Raptors set franchise scoring record, LaMelo bests Lonzo

TORONTO – Jade Kovacevic, a veteran forward who has scored goals at home and abroad, is the first player signing revealed by the new Northern Super League.

The 30-year-old from Acton, Ont., has joined AFC Toronto, one of six teams scheduled to kick off the fledgling women’s pro soccer league in April.

“I’m so excited. It’s a dream come true for me,” Kovacevic said.

Kovacevic, who spent a year playing collegiate soccer at LSU and had overseas stints in Hungary and Italy, has been waiting a long time to play professionally at home. While she bided her time, the former Canadian youth international set scoring records in League1 Ontario and has given back to the sport by coaching youth.

She has also come back from a ruptured Achilles suffered in a game in May 2023.

“We’re thrilled to have Jade as our first signing,” AFC Toronto coach Marko Milanovic said in a statement. “She’s always trained like a professional, even without a domestic league to play in, and it’s that commitment, her goal-scoring ability and leadership that will help us establish our presence in the league.”

Kovacevic holds the all-time scoring record in League1 Ontario with more than 170 goals, earning five Golden Boot awards and four MVP crowns. Her League1 Ontario resume includes stints with FC London (twice), Vaughan Azzurri and most recently the North Toronto Nitros, where she doubled as coach of the club’s League1 reserves and League 2 program.

Bu she put coaching aside in March to focus on playing, with an eye to the new league coming on board.

“I don’t want to regret not doing something when I can’t do it any more,” Kovacevic said. “And I know I don’t have maybe as many years left in me as I wish I did and I want to take advantage of this opportunity. … I focused on my playing career, took this season as seriously as I could coming off of an Achilles rupture.

“And the stars aligned and the hard work paid off. I’m very very grateful to be sitting in this set.”

A cerebral forward, Kovacevic likes to operate on the shoulder of defenders, looking to make runs and anticipate passes.

“I like to think that one of my strong suits is being able to see things before they happen,” she said.

Born in Hamilton, Kovacevic spent 10 years in Flamboro before moving to Acton. She also played youth soccer in Georgetown and Oakville before joining the Toronto Lady Lynx.

“Jade’s leadership and her connection to the community will be an asset to AFC Toronto,” said NSL co-founder Diana Matheson.

Kovacevic spent one season at LSU where she was named to the2012 SEC (SouthernConference)All-Freshman Team and made Second-Team All-SEC. But she did not find the school a good fit and felt her football wasn’t progressing.

Plus she found she wanted to be closer to home. “Turns out I’m a big family girl,” she said.

Kovacevic found a home at Fanshawe College in London, Ont., loving both the school’s business program and football team.

“You were treated like a D1 athlete at Fanshawe and they put a lot of emphasis on making sure it felt like a professional environment,” she said.

Coming to classes of 15 to 20 students was also welcome after classes of 400 to 500 south of the border.

She had two stints on the Falcons soccer team, returning to do an advanced diploma after studying business marketing. In-between, in 2019, she spent half a season playing for Roma in the Italian second division.

“The time of my life,” she said with gusto. “I lived in the suburbs of Rome, about a 20-minute subway ride from Vatican City. It was just fantastic, I was there for six or seven months, helped the team grow a little bit, learned a little bit of Italian, fell in love with the lifestyle and the culture.”

But financially, it was not enough to support her. She had run into the same problem in an earlier three-month stint in Hungary in 2017 withGyori ETO, located about an hour outside Budapest.

Back home in Ontario, she settled in London where she began her own private coaching company during the pandemic. She also coached FC London’s youth sides while playing for the club.

“London has been incredible to me,” she said. “The fans there, the supporters of the game, FC London, they really helped feed the passion that I have for the game.”

Kovacevic represented Canada at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2010 in Trinidad and Tobago and the U-20 World Cup in 2012.

At one point she roomed with Canadian striker Adriana Leon. Kovacevic also grew up playing with and against current Canadian stars Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence.

And she would love to renew such acquaintances.

“I would love a shot at the (Canadian) senior level,” Kovacevic said.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

NEW YORK (AP) — As confetti fell and Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blared through the arena, the New York Liberty celebrated the end of a 27-year odyssey.

The team that always fell short, starting from their days in Madison Square Garden, through detours to Radio City Music Hall and Westchester County Center, finally found their way to the top.

Start spreading the news, indeed: There’s finally a pro basketball champion in New York again after a 67-62 overtime win over Minnesota in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday night.

“I’ve been manifesting this moment for awhile, There’s no feeling like it,” Breanna Stewart said. “Credit to Minnesota they gave us a tough series. The fans have been amazing everywhere we’ve gone. To bring a championship to New York, first ever in franchise history it’s an incredible feeling. I can’t wait to continue to celebrate with the city. It’s going to be bonkers.”

Jonquel Jones scored 17 points to lead New York, which was one of the original franchises in the league. The Liberty made the WNBA Finals five times before, losing each one, including last season. This time they wouldn’t be denied, although it took an extra five minutes.

With stars Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu struggling on offense, other players stepped up. Leonie Fiebich started off OT with a 3-pointer, and then Nyara Sabally had a steal for a layup to make it 65-60 and bring the sellout crowd to a frenzied state.

“Whoever scores in overtime first usually wins,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said.

Minnesota didn’t score in OT until Kayla McBride hit two free throws with 1:51 left. The Lynx missed all six of their field goal attempts in overtime. After Ionescu missed a shot with 21 seconds left, her 18th miss on 19 shot attempts, the Lynx had one last chance, but Bridget Carleton missed a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left.

Stewart, who missed a free throw with 0.8 seconds left in the end of regulation in Game 1, hit two free throws with 10.1 seconds left in overtime to seal the victory.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock the players hugged and streamers fell from the rafters. Stewart and Jones hugged. The two prize free agent signees two years ago that helped get this team its first title.

New York trailed by two in regulation when Stewart was fouled with 5.2 seconds left. After a lengthy video review, Stewart calmly hit two free throws to tie the game at 60.

Kayla McBride, who finished with 21 points, had an open look for a 3, but it fell off the rim and the game went to OT.

Many of the former Liberty greats were in the audience, including Teresa Weatherspoon, who hit a half-court heave in the 1999 WNBA Finals to force a decisive Game 3 that year. That was the last time that New York had a chance to play in a championship-deciding game until this year.

Jones, who was the only player on the Liberty to compete in a Game 5 before when she was with Connecticut in 2019, earned MVP honors.

“I could never dream of this. You know how many times I’ve been denied. It was delayed. I am so happy to do it here,” she said.

Napheesa Collier scored 22 points to lead Minnesota before fouling out with 13 seconds left in OT.

The Lynx were trying for a record fifth WNBA title, breaking a tie with the Seattle Storm and Houston Comets. Minnesota won four titles from 2011-17 behind the core group of Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore. That was the team’s last appearance in the WNBA Finals until this year.

“Congratulations to the Liberty on their first championship,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “It took them 28 years, congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth, it just didn’t happen.”

This is the first time since 2019 that the WNBA Finals have gone the distance. Since the league switched to a best-of-five format in 2005, seven other series have gone to a Game 5 and the home team had won five of those previous contests, including in 2019.

This series has been a fitting conclusion to a record-breaking season for the league. All five games came down to the last few possessions and have included two overtime games and a last-second shot, which have led to record ratings.

The first three games each had over a million viewers on average, with the audience growing for each contest. They also have had huge crowds in attendance.

Liberty fan Spike Lee was courtside over an hour before tipoff chatting with the media while wearing his Ionescu jersey. Once Ionescu finished warming up pregame, the pair had a brief exchange and hugged. Lee was part of a sellout crowd of 18,090 that helped this series set both the overall attendance record for a WNBA Finals as well as the average attendance mark.

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AP WNBA:

WINNIPEG – Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton scored a pair of quick third-period goals to help the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Sunday to remain the only unbeaten NHL team.

The victory extended Winnipeg’s franchise-record, season-opening win streak to five games.

Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter, into an empty net, also scored for Winnipeg (5-0-0).

Appleton added an assist. Nikolaj Ehlers, Colin Miller and Josh Morrissey each contributed two assists.

Pittsburgh (3-4-0) got a pair of goals from Lars Eller and one from Kevin Hayes.

It was a battle of backup goaltenders making their first starts of the season.

Eric Comrie made 39 saves for Winnipeg, while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 31 shots for Pittsburgh.

Takeaways

Jets: Winnipeg is getting scoring from all lines and different players. Twelve players have goals this season.

Penguins: Pittsburgh’s question marks in net continued with the third different starter in as many games. Tristan Jarry (healthy scratch) had started last Wednesday’s game against Buffalo but was pulled in favour of rookie Joel Blomqvist, who got the nod to start Friday’s game versus Carolina. Nedeljkovic was called up from a conditioning stint in the AHL to start against the Jets.

Key moment

After Eller tied the game 3-3 at 1:39 of the third, Jets captain Lowry won the faceoff, then capitalized on a puck that bounced off Appleton to score for the 4-3 lead at 4:20. Appleton added his goal at 7:41.

Key stat

Connor has scored a goal in three straight games and is on a five-game point streak (four goals, one assist).

Up next

Jets: Head out on a three-game road trip, beginning Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues.

Penguins: Play the second game of a four-game road trip in Calgary Tuesday against the Flames.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2024.

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