COLLEGES

Denver tops national powerhouse Hopkins to reach final four in Div. I men’s lacrosse

Coach Bill Tierney has been here before. His Denver Pioneers haven’t.

Denver upset nine-time NCAA lacrosse tournament champion Johns Hopkins 14-9 Saturday in Hempstead, N.Y., to reach the national semifinals for the first time in school history.

Tierney led Princeton to six national titles, starting in 1992. Tierney is in his second season with the Pioneers after coaching the Tigers from 1988-2009.

His Pioneers will play Virginia in Baltimore with a spot in the title game at stake. No school from outside the Eastern time zone has ever won the title, and Denver only won its first tournament game earlier this season.

Todd Baxter and Cameron Flint each scored three goals for Denver (15-2). Goalie Jamie Faus had eight saves.

• Chris Bocklet scored three goals and Steele Stanwick added three goals and four assists to put Virginia (11-5) in the semifinals with a 13-9 win over Cornell (14-3).

CYCLING

GIRO D’ITALIA: Igor Anton of Spain broke away with three miles left and held on to win the 14th stage ending in Monte Zoncolan, Italy, while Alberto Contador was second to extend his overall lead.

Anton finished the 130-mile stage from Lienz to Monte Zoncolan in 5 hours, 4 minutes, 26 seconds.

Contador was 33 seconds behind to finish second for the second day in a row. He managed to shake off closest rival Vincenzo Nibali, who finished another 7 seconds back. Contador has an overall time of 54:45:45.

TOUR OF CALIFORNIA: Levi Leipheimer slipped ahead in the final yards to claim the mountainous seventh stage ending in Mt. Baldy, Calif., while RadioShack teammate Chris Horner finished second just behind and solidified his pending overall race title.

PREP SCHOOLS

GIRLS’ LACROSSE: Sarah Markey had four goals and an assist to lead Hebron Academy to a 13-6 victory over Kents Hill in the MAISAD championship game at Hebron.

Janelle Bradish added three goals while Tayla Bent and Chelsea Boucher netted two goals apiece for the Lumberjacks, who saw their 7-2 halftime lead cut to an 8-6 margin before ending the game on a 5-0 run.

Jenya Sakaeva and Janie O’Halloran each scored twice for the Huskies.

SOCCER

LA LIGA: Cristiano Ronaldo broke the 60-year-old league scoring record, getting his 39th and 40th goals of the season in Real Madrid’s season-ending 8-1 rout of Almeria.

In the fourth minute, Ronaldo beat goalkeeper Esteban Suarez in the 77th. The previous record of 38 league goals was set by Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra in 1950-51 and matched by Real Madrid’s Hugo Sanchez in 1989-90.

Ronaldo finished the season with a career-best 53 goals. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has 52 going into next weekend’s Champions League final against Manchester United at Wembley.

Villarreal forward Giuseppe Rossi was tied for fifth in scoring with 18 goals. The New Jersey native scored 32 in all competitions.

SCOTTISH CUP: Neil Lennon ended a troubled first full season as Celtic manager with glory in the Scottish Cup after his side beat Motherwell 3-0 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Ki Sung-yueng and Charlie Mulgrew scored either side of Stephen Craigan’s own goal at Hampden Park.

TENNIS

STRASBOURG INTERNATIONAL: Andrea Petkovic won her second career title after Marion Bartoli retired while trailing 6-4, 1-0 in the final in Strasbourg, France.

OPEN DE NICE: Nicolas Almagro rallied past Victor Hanescu 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Nice, France.

BRUSSELS OPEN: Caroline Wozniacki overcame a thigh injury to beat Peng Shuai 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

 

— From staff and news services