Finnish players put on a show as Panthers beat Stars 6-4 in Finland

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Canada’s Christine Sinclair scored in her celebratory retirement match and the Portland Thorns clinched a playoff spot with a 3-0 victory over Angel City on Friday night.

Sinclair, who is playing in her final season, scored in the 16th minute in front of 23,212 fans at Providence Park. Sophia Smith and Morgan Weaver also scored for Portland in its last regular-season match.

Sinclair’s club career was extended with the victory, but Portland won’t know its opening round opponent until this weekend’s final games are wrapped up.

Sinclair, who retired from the Canadian national team last year as international soccer’s most prolific scorer, helped the Thorns win the inaugural NWSL championship in 2013 and additional titles in 2017 and 2022.

She is among just three active players in the NWSL who have played for the same team since the league launched in 2013. The others are Jess Fishlock and Lu Barnes of the Seattle Reign.

Sinclair has scored a club-record 66 regular-season goals, ranking third in league history. Friday night’s game was her 200th appearance for Portland.

After Sinclair’s goal, Smith added her 12th of the season in the 26th minute and Weaver scored in first-half stoppage time.

Sinclair was subbed out in the 83rd minute to a lengthy ovation and toasted in a post-game ceremony.

“Some of the best moments of my life have been on this pitch. So just a massive thank you,” she said to the crowd.

She finished her international career last year as the world’s top goal scorer among both women and men with 190 goals. Sinclair won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Games.

She’s also among just five players to appear in six Women’s World Cups, and one of three players to score in five.

A native of Burnaby, British Columbia, Sinclair won NCAA championships with the University of Portland in 2002 and 2005.

Gotham 4, Royals 1

Esther González scored a pair of goals in visiting Gotham’s 4-1 win over the Utah Royals.

Yazmeen Ryan scored in the 16th minute for Gotham, which has already clinched a playoff spot. Mandy Freeman added her first NWSL goal some two minutes.

Hannah Betfort’s goal for Utah in the 74th made it 2-1 before Esther got two goals to close it out.

Utah was already eliminated from the playoffs.

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AP soccer:

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CALGARY – Dan Vladar matched up for the first time against his old goaltending partner Jacob Markstrom, and he won in style with a shutout.

Vladar made 22 stops as the Calgary Flames snapped a four-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday.

“This is a nice day for me, especially against Marky,” said Vladar. “Good growing game for me, for sure.”

After the game, Vladar, 27, thanked Flames goaltending coach, Jason LaBarbera, for helping him get ready for the showdown against the 34-year-old Markstrom, with whom he shared the crease with for the past three seasons.

“He’s such a great person and we are still really good friends and obviously, I cheer for him. So for me, going into tonight’s game, I wasn’t nervous, but I didn’t feel comfortable, to be honest, playing against Marky,” said Vladar. “So Barbs got me ready. He was like let’s go, let’s go.”

One of Vladar’s biggest stops came early in the second period when he kept the game scoreless by thwarting Jack Hughes on a breakaway. Hughes got a second breakaway later in the period, but slid the puck wide.

“I was just focused on next save and the next save. It didn’t really matter if it was Jack Hughes or somebody else,” said Vladar, who improved to 3-2-1 on the season.

After starting the season 5-0-1, the Flames had scuffled of late, including being outscored 10-3 in their last two games.

“I felt that we deserved the win,” said Blake Coleman, who scored twice including the winner at 14:26 of the third. “Our effort was much better all around tonight. I thought we checked tight, didn’t give up a whole lot, and when we did, Vladdy was great.”

Coleman, a former Devil, knows what it’s like to go against players you used to share a dressing room with.

“I would imagine that it’s a game that (Vladar) probably had circled on his calendar,” said Coleman. “It’s fun to get to compete against old friends and teammates like that. Obviously, I still have a few on that team as well. Sometimes it just makes it a little bit sweeter to pull this out.”

Mikael Backlund, honoured before the game for playing in his 1,000th game, had an assist on Coleman’s game-winner.

“(Vladar) played really solid tonight. He’s been playing really solid for us all year, and good for him to come in tonight and play so well,” said the Flames captain. “He was great, right from the first. I’m really happy for him.”

As the game remained scoreless into the late stages of the third, Vladar’s belief never wavered.

“You just gotta believe that our guys are going to score and I never had a doubt the whole game. I knew we were going to bury at least one,” said Vladar.

When Markstrom was traded to New Jersey last summer, it opened the starter’s job in Calgary and through 11 games this season, coach Ryan Huska has rotated between Vladar and rookie Dustin Wolf.

But that “may” change, admitted Huska, with the next opponent on Sunday being the Edmonton Oilers, who Vladar defeated earlier in the season.

“In his approach to the game, there’s not much different. He’s the same guy every day, whether he was a backup, if you want to call it that, or now he’s getting more starts,” said Huska.

“What I do like about it is the tandem that we do have. I feel like there’s some competition between the two of them, where Dan Vladar has a great game, and now Dustin’s wheels are probably rolling a little bit, where I have to answer in my next start. So I think that’s such a good thing for our team to have two guys that want the net, and they’re playing really well for us.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.

A provincial regulator has stepped in to help residents find new accommodations after a Norwich, Ont., retirement home gave just over two weeks’ notice of its closure.

The Retirement Home Regulatory Authority said the abrupt closure of Trillium Care Norwich contravenes the Retirement Homes Act, which requires a 120-day notice to residents.

“Our priority is the protection of the home’s 18 residents and we continue to use all our regulatory powers to ensure their safety and well-being,” Raymond Chan, a spokesman for the regulator, said in a statement.

The retirement home in the community south of Woodstock, Ont., sent an email to clients on Oct. 25 saying it would be abruptly closing on Nov. 11 and urged those affected to contact Ontario Health at Home.

“Due to an emergency lack of financial resources necessary to sustain daily operations, we must close the facility. This decision was not made lightly, and every effort was explored to prevent this outcome,” Davyd Yushkin, the home’s manager, wrote in an email to residents.

The owner of the retirement home declined to comment when reached by The Canadian Press.

Chan said the regulator understands the impact on the home’s residents and is working to help them find new care and ensure they are able to access emergency resources.

“These situations are very infrequent,” he added.

Family members have been voicing their frustration over the sudden closure and the scramble to find new homes for their loved ones.

Miranda Guitard said her husband’s grandmother moved to the home in May after being diagnosed with dementia. She said there were red flags soon after, including a sudden rent increase and missing paperwork.

Guitard is urging families who are researching retirement homes to get as much information as possible and also learn about the Retirement Home Regulatory Authority.

“Find out where you’re sending your family member,” she said.

“Just because it’s a retirement home and there’s nurses and (support) staff there and it looks like this wonderful space, it can end up not being a good experience.”

Guitard said her family is also anxious about the status of a police investigation into alleged fraud committed at the retirement home.

Ontario Provincial Police said there’s an ongoing probe involving a retirement residence in Norwich, but they did not publicly identify the home.

The OPP said in August that “multiple victims” at a retirement home are alleged to have lost a total of over $50,000.

The Trillium Care Norwich building was also listed for sale in April 2024 for $2 million, with assurances the tenant would sign a five-year lease, according to a Realtor for the listing who said the property is still on the market.

Raymond Cho, Ontario’s minister for seniors and accessibility, said in a statement that his thoughts are with the residents affected by the sudden closure and that they “deserve to live with dignity and respect.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.