AP Sports

Ukraine back on track after comeback win over Slovakia at Euro 2024

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Roman Yaremchuk has scored for Ukraine to clinch a 2-1 win over Slovakia in Duesseldorf and restore its hopes of reaching the European Championship knockout stages. Slovakia took the lead in the 17th minute with a header from Ivan Schranz. Oleksandr Zinchenko crossed low for Mykola Shaparenko to score Ukraine’s first goal of the tournament in the 54th. Yaremchuk then met a long ball from Shaparenko to beat goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in the 80th. To advance, Ukraine likely needs at least a draw against Belgium on Wednesday. Slovakia, after its surprising win over Belgium, faces Romania next.

Cue the duck boats: Boston salutes Celtics’ record 18th NBA championship with parade

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics have celebrated their 18th NBA championship with the customary duck boat parade through the city. The amphibious vehicles are normally ridden by sightseeing tourists but have been used by all four of Boston’s major professional sports franchises to celebrate championships in recent years. The Celtics broke a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most league titles when they beat the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night. On Friday, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck and his family carried the Larry O’Brien Trophy past a sea of fans on foot as they made their way to TD Garden.

Florida Panthers get 3rd chance to win the Stanley Cup in Game 6 at Edmonton before sellout crowd

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The Stanley Cup will be in the building once again Friday night with the Florida Panthers getting their third chance to win the first championship in franchise history in Game 6 against the Edmonton Oilers. The Panthers led the series 3-0 before losing back-to-back games as Connor McDavid made some history. The Oilers captain became the first player to have consecutive four-point games in the final. To close out the series and finally be atop the NHL, Florida will have to deal with McDavid cruising to playoff MVP honors and a raucous sellout crowd of over 18,000 fans hoping to see their team force a Game 7 back in South Florida.

US Olympic and other teams will bring their own AC units to Paris, undercutting environmental plan

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions. U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland says while the U.S. appreciates efforts aimed at sustainability, the federation would be supplying AC units for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games. Hirshland says athletes said AC units were a high priority and something they felt was critical to their performance at the upcoming Olympics. Average temperatures in Paris hover at around 80 degrees in the summer.

Athletics to move to 1st week of 2028 Olympics, swimming to 2nd week, plus some venues changed

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics announced changes to its venue plan that it says will create an estimated $156 million in combined savings and revenue increases. Swimming will be held at 38,000-seat SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, basketball will be played at Intuit Dome in Inglewood and gymnastics will be at Crypto.com Arena. To accommodate the opening and closing ceremonies at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium, the traditional schedules for athletics and swimming will be adjusted. Athletics will move to the first week of the games, while swimming will be held the second week. The Los Angeles Olympics will be held from July 14-30, 2028.

Canada says it’s ‘deeply disturbed’ after Bombito gets targeted on social media with racist messages

ATLANTA (AP) — Canadian soccer player Moise Bombito had racist messages directed at him on social media after making a tackle on Lionel Messi during a 2-0 Copa America loss to Argentina on Thursday. The Canadian National Team issued a statement on social media late Thursday night about the messages without mentioning Bombito by name. “Canada Soccer is aware of and deeply disturbed by racist comments made online and directed at one of our men’s national team players following tonight’s game,” the statement said. “We are in communication with CONCACAF and CONMEBOL about this matter.”

Energized Austria wins and puts Lewandowski’s Poland at risk of elimination from Euro 2024

BERLIN (AP) — Austria has picked up its first win at Euro 2024 by defeating Poland 3-1 in its second group match in Berlin. Gernot Trauner, Christoph Baumgartner and Marko Arnautovic scored for Austria while Krzysztof Piatek had Poland’s only goal. To avoid elimination, Poland needs the Netherlands to beat France in a later Group D match on Friday. Robert Lewandowski, who missed Poland’s first match against the Netherlands due to an injury, came on in the second half but failed to make an impact.

String of injuries can’t stop Texas A&M on its run to College World Series finals against Tennessee

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Texas A&M has weathered a run of injuries to reach the College World Series finals. The Aggies will open the best-of-three finals against No. 1 national seed Tennessee on Saturday night. They’ve made their run without star outfielder Braden Montgomery and No. 2 starting pitcher Shane Sadao. A number of other players also are playing through injuries. Texas A&M will send Ryan Prager to the mound against Chris Stamos. Both teams are looking for their first national championships in baseball. Tennessee hopes to be the first No. 1 national seed to win the title since 1999.

Reds, Brewers, Nationals are on pace to post highest stolen-base totals of any MLB team since 1990s

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds are stealing bases at a rate unseen over the last three decades. And the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals are right on their heels. No team this century has stolen more than 200 bases in a season. The Reds, Brewers and Nationals are all on pace to blow past that mark as they capitalize on rule changes put in place last year to spark more base stealing. Cincinnati has 107 steals through its first 74 games and is on pace for 234. That would represent the highest total for any team since the 1992 Brewers had 256.

‘Hawaii Five-0’ fan favorite and former UFC fighter Taylor Wily dies at 56

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Taylor Wily, an actor known for his roles on “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I,” has died at 56, his friend and “Hawaii Five-0” producer said Friday. “Hawaii Five-0” executive producer Peter M. Lenkov confirmed his death to The Associated Press and shared multiple tributes to the actor on Instagram. KITV 4, based in Honolulu, was the first to report Wily’s death on Thursday. Additional details about the cause of his death remain unknown. TV and radio personality Lina Girl Langi said on the show “Island Life Live” that she announced the news “with a heavy heart,” as Wily was a friend.