FOOTBALL

UMaine tight end Buttles gets tryout deal with Bills

A fourth member of the University of Maine football team will be heading to an NFL camp.

Tight end Derek Buttles, who missed all but three games last fall because of a knee injury, agreed to a tryout with the Buffalo Bills.

Buttles was a second-team all-Colonial Athletic Association pick after his junior year, when he caught 27 passes for 291 yards. Before he suffered a knee injury in the third game of the season against Albany, Buttles caught 10 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown.

Maine safety Jerron McMillian was selected in the fourth round of the NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers. Defensive back/punt returner Trevor Coston signed a free-agent deal with the Chicago Bears, and running back Pushaun Brown agreed to free-agent contract with the New York Jets.

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Former Tennessee quarterback Matt Simms, the youngest son of former Giants star Phil Simms, is among 23 players invited by the New York Jets for a tryout at their rookie minicamp this weekend.

Boise State standout Kellen Moore agreed to a free-agent deal with Detroit, giving the Lions someone to develop behind starting quarterback Matthew Stafford and backup Shaun Hill.

The Washington Redskins signed free-agent linebacker Jonathan Goff, who played three seasons with the New York Giants before missing last year with a knee injury.

COLLEGES

SOFTBALL: Kelly Reid pitched a four-hitter with seven strikeouts, and Ashley Gott had two hits and two RBI as the University of New England remained undefeated in the Commonwealth Coast Conference softball tournament with a 3-0 win over Endicott at Beverly, Mass.

The third-seeded Nor’easters (24-12) will face top-seeded Salve Regina (23-14) on Thursday, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship round.

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Gott reached on an error and scored on another error to give UNE a 1-0 lead in the third inning. She added an RBI single in the fourth, then singled in the seventh and scored on a groundout by Amanda Vaudreuil.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Virginia Tech selected assistant coach James Johnson to replace Seth Greenberg as head coach.

HOCKEY

AHL: The Phoenix Coyotes signed Portland Pirates rookie defenseman Mark Louis to a one-year, two-way contract.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Louis, who was signed to a professional tryout agreement in February after playing for St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, had four assists and 72 penalty minutes in 23 games with the Pirates.

GOLF

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SUGARLOAF HIRES SPECTOR: Sugarloaf Golf Club in Carrabassett Valley named Abby Spector as its head professional.

Spector, a seven-time women’s state amateur champion, has worked since 2007 as an assistant pro at the Gasparilla Inn and Club in Boca Grand, Fla. During the summers, she has worked at several New England courses, including Lake Winnipesaukee and the Balsams in New Hampshire, and Natanis and Val Halla in Maine.

SOCCER

PREMIER LEAGUE: Vincent Kompany’s powerful header gave Manchester City a 1-0 win against Manchester United and first place with two games remaining.

Kompany connected with David Silva’s corner kick in first-half stoppage time. City, seeking its first league title since 1968, leads United on goal difference after erasing an eight-point deficit in three weeks.

JURISPRUDENCE

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CLEMENS TRIAL: A federal court jury saw snippets of Roger Clemens denying steroid use at a now-famous 2008 congressional hearing, then listened as Clemens’ lawyer tried in fits and starts to declare that proceeding to be “nothing more than a show trial” that shouldn’t have taken place.

The perjury retrial of the seven-time Cy Young Award winning pitcher entered its third week, which unfolded as yet another session bogged down by constant objections. The day ended, however, with a cliffhanger that could prove crucial to the outcome.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton appears on the verge of deciding whether the government can broaden its case by bringing in witnesses such as former Clemens teammate Chuck Knoblauch, who has acknowledged use of human growth hormone.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: The Tulsa Shock will be without leading scorer and rebounder Tiffany Jones for the upcoming season, as she is expecting her first child.

OLYMPICS: The U.S. men were drawn into a potentially difficult group for the London Olympics, with Argentina, France and Tunisia, plus two more teams — possibly Lithuania, Russia or Greece — from a last-chance qualifier in Venezuela in July.

– From staff and news services

 


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