BIDDEFORD — Leah Yucius took a pass from Sarina Olson and placed it into the top left corner of the goal to break a scoreless tie in the 31st minute as sixth-seeded Roger Williams topped No. 2 seed University of New England 2-0 Wednesday night in a Commonwealth Coast Conference women’s soccer semifinal.
Raffaella Brunetti added an insurance goal for Roger Williams (13-7) on a feed from Bianca Robbins in the closing minutes of the game.
Sydney Gillingham had four saves for UNE (12-6-1) and Morgan McCutcheon turned aside five shots for the Hawks.
LASELL 2, ST. JOSEPH’S 0: Alyssa DeOliveira scored 16:14 into the contest on a Bobbi O’Guin pass to open the scoring for the second-seeded Lasers (13-4) and Alexsys Suojanen added an unassisted goal in the 35th minute as they eliminated the third-seeded Monks (12-8) in a GNAC semifinal at Newton, Massachusetts.
Adia Grogin turned aside eight shots for St. Joseph’s. Angela Sanzari made three saves for the shutout.
FIELD HOCKEY
JOHNSON & WALES 1, ST. JOSEPH’S 0: Jillian Miele scored an unassisted goal 9:26 into the first overtime session as the No. 2 Wildcats (16-3) defeated the third-seeded Monks (14-5) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinal at Providence, Rhode Island.
Kassidy Collins had six saves for St. Joseph’s, and Madison Flaxington stopped five shots for the shutout.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
SOUTHERN MAINE CC 63, FISHER 45: The Seawolves (1-1) broke the contest open with a 22-9 edge in the third quarter, highlighted by 11 bench points from Tara Flanders, as they cruised by the Falcons (0-1) at Brookline, Massachusetts.
Hannah Richards led SMCC with 17 points, Flanders finished with 15 points and Ashleigh Mathisen chipped in with 13. Aija Andrews grabbed a game-high 10 boards.
Naomi Mares had 12 points to lead Fisher.
FOOTBALL
FLORIDA: QB Anthony Richardson is recovering from a concussion, potentially opening the door for Emory Jones to start at South Carolina on Saturday.
Richardson was knocked out of last week’s 34-7 loss to top-ranked Georgia following a hit to the head/neck area. He was diagnosed with a concussion and sat out practice Monday and Tuesday.
Jones played well off the bench, completing 10 of 14 passes for 112 yards. He also ran for Florida’s lone score.
MINNESOTA: Division-leading Minnesota and Coach P.J. Fleck agreed to a new seven-year contract that lasts through the 2028 season.
Terms of the deal, which is pending approval by the university’s board of regents, weren’t immediately available. Fleck’s base salary this year is $4.65 million, in the middle of the pack for head coaches in the 14-team Big Ten.
Minnesota (6-2, 4-1) landed at No. 20 in the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings this week after beating Northwestern 41-14 for its fourth straight win.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
OKLAHOMA STATE: The NCAA denied an appeal by Oklahoma State in an infractions case, meaning the Cowboys will be banned from the postseason next spring – a decision that prompted a tearful coach Mike Boynton to declare there is no point in cooperating with the organization.
Last year, an NCAA infractions committee hit the Cowboys with a one-year postseason ban and other penalties after former assistant coach Lamont Evans accepted up to $22,000 so he could help steer athletes to certain financial advisers. Evans was arrested as part of a federal corruption investigation in 2017, and he pleaded guilty in 2019.
Oklahoma State immediately fired Evans after the arrest, and the school said it has fully cooperated with the NCAA since the beginning. The school felt the NCAA would view Evans as a rogue employee acting on his own.
That’s why Boynton said he was “appalled” by the result of Oklahoma State’s appeal.
“There’s no wonder that nobody trusts them,” an emotional Boynton said slowly at a news conference following the denial. “As they get to hide behind letters … And they don’t have to come do this – answer questions and talk to kids and talk to parents.”
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
