HOCKEY

The Maine Mariners will open their inaugural ECHL hockey season Oct. 13 with a 6 p.m. game against the Adirondack Thunder at Cross Insurance Arena.

The Mariners, who recently announced an affiliation agreement with the National Hockey League’s New York Rangers, are scheduled to play 36 home games at CIA.

Packages for season tickets, group discounts (10 or more) and 10-game flex plans are available now. Single-game tickets will go on sale Sept. 10.

The team will hold a Town Hall-style meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9 at CIA, featuring head coach Riley Armstrong and vice president of hockey operations Danny Briere.

BASEBALL

EASTERN LEAGUE: The Portland Sea Dogs opened a seven-game trip with a 5-4 loss to the Hartford Yard Goats.

Hartford rallied from a 4-2 deficit and scored three times in the bottom of the seventh off Teddy Stankiewicz to take the lead.

Portland’s Tate Matheny and Danny Mars each went 2 for 4.

GOLF

PGA: Tiger Woods’ first round since the Masters left him perplexed and questioning his putting.

Woods shot an opening-round even par 71 at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, leaving him six shots behind leader John Peterson, but in decent position with 54 holes left to play.

Woods has not won on the PGA Tour since 2013, but is optimistic about his prospects this week.

He won this tournament 11 years ago.

LPGA: The first round of the North Texas Classic has been called off because of heavy morning rain. Only 34 of the 144 golfers completed at least one hole.

SOCCER

EUROPA LEAGUE: Diego Costa struck the only goal as Arsenal’s hopes of winning one last trophy under departing coach Arsene Wenger ended with a 1-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid in the semifinals at Madrid.

The second-leg result also means Arsenal will not qualify for the Champions League for a second straight season.

Atletico advanced 2-1 on aggregate thanks to Costa’s goal in first-half injury time.

The Madrid club will meet Marseille in the final in Lyon on May 16.

COLLEGE

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Penn State has extended Coach Pat Chambers’ contract through the 2021-22 season.

Chambers led the Nittany Lions to 26 wins, the second-highest total in program history, and the 2018 NIT title.

FOOTBALL: Georgia Coach Kirby Smart cashed in after leading the Bulldogs to the national championship game.

The school’s athletic association approved an extended seven-year contract and a new compensation package worth $49 million – roughly doubling Smart’s original deal.

• Miami extended Coach Mark Richt’s deal through 2023, putting him under contract for six years again. He originally signed a six-year agreement in December 2015.

Richt is 19-7 as Miami’s coach. He led the Hurricanes to the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division title last season.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR: Darlington Raceway’s $7 million construction plan is on the clock to complete its first major capital improvements in more than a decade before the Cup Series arrives for the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend. Raceway president Kerry Tharp likes the progress he sees so far and is confident things will be done before the NASCAR’s big rigs enter the property.

TENNIS

PRAGUE OPEN: Second-seeded Petra Kvitova advanced to the semifinals after dominating Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-3.

MADRID OPEN: Serena Williams has withdrawn from next week’s Madrid Open, saying she wasn’t ready to compete.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion, returned to the tour this year after a 14-month absence because of the birth of her daughter.