LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: In Moncton, the X-Women Soccer team played a dominant 8-0 shutout win over the Aigles Bleues, keeping a perfect record with their eleventh consecutive victory. Conference leading scorer Amanda Smith had seven points in the game, scoring four goals and assisting on three others – all scored by freshman forward Ava Elgood. The X-Women have eight shutouts on the season and have only allowed a stingy three goals against. On the men’s side, St. FX defeated the Aigles Bleus 3-0 to improve to 8-2-1 on the season, locking in second place in the AUS standings and clinching a first-round bye in the upcoming AUS championship. Both teams are in Fredericton today to face the UNB Reds, beginning with the Women at 3.
The X-Women Hockey squad remain undefeated after four games with a 3-1 road win over Université de Moncton. Tonight, the X-Women are in Fredericton to take on the St. Thomas Tommies, while the X-Men take on the UPEI Panthers in Charlottetown. Puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.
Maritime Junior: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers took it to a shootout, defeating the Rapids 3-2 in Grand Falls.
NS Junior B: The Strait Pirates defeated the Brookfield Elks 3-2 in overtime at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, while the Antigonish Bulldogs outscored the Penguins 5-3 in East Hants. Tonight, the Pictou County Scotians travel to play the Elks at 4, and tonight the Bulldogs host the Lumberjacks at the Antigonish Arena at 7.
The Dr. JH Gillis Varsity Girls’ Volleyball team is hosting the 25th Annual McDonald Golden Arches tournament at the high school, with ten teams across Nova Scotia and PEI competing for the title. The Royals continue play at 8:30 and 11 this morning. In honor of the tournament’s 25th year, the team is inviting all former Royals Girls Volleyball alumni to drop by this weekend to celebrate the long history of girls volleyball at the high school.
Rural League: scores unavailable at this time.
U18: It’s Showcase Weekend at the Pictou County Wellness Centre – today, the CB West Islanders play the Wolfpack at noon, then the Halifax Macs at 5:30. Pictou Weeks Majors play the Mustangs at 2:30 and the Rush at 8.
U15: The Wearwell Bombers visit the Western Hurricanes at 4 this afternoon, and tonight the Novas visit the Dartmouth Whalers at 7:30.
U16AAA: The Cabot Highlanders host the Thunderbirds at 6 pm at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.
Northern High School League: Northumberland Nighthawks host CEC at 6:30 tonight in Westville, while North Nova travels to East Hants to face off with the Tigers at 7:30.
Maritime Major Female League: The Northern Subway Selects are on PEI to play the Stars at 7:30.
Today is this year’s induction ceremony for the Pictou County Sports Heritage Hall of Fame. It’s the first ceremony for the Pictou facility since 2020, and will include nine athletes, three teams, five builders and one media person.
Athletes entering the hall including NHL players Joey MacDonald and Derrick Walser, Highland Dancer Katheryn Vernette Brown, Bobsled Olympian Luke Demetre, Shooting Olympian Hugh D. Falconer, Bisley Shooter Barry Langille, Women’s Fastball Player Brenda Francis and Distance Runners Dave MacLennan and Rollie Sherwood.
Teams to be inducted are the Steeltown Pharmacy Junior Girls Fastpitch Team, the New Glasgow Speed Boys Hockey Team and the 1978 Midget Boys Champions in Basketball.
Builders going into the hall are Jeff Green and Ron Turnbull in Hockey, Audrey Weeks of the Weeks Crushers, Terry and Carol Curley of the Johnny Miles Marathon, and Jim Worthern in Boxing.
In media, the inductee is Dan Robertson, play by play announcer for the Winnipeg Jets. The New Glasgow Kinsmen will also be honoured, receiving the Hugh Murray Humanitarian Award.
The ceremony is set for 2 o’clock this afternoon at the Westville Civic Building.
The teams have been announced for the Kioti National, the second Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, which will be at the Pictou County Wellness Centre November 7th-12th. Canada’s Brad Gushue and Silvana Tiranzoni of Switzerland enter as the defending men’s and women’s champions, respectively, after capturing the titles last season in North Bay. Also in the men’s lineup from Canada are Brendan Bottcher, Brad Carruthers, and Kevin Koe, and Bruce Mouat from Scotland. Among the women skips are Canadians Jennifer Jones, Rachel Homan, Kerri Einarson and Nova Scotia’s Christina Black, as well as Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg. The full schedule of draws will be announced soon, but tickets are already available for purchase via ticketpro.ca.
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Calgary Stampeders earned a dominant 41-16 road victory over the B-C Lions to hold control of their destiny for the post-season. The 6-and-11 Stampeders can clinch a playoff berth if the 6-and-11 Saskatchewan Roughriders fall to the Toronto Argonauts today or if Calgary defeats the Winnipeg Blue Bombers next week. The defeat allowed Winnipeg to clinch the top spot in the West Division, while the Lions finish second and host the conference semifinal.
Alek Thomas hit a tying, two-run homer in a three-run eighth inning, Gabriel Moreno followed with a go-ahead single and the Arizona Diamondbacks stunned the Philadelphia Phillies with a 6-5 victory in the National League Championship Series. Arizona tied the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. The Diamondbacks scored four unanswered runs between the seventh and eighth innings.
Houston Astros pitcher Bryan Abreu and manager Dusty Baker were both ejected from Game 5 of the American League Championship series. The ejections came after the reliever hit the Texas Rangers’ Adolis García with a pitch in the eighth inning, triggering benches to clear two innings after the slugger’s go-ahead home run. García also was ejected by the umpires during a confrontation that caused a 12-minute delay. Houston trailed 4-2 at the time but rallied for a 5-4 win and a 3-2 series lead.
Jack Hughes got his second goal of the game in overtime and added two assists to give the New Jersey Devils a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders. Dougie Hamilton, Tyler Toffoli and Luke Hughes also scored and New Jersey snapped a two-game skid. Akira Schmid stopped 27 shots for his first win of the season. Brock Nelson and Bo Horvat each scored twice as the Islanders snapped a season-opening two-game win streak.
The Toronto Raptors wrapped up pre-season play with a perfect 4-and-0 record. They had their full rotation with the returns of centre Jakob Poeltl and forwards Precious Achiuwa and Otto Porter Junior returned from illness and injury. However, Scottie Barnes, who scored a game-high 23 points left the 134-98 win over Washington in the third quarter with a right foot sprain.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Columbus 3 Calgary 1
New Jersey 5 N.Y. Islanders 4 (OT)
MLB Playoffs
American League Championship Series
Houston 5 Texas 4 (Houston leads best-of-seven series 3-2)
National League Championship Series
Arizona 6 Philadelphia 5 (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
CFL
Calgary 41 B.C. 16
NBA Pre-season
Toronto 134 Washington 98
Philadelphia 120 Atlanta 106
Indiana 109 Cleveland 104
Orlando 109 Flamengo 76
Houston 110 Miami 104
Milwaukee 124 Memphis 116
Dallas 114 Detroit 104
San Antonio 122 Golden State 117
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
NHL
Detroit at Ottawa, 1 p.m.
Anaheim at Arizona, 4 p.m.
Toronto at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Florida, 7 p.m.
Washington at Montreal, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Columbus at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Philadelphia at Dallas, 8 p.m.
Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
San Jose at Nashville, 8 p.m.
Vegas at Chicago, 8 p.m.
Carolina at Colorado, 9 p.m.
Winnipeg at Edmonton, 10 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Seattle, 10 p.m.
Boston at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
MLB Playoffs
National League Championship Series
Philadelphia at Arizona, 8:07 p.m. (Best-of-seven series tied 2-2)
CFL
Toronto at Saskatchewan, 4 p.m.
Edmonton at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
MLS
Orlando City at Toronto FC, 6 p.m.
CF Montréal at Columbus, 6 p.m.
Miami at Charlotte FC, 6 p.m.
Atlanta at Cincinnati, 6 p.m.
New York at Nashville, 6 p.m.
Philadelphia at New England, 6 p.m.
Chicago at New York City FC, 6 p.m.
Los Angeles FC at Vancouver, 9 p.m.
Minnesota at Sporting Kansas City, 9 p.m.
FC Dallas at LA Galaxy, 9 p.m.
Houston at Portland, 9 p.m.
Seattle at St Louis City, 9 p.m.
Real Salt Lake at Colorado, 9 p.m.
Austin FC at San Jose, 9 p.m.