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Canada tops Cuba to advance to CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals

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Canada got exactly what it wanted advancing to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals.

Junior Hoilett, Jonathan Osorio, Jayden Nelson and Liam Millar scored as Canada topped Cuba 4-2 in their group stage finale on Tuesday at Shell Energy Stadium. The victory means Canada will face Group A winner U.S. in the tournament quarterfinals on Sunday at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“We were pretty clear coming into this match (about) which team we wanted to play and what game we wanted to experience in the Gold Cup,” Canada head coach John Herdman said at the post-game press conference.

“The football Gods have given us our derby match.”

The last time Canada and the U.S. met was June 18 at the CONCACAF Nations League final — Canada’s first international final since 2000 — where the Americans halted Canada’s hopes of its first trophy in 23 years with a 2-0 win.

Canada is looking to halt a different run with a win on Sunday.

“Playing in the U.S. is difficult, it’s a home match for them, the Nations League final was a home match for them,” Herdman said. “We haven’t beaten them here since 1957, so we wanna be that first team, we wanna be that first coach, that first staff and we want our fans to experience that moment.

“I feel like these last three games, there’s been a lot of adversity for Canada, it hasn’t been easy. But we’ve played in really difficult conditions. … Coming out of this, I feel like the group is tight, it’s connected and they’re hungry.”

Canada entered Tuesday’s contest needing a victory, sitting third — behind Guadeloupe and Guatemala — in Group D with just two points. The win resulted in Canada (1-2-0) finishing second, with the top two seeds advancing from each group.

Guatemala (2-1-0) finished atop Group D to advance following a 3-2 win Tuesday against Guadeloupe (1-1-1) at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

Canada earned back-to-back draws to open the tournament, with a 2-2 decision against Guadeloupe in Toronto last Tuesday and a 0-0 result against Guatemala in Houston on Saturday.

The Canadians improved their record to 10-3-2 against Cuba, with their last meeting being a 1-0 Canada win on Sept. 10, 2019.

Canada got a great opportunity at the six-minute mark when Ali Ahmed sent a short cross in to an open Osorio. He knocked the ball off the crossbar and it bounced just inside the line, back up off the bar and out.

It wasn’t ruled a goal but play was stopped approximately a minute later. After a lengthy Video Assistant Review (VAR), Osorio was ruled offside and the score stayed at 0-0.

Hoilett scored the opening goal in the 21st minute on a penalty kick, beating goalkeeper Sandy Sanchez with a low shot to the left side.

Osorio redeemed himself in the 26th minute when he put the finishing touch on a pass from Lucas Cavallini for a 2-0 edge.

In first-half stoppage time, Luis Paradela scored on a penalty kick to trim the deficit after being tackled by goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair trying to get by him.

St. Clair started in place of Milan Borjan who was ruled out of the tournament with an undisclosed injury on Monday.

“The first penalty was tough, the guys were sort of pushing for the third goal just to get the game finished and you could see players were fatigued,” Herdman said. “Those moments against the U.S., you’re not gonna see those.

“One, I think the climate will be different and two, it’s a different type of focus for that game.”

The temperature was 31 C with 62 per cent humidity on Tuesday.

Nelson made it a 3-1 game just two minutes into the second half when he found a loose ball off a rebound in traffic and put the ball into the net.

Millar furthered Canada’s edge in the 61st minute on a header from a Hoilett corner kick for his first international goal.

“I’m just so proud of Liam,” Herdman said. “He’s had some moments where he could’ve scored, he maybe should’ve scored and it just felt like it’s never gonna happen for him.

“We chatted with him prior to the tournament, yesterday I had a little catch-up with him about taking this moment. To see him score, I’m like a proud dad, it was a big moment, so happy.”

Cuba threatened late with a corner kick but St. Clair knocked away a header that appeared to be from Yosel Piedra. However, a penalty kick was awarded to Cuba after a VAR in which the officials ruled the ball went off Dominick Zator’s arm.

As a result, Reyes just managed to get it past St. Clair in the 89th minute to make it a two-goal game.

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New York Rangers lean on depth for decisive 7-2 win over Montreal Canadiens

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MONTREAL – On a night when New York’s top line was missing in action, the bit players grabbed the spotlight and led the Rangers to a commanding 7-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

“That’s the kind of team we have,” said Filip Chytil, who led the Rangers with a pair of power-play goals Tuesday. “The guys on the top line had chances but when they don’t score we have three other lines to pick up the slack.”

The Rangers’ dominance was reflected in the amount of time they spent in the Canadiens zone and their 45-23 edge in shots.

“If you’ve watched us practice, you know that’s something we work on all the time,” said Chytil. “When we get the puck, we want to hold on to it.”

The Rangers grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Mika Zibanejad at the 56-second mark and Jonny Brodzinski at 2:05, but it was Montreal which pressed the play in the first minute.

“I thought we had a good start but they turned it around on us,” said Montreal coach Martin St. Louis.

Lane Hutson controlled the puck off the opening faceoff and had two early shots, both of which were blocked by New York’s Jacob Trouba.

“That was huge for us,” said Rangers coach Peter Laviolette. “We know (Trouba) can generate offence but he can come up with those big defensive plays.”

Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault exited at 11:05 of the first period after giving up four goals on 10 shots. Zibanejad, Brodzinski, Chytil and Reilly Smith all scored on the Habs’ starter.

His replacement, Cayden Primeau, stopped 33 of 35 shots, giving up goals to Braden Schneider, Kaapo Kakko and Chytil.

Nick Suzuki scored both of the Montreal goals, his first strikes of the season

“It didn’t really feel like a 7-2 game until the end there when you look up at the scoreboard,” Suzuki said. “But we obviously keep digging ourselves these holes, and against a good team like that, our details early on have to be really sharp. And we were definitely a little sleepy coming out and they jumped on us.”

Hutson led the Canadiens in ice time with 24:10 but this wasn’t one of his better games. Smith scored on a breakaway after taking the puck off Hutson’s stick and the rookie was minus-4 for the night.

After Tuesday’s morning practice, the Canadiens announced forward Juraj Slafkovsky will miss at least a week with an upper-body injury. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle missed a second consecutive game with an upper-body injury but the team said it isn’t a long-term ailment.

The injury situation didn’t get any better after Trouba flattened Justin Barron at 7:11 of the third period. Barron didn’t return to the ice but there was no immediate word on his condition.

The Rangers welcomed back defenceman Ryan Lindgren, who made his season debut after missing five games with a jaw injury.

Before the game, 14 players from the Canadiens’ team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1976 and 1979 were introduced at the Bell Centre. Among them were Hockey Hall of Fame members Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Bob Gainey and Ken Dryden.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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Canada’s Fernandez, Andreescu through to quarterfinals at Toray Pan Pacific Open

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TOKYO – Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu have both moved on to the quarterfinals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Fernandez advanced after downing Varvara Gracheva 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old from Laval, Que., fired three aces and converted 5-of-11 break points during the two-hour 15-minute match. Gracheva, of France, battled back in the second set, winning 72.2 per cent of her first-serve points, before Fernandez rallied in the third set.

Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., advanced after Beatriz Haddad Maia retired due to a back injury while trailing 3-0 in the first set. Haddad Maia, the No. 2 seed, appeared to be in pain from the second game onward and took a medical timeout before exiting the match.

In the quarterfinals, Fernandez takes on the winner of a matchup between the tournament’s top seed, Qinwen Zheng of China, and Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, while Andreescu faces either Katie Boulter or Kyoka Okamura.

In women’s doubles action, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner Erin Routliffe were up 6-3, 1-2 on Japanese pair Nao Hibino and Miyu Kato when their match was suspended.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

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Ohtani’s historic 50-50 ball sells at auction for nearly $4.4M amid ongoing dispute over ownership

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Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball has sold at auction for nearly $4.4 million, a record high price not just for a baseball, but for any ball in any sport, the auctioneer said Wednesday.

Ohtani became the first player in baseball history to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in a season, reaching the milestone on Sept. 19 when the Los Angeles Dodgers star hit his second of three homers against the Marlins.

“We received bids from around the world, a testament to the significance of this iconic collectible and Ohtani’s impact on sports, and I’m thrilled for the winning bidder,” Ken Goldin, the founder and CEO of auctioneer Goldin Auctions said in a statement.

The auction opened on Sept. 27 with a starting bid of $500,000 and closed just after midnight on Wednesday. The auctioneer said it could not disclose any information about the winning bidder.

The auction has been overshadowed by the litigation over ownership of the ball. Christian Zacek walked out of Miami’s LoanDepot Park with the ball after gaining possession in the left-field stands. Max Matus and Joseph Davidov each claim in separate lawsuits that they grabbed the ball first.

All the parties involved in the litigation agreed that the auction should continue.

Matus’ lawsuit claims that the Florida resident — who was celebrating his 18th birthday — gained possession of the Ohtani ball before Zacek took it away. Davidov claims in his suit that he was able to “firmly and completely grab the ball in his left hand while it was on the ground, successfully obtaining possession of the 50/50 ball.”

Ohtani and the Dodgers are preparing for Game 1 of the World Series scheduled for Friday night.

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