LOCAL SPORTS
Many local teams are involved in Atlantic Championships this weekend.
At the U18 AAA Championship in Fredericton, the Pictou County Weeks Majors face the Moncton Flyers for the title. The Majors finished the round robin just one point behind Moncton. Puck drops at 1 pm.
The undefeated Northern Subway Selects are going for gold in Membertou at the Atlantic Female U18 AAA Championship. They face off against the Western Flames at Noon.
The Pictou County Crushers finished the round robin undefeated at the U13 AAA Championship in Paradise, NL. They play the Eastern Knights from Newfoundland for the title at 10:30 am.
The Whitecaps are also going for their title, finishing second in the round robin at the U13 AAA Female Tournament in Port Hawkesbury. The Whitecaps take on Metro West Force Warriors at Noon.
Hockey Nova Scotia’s Day of Champions continues in Truro. On Saturday, the Cape Breton West Islanders won the U11 AA title, defeating Western Valley 4-3. The U11 A Antigonish Bulldogs came up short in their contest, losing 5-3 to Yarmouth. This afternoon at 3, the U18 A Cape Breton West Islanders tangle with the Bedford Blue.
In the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Playoffs, the Antigonish Junior B Bulldogs are still waiting to see who their opponents will be in the league final. Last night in Liverpool, the Privateers tied the series with the Capstone Colts following a 5-3 victory. The seventh and deciding game in the Fred Fox division final will be at the Shearwater Arena on Wednesday night.
Pro basketball returned to the Maritimes with the tip-off of the Eastern Canadian Basketball League. The league consists of six teams located in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P-E-I. The season kicked off in Saint John, New Brunswick with the hometown Union posting a 98-85 win over the Bathurst Bears in front of two-thousand fans on Friday. The region has been without a league since the National Basketball League of Canada left nearly three years ago.
NATIONAL SPORTS
Virtually nothing went skip Brad Gushue’s way in his opening game against Switzerland at the world men’s curling championship. But after shaking off an 8-3 setback, the Canadian crew bounced back with a 10-6 victory over Italy, leaving them at 1-and-1. Canada will play games against New Zealand and Norway today.
The Edmonton Oilers have punched their ticket to the post-season by defeating the visiting Anaheim Ducks 6-0. Leon Draisaitl scored three goals, including his 50th of the season, while Zach Hyman, Darnell Nurse and Connor McDavid netted singles for the Oilers, who extended the Ducks’ losing streak to seven straight game. Jack Campbell stopped 36 shots to post the shutout.
Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark and Marie-Philip Poulin each scored, and Canada outshot Finland 23-19 to post a 3-1 win in exhibition women’s hockey action in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Renata Fast chipped in with two assists for Team Canada, which is focused on winning the women’s world hockey championship, running April 5th to 16th in Brampton, Ontario. Emilia Vesa scored for Finland.
U-Conn doled out another drama-free basketball beatdown, getting 21 points from Adama Sanogo to dispatch Miami 72-59 and move one win from the school’s fifth national title. Jordan Hawkins overcame his stomach bug and scored 13 for the Huskies, who came into this most unexpected Final Four as the only team with any experience on college basketball’s final weekend. The Huskies will face San Diego State, which became the first team to hit a buzzer beater while trailing in a Final Four game for a 72-71 victory over Florida Atlantic.
The Vancouver Whitecaps entered the Major League Soccer win column with a bang Saturday night. Simon Becher scored twice as the Whitecaps whipped visiting C-F Montreal 5-0. Brian White, Julian Gressel and Ali Ahmed also scored for the Whitecaps, who improved their M-L-S record to one win, three draws and two losses. Goalie Yohei Takaoka did not face a single on-target shot as he earned his first clean sheet for Vancouver.
Toronto F-C squandered a two-goal lead, and a memorable opening goal by Italian star Federico Bernardeschi, and had to settle for a 2-2 Major League Soccer tie on Saturday with Charlotte FC at windy B-M-O Field. Polish international Kamil Jozwiak set up Ben Bender’s goal and scored another to key Charlotte’s second-half surge, helped by a stiff wind at the lakefront stadium. Michael Bradley also scored for Toronto.
Saturday’s Scoreboard
NHL
Edmonton 6 Anaheim 0
Carolina 3 Montreal 0
Toronto 3 Ottawa 0
St. Louis 6 Nashville 1
Boston 4 Pittsburgh 3
Buffalo 6 Philadelphia 3
Florida 7 Columbus 0
Tampa Bay 5 N.Y. Islanders 0
New Jersey 6 Chicago 3
Colorado 5 Dallas 2
Los Angeles 3 Seattle 1
Vegas 4 Minnesota 1
San Jose 7 Arizona 2
MLB
Interleague
St. Louis 4 Toronto 1
Texas 16 Philadelphia 3
San Francisco 7 N.Y. Yankees 5
American League
Houston 6 Chicago White Sox 4
L.A. Angels 13 Oakland 1
Boston 9 Baltimore 8
Tampa Bay 12 Detroit 2
Minnesota 2 Kansas City 0
Cleveland 2 Seattle 0
National League
Milwaukee 3 Chicago Cubs 1
Atlanta 7 Washington 1
N.Y. Mets 6 Miami 2
Cincinnati 6 Pittsburgh 2
San Diego 8 Colorado 4
L.A. Dodgers 10 Arizona 1
NBA
Miami 129 Dallas 122
New Orleans 122 L.A. Clippers 114
NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Final Four
San Diego St. 72 FAU 71
UConn 72 Miami 59
MLS
Vancouver 5 CF Montreal 0
Charlotte 2 Toronto 2
Atlanta 1 N.Y. Red Bulls 0
Cincinnati 1 Miami 0
Columbus 4 Real Salt Lake 0
Seattle 2 LA Galaxy 1
New York City 1 New England 1
Nashville 2 Orlando City 0
Sporting Kansas City 0 Philadelphia 0
D.C. United 0 Chicago 0
Portland 1 FC Dallas 1
Minnesota 1 St. Louis City 0
Los Angeles FC 0 Colorado 0
San Jose 2 Houston 1
Sunday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
N.Y. Rangers at Washington, 1 p.m.
Boston at St. Louis, 3:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.
Ottawa at Columbus, 6 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Carolina, 6 p.m.
New Jersey at Winnipeg, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles at Vancouver, 8 p.m.
Anaheim at Calgary, 8 p.m.
MLB
Interleague
San Francisco (Stripling 0-0) at N.Y. Yankees Rogers (0-0), 1:35 p.m.
Toronto (Bassitt 0-0) at St. Louis (Montgomery 0-0), 2:15 p.m.
Philadelphia (Falter 0-0) at Texas (Perez 0-0), 7:08 p.m.
American League
Detroit (Wentz 0-0) at Tampa Bay (Springs 0-0), 1:10 p.m.
Baltimore (Irvin (0-0) at Boston (Houck 0-0), 1:35 p.m.
Minnesota (Ryan 0-0) at Kansas City (Keller (0-0), 2:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Clevinger 0-0) at Houston (Garcia 0-0), 2:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Anderson 0-0) at Oakland (Waldichuk 0-0), 4:07 p.m.
Cleveland (Quantrill 0-0) at Seattle (Gonzales 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
National League
Atlanta (Shuster 0-0) at Washington (Gore 0-0), 1:35 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Senga 0-0) at Miami (Rogers 0-0), 1:40 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Velasquez 0-0) at Cincinnati (Ashcraft (0-0), 1:40 p.m.
Milwaukee (Lauer 0-0) at Chicago Cubs (Taillon 0-0), 2:20 p.m.
Colorado (Gomber 0-0) at San Diego (Lugo 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
Arizona (Davies 0-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Syndergaard 0-0), 4:10 p.m.
NBA
Toronto at Charlotte, 1 p.m.
Portland at Minnesota, 3:30 p.m.
Utah at Brooklyn, 3:30 p.m.
Memphis at Chicago, 3:30 p.m.
Washington at New York, 6 p.m.
Detroit at Orlando, 6 p.m.
San Antonio at Sacramento, 6 p.m.
Dallas at Atlanta, 6 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Houston, 7 p.m.
Phoenix at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
Indiana at Cleveland, 8 p.m.
Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 8 p.m.
Golden State at Denver, 8:30 p.m.
NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Game at Dallas
LSU vs. Iowa, 3:30 p.m.