LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: In Kelowna BC, the U SPORTS Cross Country Championships were held on Saturday. The X-Women placed fourth overall in the team standings. Top runner for the X-Women was Eileen Benoit, finishing in 12th place with a time of 27:37. Benoit was named a U SPORTS second team All-Canadian. The X-Men placed 15th overall in the team standings – top runner for St. FX was Liam McCullagh, finishing 36th with a time of 24:23.
The X-Men Soccer team finished in fifth place at the U SPORTS Championships in Oshawa Ontario, after defeating Ontario Tech 2-1 in the consolation final.
In Hockey, the UPEI Panthers skated to a 4-3 win over the X-Men at Keating Centre. First star and Player of the Game Ben McFarlane scored twice in the third period for the Panthers, getting both the game tying and game winning goals. Scoring for the X-Men were Ethan Burroughs, Shawn Spearing, and Ben Mercer. In Moncton, Bree MacPherson scored 1:43 in overtime to give the X-Women the win 3-2 over the Aigles Bleues. Also scoring for the X-Women were Ireland McCloskey and Mackenzie Lothian.
The Capers hosted St. FX for a pair of basketball games at the Sullivan Fieldhouse, and netted wins both times. The X-Women fell 75-70 in the first match. Shannon Neita led the charge for St. FX with 16 points and 8 rebounds. On the men’s side, it was a back and forth contest that the Capers won 82-77. DJ Jackson netted a whopping 37 points with 10 rebounds for the X-Men.
Junior B: Tonight in Trenton, it’s the Strait Pirates vs the Pictou County Scotians. Puck drops at 6 pm.
U15: The Wearwell Bombers trounced the Wolverines 7-1. In action today, the Novas host the Cougars at 11:30 am at the Arena, and the Bombers are in Truro at 1 pm to take on the Bearcats.
U16 AAA: The Cabot Highlanders fell 3-2 to the Knights in Saint John. Today, the Highlanders are in Moncton to face off with the Thunderbirds at 1 pm.
U18 Major: Victories for local teams on Saturday: the Weeks Majors beat the Macs 5-3, while the CB West Islanders outscored the Valley Wildcats 4-3. The Islanders & Wildcats play again at 1:30 in the Valley.
High School Boys: At the Green & Gold Tournament in North Sydney, the Dr. J.H. Gillis Royals had a great game two: Corson Ross tied the game 2-2 with less than 2:00 left in the game, but the Royals fell short on the shootout losing to the Dartmouth Spartans. Mikey Ashley also scored in that game. In their third game of the round robin, they fought hard against the home team Memorial Marauders, but lost 3-1. Scoring for the Royals was Charlie VandenHeuvel. Scoring for memorial was Jackson Gerrow, Jasper Allain and Noah Tremblett.
In regular season play, the Dalbrae Dragons trounced Tatamagouche 9-3 at the North Shore Rec Centre. Today, Dalbrae hosts the Hants East Tigers at 5 in Port Hood.
Rural League: Heatherton 4 Outlaws 3, St Croix 4 Pleasantdale 2
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Edmonton Oilers scored three goals in under two minutes in the third period and then coasted to a 7-3 win over the Canucks in Vancouver. Connor Brown scored twice for the Oilers who snapped their two-game losing skid. Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists and Mattias Janmark had three assists. Elias Pettersson had a goal and assist for the Canucks, who had their three-game win streak halted.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice as the visiting Washington Capitals whipped the St. Louis Blues 8-1. With eight goals in his past seven games, Ovechkin now has 863 goals and trails Wayne Gretzky’s N-H-L record by 31 goals. The Caps improved to 10-and-4, while the Blues slipped to 7-and-8.
The Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers are packing for Vancouver, where they’ll meet in next Sunday’s Grey Cup championship at B-C Place Stadium. The Argos, despite losing quarterback Chad Kelly to a broken ankle in the third quarter, defeated the Montreal Alouettes 30-28 in the East Division final, while the Blue Bombers whipped the Saskatchewan Roughriders 38-22 in the West Division final.
The Los Angeles Clippers won their fourth straight game by edging the visiting Toronto Raptors 105-103. James Harden led the Clippers with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Norman Powell scored 23. Immanuel Quickley and Ochai Agbaji each scored 21 points for the Raptors, who lost their third straight and slipped to 2-and-8.
Evan Mobley had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and Donovan Mitchell scored 22 as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied for a 105-100 win over the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the 12th team in N-B-A history to start a season 11-and-0. The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors hold the league record after winning their first 24 games. They lost to the Cavaliers in the N-B-A Finals.
There will be no M-L-S Cup for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami this year. Atlanta United saw to that with a massive upset, sending the game’s most decorated player and biggest-spending team home earlier than anyone imagined. Bartosz Slisz’s header in the 76th minute was the winner as Atlanta stunned Inter 3-2 to win their best-of-three, first-round M-L-S Cup playoff series 2-1. Messi’s goal off a header had tied the match 2-2 in the 65th minute.
Saturday’s Scoreboard
CFL
East Division Final – Toronto 30 Montreal 28
West Division Final – Winnipeg 38 Saskatchewan 22
NHL
Winnipeg 4 Dallas 1
Toronto 4 Montreal 1
Edmonton 7 Vancouver 3
Ottawa 3 Boston 2 (OT)
Buffalo 3 Calgary 2 (SO)
Washington 8 St. Louis 1
N.Y. Rangers 4 Detroit 0
Nashville 4 Utah 0
Colorado 6 Carolina 4
Los Angeles 5 Columbus 2
New Jersey 4 N.Y. Islanders 3 (OT)
Florida 4 Philadelphia 3 (SO)
NBA
L.A. Clippers 105 Toronto 103
Utah 111 San Antonio 110
Cleveland 105 Brooklyn 100
Chicago 125 Atlanta 113
MLS Playoffs – First Round
Atlanta 3 Miami 2 (Atlanta wins best-of-three series 2-1)
New York City FC 0 Cincinnati 0 (New York City win 6-5 on penalty kicks; New York wins best-of-three series 2-1)
Orlando 1 Charlotte 1 (Orlando wins 4-1 on penalty kicks; Orland wins best-of-three series 2-1)
Sunday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Minnesota at Chicago, 7 p.m.
San Jose at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Columbus at Anaheim, 8 p.m.
NBA
Houston at Detroit, 3 p.m.
Boston at Milwaukee, 3:30 p.m.
New York at Indiana, 5 p.m.
Washington at Orlando, 6 p.m.
Charlotte at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Golden State at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
Miami at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Denver, 8 p.m.
Sacramento at Phoenix, 8 p.m.
Memphis at Portland, 9 p.m.
Toronto at L.A. Lakers, 9:30 p.m.
NFL
N.Y. Giants vs Carolina at Munich, DEU, 9:30 a.m.
Atlanta at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Buffalo at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.
Denver at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
Minnesota at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
New England at Chicago, 1 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Washington, 1 p.m.
San Francisco at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Tennessee at L.A. Chargers, 4:05 p.m.
N.Y. Jets at Arizona, 4:25 p.m.
Philadelphia at Dallas, 4:25 p.m.
Detroit at Houston, 8:20 p.m.