HOCKEY

Maineiacs move into playoff series lead by beating Wildcats at Moncton in Game 3

Alex Zafiris scored to break a 2-2 tie with 2:06 left in the second period and the visiting Lewiston Maineiacs beat the Moncton Wildcats 4-2 Tuesday night in the third game of their QMJHL first-round playoff series.

Samuel Carrier, Cameron Critchlow and Michael Chaput also scored for the Maineiacs, who took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Nicholas Champion made 24 saves.

Game 4 is at 6 tonight at Moncton.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR: Greg Biffle said he’s close to signing an extension with Roush Fenway Racing and would be surprised if teammate Carl Edwards does not do the same.

Biffle said he has not had an overwhelming interest to test the free-agent market, in part because of the economy, but also because of how far Roush Fenway Racing has come from this time last year.

The entire organization struggled through the first few months of last season, then turned it on in the second half of the year. Biffle won two races and finished sixth in the final Sprint Cup standings, and Edwards won the final two races of the season and finished fourth in points.

• Rick Ware Racing terminated Jeffrey Earnhardt’s contract, alleging the 21-year-old driver has been talking to other teams about a new ride.

Team owner Rick Ware also alleged that Earnhardt, the grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt, is trying to entice the team’s sponsor to leave with him.

Earnhardt issued a statement claiming he only began looking for a new job after sponsor Fuel Doctor told Ware it is looking at other options.

SOCCER

NATIONAL HALL OF FAME: Cobi Jones, the career leader in games played for the U.S. men’s team, was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame along with three-time World Cup veterans Eddie Pope and Earnie Stewart.

Bruce Murray, a midfielder and forward on the U.S. teams in the late 1980s and early ’90s, was elected on the veteran ballot.

GOLF

PGA: Shell Oil Co. agreed to a five-year extension as the title sponsor of the Houston Open, which begins Thursday at Redstone Golf Club, its host site since 2003.

Shell has been the tournament’s title sponsor since 1992, the third-longest tenure on the tour.

GEORGIA CUP: U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein built a 4-up lead at the turn and held on to beat British Amateur champion Jin Jeong on the 16th hole at Alpharetta, Ga.

The Georgia Cup matches the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur champions at The Golf Club of Georgia in the week before the Masters. U.S. Amateur champions hold an 8-6 lead in the competition.

TENNIS

SONY ERICSSON OPEN: Mardy Fish reached the quarterfinals by beating Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 7-6 (5) at Key Biscayne, Fla.

Fish, the lone U.S. player among the 16 men and women in the quarterfinals, will overtake Andy Roddick and become the top-ranked American for the first time if he defeats No. 6 David Ferrer in the next round.

Ferrer beat fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-1, 6-2. Top-ranked Rafael Nadal and second-seeded Novak Djokovic also advanced.

On the women’s side, two-time champion Kim Clijsters overcame a third-set deficit to beat Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 7-6 (5).