HOCKEY
Tyson Fawcett scored in the second period and the Reading Royals beat the Maine Mariners 1-0 in an ECHL game on Friday night in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Brad Arvanitis stopped 33 shot for Maine, which had won two straight. Parker Gahagen had 40 saves for Reading.
The two teams play again at 7 p.m. Saturday and finish their three-game series at 1 p.m. Monday.
GOLF
EUROPEAN TOUR: Rory McIlroy recovered from a quadruple bogey to shoot a 1-under 70 and maintain the lead at the halfway point of the Dubai Invitational in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The No. 2-ranked Northern Irishman sank a nearly 30-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 16th and finished the second round with a two-stroke lead on 10-under 132 overall at Dubai Creek Resort.
Jeff Winther (66) bogeyed the 18th and joined Yannik Paul (70) in a tie for second place at the European tour event.
SOCCER
NWSL: National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner Jessica Berman said the process is underway to select a 16th team for the league, with an announcement possible later this year.
The new team would begin play in 2026, joining another expansion team already awarded to an ownership group in Boston.
“We have active due diligence ongoing as we speak with many different groups from many different cities, and we expect that process with take approximately six to nine months,” Berman said.
SPANISH: Alaves scored three goals for only the third time this season, with a last-gasp strike giving the visitors a dramatic 3-2 win over Sevilla in the Spanish league in Madrid.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Carlton Morris scored a controversial late goal to give Luton a 1-1 draw at Burnley in the Premier League.
Morris headed home a cross from Alfie Doughty in the second minute of second-half stoppage time after Zeki Amdouni had put the home side ahead in the first half. Burnley claimed its goalkeeper James Trafford was fouled but the video review allowed Morris’ goal to stand.
• Erling Haaland has been ruled out of Manchester City’s Premier League game at Newcastle on Saturday because of a foot injury, and he is likely to be out until the end of January.
The Norway striker has missed the past eight games in all competitions though he’s still the co-leading scorer in the league with 14 goals. Haaland hasn’t played since a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa on Dec. 6.
SKIING
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Cornelia Huetter gave Austria its first win of the season on the women’s World Cup circuit with a narrow super-G victory on home snow in Altenmarktz-Zauchensse, Austria.
The normally powerful Austrian women have struggled this campaign but Huetter finally delivered a victory in the 17th race after previously getting the team’s only runner-up finish, also in a super-G.
She became the first Austrian woman in more than 17 years to win a World Cup super-G at home, after Renate Götschl at Reiteralm in December 2006.
Huetter’s perfect skiing through the final section helped her beat runner-up Kajsa Vickhoff Lie by 0.09 seconds. Lara Gut-Behrami was third, trailing Huetter by 0.21.
MEN’S WORLD CUP: On a bitter-sweet day for the French ski team, emerging star Cyprien Sarrazin raced to a winning run in a World Cup super-G in Wengen, Switzerland, then watched as teammate and new dad Alexis Pinturault had to be airlifted to a hospital after a crash.
Pinturault was taken off the course in a helicopter just six days after becoming a father for the first time.
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