LOCAL SPORTS
AUS: It was a thriller in Lennoxville as the sixth-ranked X-Men topped the Bishop’s Gaiters 34-31 in triple overtime to win the Bigg Bowl for the third straight year. Ben Hadley kicked four field goals including three in overtime, capped off by a 31-yarder to win. The X-Men remain undefeated five games into the season. Silas Fagnan finished 21 of 38 passes for 267 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He added a pair of QB-sneak majors on the ground.
In Soccer, sixth-ranked X-Women extended their winning streak to eight games with a dominant 5-0 win over Mount Allison. St. FX striker and AUS leading scorer Amanda Smith led the way with an impressive four goal performance. The X-Men also won, picking up a 6-1 victory over the Mounties. Tonight, St. FX hosts UPEI at St. FX Stadium, with the women playing at 5, followed by the men at 7:15.
In hockey, the X-Women defeated the Queen’s Gaels 6-1 at the Theresa Humes Cup, hosted by Concordia University. Maggy Burbidge scored twice for St. FX as they secured their first win in the three-day, six-team pre-season tournament. The X-Women are back in action when they face off against the Montreal Carabins this afternoon at 1. Meanwhile, the X-Men take on St. Mary’s at 5 at the Keating Centre.
The X-Women basketball team are on the road, taking on Niagara College in a pre-season match at Mount Saint Vincent. Tip off time is 4pm.
Maritime Hockey League: The Pictou County Weeks Crushers are in Truro to take on the Bearcats at 7.
Junior B: At the Shearwater Arena, the Strait Pirates fell 6-3 to the Capstone Colts.
U18: Cape Breton West Islanders host the Halifax Macs at 6 at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre, while the Pictou County Weeks Majors host the Valley Wildcats at 7.
U16AAA: The Cabot Highlanders outscored the Thunder 4-3 on Friday. They host the Kings at 6pm at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.
U15: Exhibition tournament in East Hants this weekend – the Wearwell Bombers have two matches today: the Wildcats at 9:30, and the Wolverines at 2. The Novas play the Cougars at 10:30 this morning, followed by the Western Hurricanes at 3:30.
Maritime Major Female Hockey: The Northern Subway Selects are on the road to face off with the Fundy Kraken at 3:45.
NATIONAL SPORTS
The Toronto Blue Jays’ magic number to clinch a wild-card playoff berth is one. The Jays moved closer to the playoffs with an 11-4 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. Alejandro Kirk, Brandon Belt and Matt Chapman homered for the Blue Jays, who outhit the Rays 16-7. Bo Bichette had four hits and Vladimir Guerrero Junior chipped in with three as Toronto won for the ninth time in 13 games.
The Seattle Mariners scored three runs in the third inning and added five more in the fourth en route to an 8-0 victory over the Texas Rangers. The win keeps the Mariners’ slim post-season hopes alive. Ty France, Josh Rojas and J-P Crawford hit homers for the Mariners. Seattle remains one game behind Houston in the wild-card standings with two games left, while Texas still needs a victory or an Astros loss to wrap up a playoff berth.
Cincinnati hit six home runs including Nick Martini’s three-run shot in the first inning in a 19-2 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals that kept the Reds alive in the N-L wild-card race. The Reds scored their most runs since putting up 20 against the Chicago Cubs on May 26, 2022. With the win and Chicago’s 4-3 loss to Milwaukee, Cincinnati is now tied with the Cubs, one-and-a-half games behind Miami for the final N-L wild card.
Backup quarterback Dakota Prukop ran in a two-yard touchdown with 3:31 left in the fourth quarter to help lift the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 31-21 come-from-behind C-F-L victory over the visiting Toronto Argonauts. The Blue Bombers improved to 11-and-4, while the Argos, who rested a number of regulars including quarterback Chad Kelly, slipped to 12-and-2. In the late game, the B-C Lions improved to 11-and-4 and clinched a playoff spot by crushing the Saskatchewan Roughriders 33-26 in Vancouver.
Brad Malone scored 2:24 into overtime as the Edmonton Oilers rallied late to win 2-1 over the Calgary Flames on Friday in NHL pre-season action. Dylan Holloway also scored for Edmonton. Elias Lindholm had the lone goal for Calgary. Matthew Knies and Mikko Kokkonen scored second-period goals as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Canadiens 2-1 in Montreal. Josh Anderson scored for the Habs. In Ottawa, Claude Giroux, Roby Jarventie and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Senators as they edged the Winnipeg Jets 3-1. Jansen Harkins scored for the Jets.
A’ja Wilson had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and the defending W-N-B-A champion Las Vegas Aces advanced to the finals for the third time in four years, beating the Dallas Wings 64-61 on Friday night for a three-game sweep. Las Vegas scored the final 11 points of the game. The New York Liberty took a 2-1 lead in their semifinal by beating the Connecticut Sun 92-81.
Friday’s Scoreboard
Major League Baseball
American League
Toronto 11 Tampa Bay 4
Seattle 8 Texas 0
Cleveland 7 Detroit 5
Boston 3 Baltimore 0
Kansas City 12 N.Y. Yankees 5
L.A. Angels 5 Oakland 1
National League
Miami 4 Pittsburgh 3
Milwaukee 4 Chicago Cubs 3 (10 innings)
Washington 10 Atlanta 6
Cincinnati 19 St. Louis 2
L.A. Dodgers 6 San Francisco 2
Interleague
Houston 2 Arizona 1
San Diego 3 Chicago White Sox 2
Minnesota 7 Colorado 6
CFL
Winnipeg 31 Toronto 21
B.C. 33 Saskatchewan 26
WNBA Playoffs – Semifinals
New York 92 Connecticut 81 (New York leads best-of-five series 2-1)
Las Vegas 64 Dallas 61 (Las Vegas wins best-of-five series 3-0)
NHL Pre-Season
Toronto 2 Montreal 1
Ottawa 3 Winnipeg 1
Edmonton 2 Calgary 1 (OT)
Florida 4 Carolina (ss) 2
Tampa Bay 4 Carolina SS 0
Philadelphia 4 Boston 3 (SO)
Vegas 3 Arizona 1
Los Angeles 4 Anaheim 3
N.Y. Rangers at N.Y. Islanders, ppd.
Saturday’s Games (All times Eastern)
Major League Baseball
American League
Cleveland (McKenzie 0-2) at Detroit (TBD), 1:10 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Littell 3-6) at Toronto (Ryu 3-3), 3:07 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Schmidt 9-9) at Kansas City (Cruz 0-0), 7:10 p.m.
Boston (Crawford 6-8) at Baltimore (Gibson 15-9), 7:15 p.m.
Texas (Heaney 10-6) at Seattle (Castillo 14-8), 7:15 p.m.
Oakland (Boyle 1-0) at L.A. Angels (Rosenberg 2-2), 9:07 p.m.
National League
Philadelphia (TBD) at N.Y. Mets, 4:10 p.m. (TBD), first game
Miami (Cabrera 7-7) at Pittsburgh (Priester 3-2), 6:35 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Wicks 4-1) at Milwaukee (TBD), 7:10 p.m.
Philadelphia (Sánchez 3-5) at N.Y. Mets (Quintana 3-6), 7:10 p.m., second game
Cincinnati (Phillips 1-0) at St. Louis (Rom 1-4), 7:15 p.m.
Washington (Adon 2-4) at Atlanta (Strider 19-5), 7:20 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Kershaw 13-4) at San Francisco (Beck 3-3), 9:05 p.m.
Interleague
San Diego (Wacha 13-4) at Chicago White Sox (Clevinger 9-8), 7:10 p.m.
Houston (Verlander 12-8) at Arizona (Kelly 12-7), 8:10 p.m.
Minnesota (Pagan 5-2) at Colorado (TBD), 8:10 p.m.
CFL
Montreal at Ottawa, 4 p.m.
Calgary at Hamilton, 7 p.m.
NHL Pre-Season
Columbus at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Nashville at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
Toronto at Montreal, 7 p.m.
New York Rangers at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m.
Chicago at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Dallas vs. St. Louis at Independence, Mo., 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Washington at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Vancouver, 9 p.m.
Los Angeles at San Jose, 10 p.m.
MLS
CF Montréal at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
New York City FC at Miami, 7:30 p.m.
Charlotte FC at New England, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at New York, 7:30 p.m.
FC Dallas at Houston, 8:30 p.m.
San Jose at Minnesota, 8:30 p.m.
Seattle at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.
Sporting Kansas City at Saint Louis City SC, 8:30 p.m.
Austin FC at Colorado, 9:30 p.m.
D.C. United at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m.
Portland at LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m.