HOCKEY

Boston’s team in the Professional Women’s Hockey League opened its season Wednesday night with a 3-2 loss to Minnesota before a crowd of 3,552 at Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Minnesota took a 2-0 lead by scoring in the first 7:54 of the first period on goals by Taylor Heise and Sophia Kunin. Theresa Schafzahi scored Boston’s first goal in the second period, but Grace Zumwinkle restored Minnesota’s two-goal lead 55 seconds later.

Megan Keller scored a power-play goal for Boston with 2:40 left in the third period.

Minnesota goalie Nicole Hensley made 33 saves; Boston’s Aerin Frankel made 13 saves.

TENNIS
UNITED CUP: Novak Djokovic continued to struggle with his wrist injury as Australia stunned Serbia with a 3-0 win in the quarterfinals of the United Cup in Perth, Australia.

Poland also qualified for the semifinals with a 3-0 victory over China, while France and Greece completed sweeps of Italy and Canada, respectively, to progress to the quarterfinals.

Djokovic lost to Alex de Minaur, as the Australian used superb defense and a dominant serve to win 6-4, 6-4. Djokovic received treatment twice during the first set.

Djokovic said he was not concerned about the injury.

“I have enough time to get myself in the right shape for the Australian Open, and that’s what matters the most at this point,” he said. “I think I’ll be OK, to be honest. I knew that I probably wasn’t going to be at my 100% physically, emotionally, mentally, game-wise in the opening week of a season.”

The Australian Open begins in Melbourne on Jan. 14.

BASEBALL

MAJOR LEAGUES: New York Mets infield prospect Ronny Mauricio will miss most or all of the 2024 season following surgery to repair a torn right ACL.
Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek operated Tuesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery, the team said. The typical return to play from ACL surgery is 8-to-12 months.

The 22-year-old Mauricio, who made his major league debut Sept. 1, was hurt while playing for Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Winter League on Dec. 10.

• The Milwaukee Brewers acquired Bryan Hudson from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Justin Chambers in an exchange of left-handed pitchers.

Hudson, 26, spent most of last season in the minors but went 0-0 with a 7.27 ERA in six appearances for the Dodgers. Los Angeles designated him for assignment last week to make room on their roster for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese right-hander who signed a $325 million, 12-year contract.

Chambers, 18, was selected by the Brewers in the 20th round of last year’s amateur draft.

• New San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt won’t have a traditional bench coach on his staff but will utilize the input of several coaches during games.

The Padres unveiled the full staff, including new hitting coach Victor Rodriguez, who spent the previous six seasons as assistant hitting coach for the Cleveland Guardians. Pitching coach Ruben Niebla returns for his third season.

Newcomer Ryan Barba has the title of major league field coordinator and will perform many of the functions of a traditional bench coach, Shildt said. Brian Esposito will have the title of catching coach and game strategy assistant.

Shildt was hired Nov. 21. He replaced Bob Melvin, who was hired away by his hometown San Francisco Giants on Oct. 25 with a year left on his contract with the Padres.

SOCCER

SPAIN: Vinícius Júnior made his return from injury as Real Madrid defeated Mallorca 1-0 with a late goal by Antonio Rüdiger to guarantee first place at the midway point of the Spanish league season.

The result extended Madrid’s unbeaten streak to 18 matches in all competitions, since a 3-1 league loss at Atletico in September. That was the team’s lone loss in a season in which it has won 21 matches and drawn three.

Madrid holds a tiebreaker advantage over Girona, the surprise team of this season. Girona stayed even with Madrid by defeating Atletico 4-3, with a winner by Iván Martín in stoppage time.

FRANCE: Kylian Mbappé and Lee Kang-in scored as French league champion Paris Saint-Germain beat French Cup winner Toulouse 2-0 to win the Champions Trophy in Paris.

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