montreal from the Buffalo Sabres on March 2 for a fifth-round draft pick. Flynn had 17 points in 54 games for Buffalo and no points in nine regular-season games for the Canadiens.
β Drew Stafford is staying with the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets have signed the veteran winger to an $8.7-million, two-year contract. The 29-year-old had nine goals and 17 assists in 26 games with the Jets last season.
β The Anaheim Ducks have acquired veteran defenseman Kevin Bieksa (BEE’-ehks-ah) from the Vancouver Canucks for a second-round pick in the 2016 draft. Bieksa has spent his entire 10-year NHL career in Vancouver, compiling 56 goals and 185 assists in 597 games.
βThe Arizona Coyotes have acquired center Boyd Gordon from the Edmonton Oilers for forward Lauri Korpikoski. The 31-year-old Gordon had six goals and seven assists in 68 games with the Oilers last season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
New deal for Terps coach
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) β Maryland football coach Randy Edsall has been rewarded with a three-year contract extension after guiding the Terrapins to consecutive winning seasons and back-to-back bowl bids. The extension begins in January 2017 and is worth up to $7.5 million, though only $500,000 is guaranteed.
After taking over in 2011, Edsall went 2-10 and 4-8 in his first two seasons at Maryland. In 2014, their first year in the Big Ten, the Terrapins beat Penn State and Michigan on the road and finished 4-4 in the conference, 7-6 overall. Maryland went 5-1 on the road, its most wins in a single season since 1984.
