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Author: Owen Hewitt

  • La Salle eliminated from A-10 quarterfinals with 70-51 loss to Richmond

    La Salle eliminated from A-10 quarterfinals with 70-51 loss to Richmond

    La Salle limited Maggie Doogan to 13 points, but Richmond still routed the Explorers, 70-51, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament at the Henrico Sports & Events center in Glen Allen, Va. on Friday.

    Doogan, the back-to-back A-10 Player of the Year and former Cardinal O’Hara graduate, rested during the fourth quarter. The third-seeded Spiders (26-6, 15-3 A-10) will face second-seeded George Mason in the tournament semifinal on Saturday.

    Davidson ousts St. Joe’s from the A-10 Tournament with 64-59 victory

    Ashleigh Connor led La Salle (18-13, 10-8) with 18 points and five rebounds on 6-of-14 shooting. Aryss Macktoon added 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Joan Quinn scored 12.

    Doogan led the Spiders with 13 points and eight rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes.

    Cardinal O’Hara graduate Maggie Doogan scored 13 points to help Richmond oust La Salle out of the A-10 conference tournament.

    Barring an invitation to a secondary postseason tournament, La Salle’s season ended with its loss on Friday.

    The Explorers won 18 games in 2025-26, the most in head coach Mountain MacGillivray‘s eight seasons as head coach. It is the most wins for the Explorers since a 19-win campaign in 2006-07.

  • Joel Embiid’s latest injury will sideline him for the Sixers’ next four games

    Joel Embiid’s latest injury will sideline him for the Sixers’ next four games

    Joel Embiid will be reevaluated in approximately one week as he continues to recover from an oblique strain in his right side, the 76ers announced Friday afternoon.

    Embiid, who has missed the last three games with the injury, will remain on the sideline as the Sixers travel to face the Hawks on Saturday night in Atlanta. Embiid has started individualized strength and conditioning work but has not participated in on-court practices.

    Including Saturday night’s game against Atlanta, the Sixers will play four games before Embiid is expected to be reevaluated next Friday.

    A timeline of Joel Embiid’s injuries with the Sixers

    “I don’t think we’re too far away from him getting on the court,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said.

    Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe (77) suffered a back bruise on this play against the Spurs on Tuesday night.

    VJ Edgecombe was listed as doubtful for Saturday night’s game on the team’s official injury report. The rookie guard did not participate in Friday’s practice, but he did go through an on-court session.

    Edgecombe was injured in the final seconds of the first half of the Sixers’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena. He was ruled out of Wednesday night’s win over the Utah Jazz with a back bruise. The Sixers will get back one starter for Saturday night’s game, as Kelly Oubre Jr. will return after missing back-to-back games against San Antonio and Utah with an illness.

    Oubre, a starting wing in his 10th NBA season, has averaged 14.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in 38 games this season. Edgecombe has played in 57 of the Sixers’ 62 games this season, averaging 15.3 points and 5.5 rebounds.

    Embiid has played 33 games this season, averaging 26.6 points and 7.5 rebounds. The Sixers remain without Paul George, who will be eligible to return from his 25-game suspension for violating the league’s antidrug policy on March 25.

    Breaking down Sixers’ final 20 games: Paul George’s (and Jared McCain’s) return, Joel Embiid’s injury and more
  • Woman hit in face by foul ball at Little League Classic field is suing MLB, Williamsport, and the Crosscutters

    Woman hit in face by foul ball at Little League Classic field is suing MLB, Williamsport, and the Crosscutters

    Every summer, Williamsport, Pa., becomes the epicenter of youth baseball as the Little League World Series hosts its annual tournament.

    And since 2017, Major League Baseball has brought in two teams to play an August regular-season game at Historic Bowman Field, giving Little Leaguers a chance to take in major league action just five miles from the Little League complex.

    But in addition to making memories for Little League ballplayers, the home of the Little League Classic has also been a hazard to fans, a new lawsuit says.

    Deborah Barbella, of Livingston, N.J., attended Bowman Field for a Penn College of Technology baseball game on May 2. She sat behind the first base dugout when a foul ball hit her in her face, breaking her jaw, nose, and eye socket, according to the complaint, which was filed Monday in the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas.

    The suit accuses MLB, the Williamsport Crosscutters, and the city of Williamsport of carelessness and recklessness leading to the injury.

    MLB and the Crosscutters did not immediately return requests for comments regarding the lawsuit. Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter declined to comment on the lawsuit.

    The Crosscutters, one of six teams in the MLB Draft League, have used Bowman Field as their home stadium since 1994. The team was the class A short-season affiliate of the Phillies from 2007 until the MLB restructured its minor leagues in 2021.

    However, the injury at the center of the suit did not take place during a Crosscutters game. Barbella was struck by a foul ball during the second game of a United East Conference playoff doubleheader between Cairn University and Penn College, which used Bowman Field as its home stadium until 2026.

    Bowman Field, which opened in 1926, is owned by Williamsport and leased to MLB to host its Little League Classic games.

    Barbella was struck because Bowman Field did not comply with a 2022 dictate that all minor league baseball stadiums install protective netting that extends from foul pole to foul pole by opening day 2025, the suit says.

    The Seattle Mariners played the New York Mets in last year’s Little League Classic at Bowman Field.

    The netting at Bowman should have been extended even before to comply with major league rules because it hosts games between MLB teams, the suit says, such as the Little League Classic.

    But when Barbella attended a game at Bowman, the suit says, only those sitting behind home plate were covered by a netting canopy. The net in front of Barbella was lower and stopped at the end of the dugout.

    “Our goal is to achieve justice for a woman whose life was permanently altered by an allegedly foreseeable and preventable incident, and to hold the League and the stadium accountable for their delay,” John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan law firm representing Barbella, said in a statement.

    Williamsport officials discussed the netting problem in a Feb. 13, 2025, city council meeting, according to the complaint. Council approved a contract with a construction company for the netting that day, saying the project needed to be done “very quickly,” but the work never started. The city reopened its bid for netting installation in March 2025 but couldn’t find a company that would agree to take on the project with opening day as a deadline, the suit says.

    The city decided to install a temporary netting system to allow more time for the permanent netting’s installation.

    “Despite being aware that the netting at Bowman Field needed to be changed prior to opening day in 2025, the Defendants failed to make any changes to the netting system at Bowman Field,” the suit says.

    With the exception of the 2020 season, the Little League Classic has brought a regular-season MLB game to Williamsport to open the final week of the Little League World Series since 2017. This year’s edition of the game will feature the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves on Sunday, Aug. 23.

    The Phillies have played in two Little League Classic games. They lost, 8-2, to the Mets in the second annual Little League Classic in 2018 and lost, 4-3, to the Nationals in the game’s 2023 edition.

    When the Phillies took the field for the Classic in 2018, it was the first time the team had played at Bowman Field since it suffered a 5-1 loss to the club’s class A-affiliate, the Williamsport Grays, in an exhibition game on July 31, 1962.

  • Self-inflicted wounds, new-look lineup have conspired in Union’s shaky start

    Self-inflicted wounds, new-look lineup have conspired in Union’s shaky start

    After Sunday’s 2-1 loss to New York City FC, Bradley Carnell and Indiana Vassilev agreed: if the Union had started the game with the same intensity with which they finished it, they likely would have been the victors.

    Instead, a slow start condemned the Union to chasing a second-half equalizer for the second time in their first two MLS games. Just as Tai Baribo put the Union down, 1-0, with a first-half goal in the club’s loss at D.C. United last weekend, NYCFC’s Hannes Wolf put the Union behind, 1-0, ahead of the halftime break on Sunday.

    Matt Freese thwarts the Union again, this time with his biggest USMNT games of all on the horizon

    The Union were able to tie the game, 1-1, on a Vassilev penalty in the 89th minute. But after Olwethu Makhanya was shown a second yellow card for dissent in the 92nd minute, Tayvon Gray put NYCFC back in front with a header in the 99th minute.

    “The guys know there was more here for us, to be had, during the game,” Carnell said in his postgame press conference. “I think if we started the way we played the second half, I think, for sure, we get a result.”

    The Union created their fair share of chances in the first half, but almost every scoring opportunity the team had over the first 45 minutes ended with an unthreatening shot. Of the six shots the team took in the first half, four were off target and two were blocked before they could challenge NYCFC keeper Matt Freese.

    “If we’re a little bit cleaner in the first 20 minutes, and we score a goal, and we’re up 1-0, go into half 1-0, it’s momentum,” Vassilev said. “Trying to keep the momentum, I would say, is such a big part of this game. I think we haven’t done too good of a job at it so far.”

    Freese, a former Union player and Wayne native, hardly had to move off his line in the game’s first half. His first save did not come until the 54th minute, a routine collection of a limp shot at the center of the goal from Agustín Anello.

    Union forward Augustin Anello was one of the Union’s new faces in the lineup against NYCFC.

    New pieces

    The Union’s sluggish first half is the kind of growing pain to be expected of a team that moved on from three of its most productive offensive players in the offseason.

    Baribo, Kai Wagner, and Mikael Uhre combined for 44 goal contributions across all competitions last season and all find themselves in different jerseys to start 2026.

    However, nine of the Union’s starters for Sunday’s match were on the pitch for the team’s 1-0 Eastern Conference semifinal defeat at the hands of NYCFC in the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs. Of Sunday’s starting lineup, only Anello and Japhet Sery Larsen were not with the team in November.

    The Union were without Ezekiel Alladoh, as the striker, acquired for a club-record $4.5 million in December, serving a one-game red card suspension after being sent off in the 59th minute of the Union’s opening loss to D.C. United.

    Anello and Vassilev began the game in midfield in the Union’s announced 4-4-2 formation. But both played wider on the field and closer to the front line than indicated on Carnell’s team sheet, with Anello interchanging with striker Milan Iloski.

    “Milan has some more depth in his running in behind,” Carnell said. “That’s what we wanted in the first half. It didn’t really work out that way. When [Anello] goes up top, especially in the second half, the first 15 minutes, before he came off, I thought we created a bunch … I thought that’s how we got back in the game.”

    Anello was replaced by Stas Korzeniowski in the 59th minute and broke through on a penalty he earned. Korzeniowski also had arguably the Union’s best chance for an equalizer from live play, hitting the right post in the 75th minute.

    The Union’s wide midfielders were not the only lineup oddity for Carnell, as Nathan Harriel, the team’s usual right back, played left back against New York City. Frankie Westfield, who has replaced Wagner at left back, played on the right side.

    Carnell should have his replacement for Wagner soon, as the Union’s signing of left back Philippe Ndinga was officially announced by the club on Friday.

    As Carnell noted, the Union had more success going forward as the team pushed for a goal in the second half. The Union recorded 10 shots in the second half on Sunday, five of which were on frame.

    Union defender Olwethu Makhanya walks off the field after receiving a red card against New York FC.

    Red card blues

    Unlike the D.C. game, the Union pulled themselves level thanks to Vassilev’s conversion from the penalty spot. However, the Union found themselves playing with 10 men for the second time in as many MLS games after Makhanya was shown a second yellow for dissent in the 92nd minute.

    Makhanya’s red allowed NYCFC to attack for the remaining eight minutes of additional time. Gray won it in the 99th, beating Ben Bender to the back post on a cross from Agustín Ojeda and sending a header past Andre Blake. Bender, typically a reserve midfielder, replaced Westfield at right back in the 59th minute.

    In two MLS games, the Union’s inability to secure points has been affected by players being sent off for dissent.

    “Two games, two red cards in the second half,” Harriel said. “We’re shooting ourselves in the foot. We have to just have better discipline.”

    The Union will have a full week of training before facing the San Jose Earthquakes at Subaru Park on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV). The Union will be without Makhanya against San Jose (2-0-0, 6 points), as the center back will serve a one-game red card suspension.

    After San Jose, the Union will turn their attention to a Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16 clash with Club América on March 10.

  • Union’s bid to avenge playoff loss to New York City FC thwarted in 2-1 loss in extra time

    Union’s bid to avenge playoff loss to New York City FC thwarted in 2-1 loss in extra time

    The Union entered Sunday evening’s match looking to avenge the playoff loss that halted their 2025 playoff campaign in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

    Instead, New York City FC beat the Union, 2-1, in the team’s Major League Soccer home opener at Subaru Park.

    Hannes Wolf put NYCFC up, 1-0, in the 36th minute, and Indiana Vassilev tied the game at one in the 89th minute. But before the Union could escape with a draw, Olwethu Makhanya was sent off in the 92nd minute.

    With a man advantage in 10 minutes of second-half additional time, NYCFC (1-0-1) was able to find the game’s decisive goal, a header from Tayvon Gray in the 99th minute.

    The Union (0-2-0) outshot NYCFC, 17-13, over the course of the match, but New York City put 10 of those shots on goal, opposed to five shots on goal for the Union.

    The Union struggled to create meaningful chances in the first half. They took six shots in the first 45 minutes, but none of them were on frame. NYCFC keeper and Wayne native Matt Freese finished the first half without a save.

    “We just need to be sharper,” Vassilev said. “It’s the second game of the season. New York’s a really good team … The second half, I thought we were really good, as well. I thought we deserved more than a goal.”

    Conversely, NYCFC kept Andre Blake busy in the first half. It found its first goal in the 36th minute, as Hannes Wolf cleaned up the rebound from one of Blake’s four first-half saves.

    Nicolas Fernandez got in behind the Union’s back line and launched a shot from close range at Blake, who palmed the shot away from the net. The Union could not control the shot’s rebound, which fell to an unmarked Wolf at the top of the 6-yard box.

    As Blake scrambled to get back to the center of the net, Wolf put New York City up, 1-0, with a left-footed strike.

    Looking for an equalizer, Union manager Bradley Carnell brought on Ben Bender for Frankie Westfield and Stas Korzeniowski for Agustín Anello in the 59th minute.

    The Union nearly earned a penalty in the 66th minute, as Jovan Lukić went down while trying to get to a Danley Jean-Jacques pass in the 18-yard box.

    A video replay was initiated to deem if the contact New York City’s Raul Gustavo made with Lukić warranted a spot kick, but Chris Penso, the match’s referee, decided that no foul was committed.

    Still pressing to find a goal, the Union brought on Cavan Sullivan for Milan Iloski in the 83rd and Sal Olivas for Bruno Damiani in the 86th.

    Korzeniowski earned the Union a penalty in the 89th minute after being fouled by NYCFC’s Thiago Martins in the 18-yard box.

    The Union’s usual penalty takers, Damiani and Iloski, were off the field by the time the team was awarded the kick, so Vassilev stepped up to take the penalty. He beat Freese from the spot to tie the game, 1-1.

    “We just took a lot of guys off, and I just happened to be on the field, so I took it,” Vassilev said. “Freese is a good goalie. I thought he was going to dive, so I went down the middle.”

    Ten minutes of additional time were tacked on to the end of the second half. The Union played much of it down to 10 men, as Makhanya was shown his second yellow card of the match for dissent in the 92nd minute.

    It was the second time a Union player has been shown red in as many MLS matches. Ezekiel Alladoh served a one-game red card suspension on Sunday after being sent off in the team’s 1-0 loss at D.C. United. Makhanya will serve a one-game suspension when the Union face San Jose on March 7.

    “Our stuff, over the last two weeks, from a disciplinary standpoint, is probably substandard,” Carnell said.

    Carnell made a defensive substitution in the 94th minute, bringing on Geiner Martínez for Vassilev to compensate for Makhanya’s absence.

    With its man advantage, NYCFC was able to find a second goal to break the tie in the 99th minute. Tayvon Gray sent a headed attempt past Blake to win it for New York City, 2-1.

    “It’s just unfortunate,” Carnell said. “For all the effort that the guys put in, that we don’t earn at least a tie or even have enough chances, in abundance, to win the game. So now we’re left with zero points in the first two games, and this is something that we are fully focused on going into next stretch of games here.”

    New York City FC defender Tayvon Gray (center) celebrates his extra-time goal against the Union.

    Up next

    The Union will return to Subaru Park to face the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

    San Jose (2-0-0, 6 points) is the first of six Western Conference opponents the Union will face this season.

  • The Gaudreau family’s journey to Milan for Team USA’s men’s hockey gold medal started in Philly

    The Gaudreau family’s journey to Milan for Team USA’s men’s hockey gold medal started in Philly

    As the U.S. men’s hockey team skated around with Johnny Gaudreau’s Team USA jersey after its 2-1 overtime win over Canada in the gold-medal game of the Milan Cortina Olympics, Meredith Gaudreau looked on from the stands.

    Meredith knew her late husband’s jersey had a place in the USA Hockey locker room in Milan, Italy, just as it had at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025. But she didn’t expect the team to bring the jersey to the ice as it celebrated USA Hockey’s first men’s Olympic gold since 1980.

    As the team celebrated on the ice, Meredith’s phone rang. It was Matthew Tkachuk, asking if the team could get Meredith and Johnny’s two oldest children, Noa and Johnny Jr., onto the ice for a picture.

    Johnny Gaudreau’s former Calgary Flames teammate, Matthew Tkachuk, skates with Gaudreau’s daughter, Noa, after the United States won Olympic gold on Sunday in Milan.

    “I just was blown away that they wanted to do all that,” Meredith said. “They were really thinking of John. I was just very blown away by John’s impact, the way they want to honor him and have a lot of respect for him as a hockey player, a friend, an American hockey player. I was very, very proud of him for that.”

    Johnny Gaudreau, who spent 11 seasons in the NHL and likely would have been on the team’s Olympic roster, and his younger brother, Matthew, died after being hit by an alleged drunk driver while riding bicycles near their South Jersey hometown on the eve of their sister Katie’s scheduled wedding in August 2024. Johnny was 31, and Matthew was 29.

    Johnny Gaudreau’s dream was to be an Olympian. His family lived it for him, in a moment fit for a ‘movie.’

    From Philly to Milan

    Team USA honoring Johnny Gaudreau and his family was one of the most impactful moments of the Winter Olympics.

    But the Gaudreau family might not have made it to Milan without the efforts of Brian Roberts, the chairman and CEO of Comcast.

    Before the Olympics, Roberts read that the U.S. hockey team was planning to honor Gaudreau at the Games the same way it had during the 4 Nations Face-Off, by including a No. 13 Gaudreau jersey in the team’s locker room. Once the U.S. won its group, Roberts thought the Gaudreau family should have the opportunity to be at the Games in Milan.

    Roberts first called Keith Jones, the president of hockey operations for the Flyers, to see if he knew how to get in contact with the Gaudreau family. Jones recommended that Roberts call Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics, and coordinate the Gaudreau family’s travel with USA Hockey.

    After some hesitation, Jane and Guy Gaudreau made the trip to Italy to honor their son and root on his former U.S. teammates.

    ”In the wake of an unthinkable loss, witnessing the Gaudreau family find a moment of pure joy at the men’s hockey final was a profound honor — that’s the magic of the Olympics,” Roberts said in a statement to The Inquirer.

    Meredith said she got a call from her in-laws, Jane and Guy Gaudreau, on Feb. 17. They told her that USA Hockey had offered to take them to Milan. Johnny’s parents were hesitant, but Meredith knew immediately that she had to go.

    “I have, kind of, two roles right now I want to focus on,” Meredith said. “That’s giving my kids a special life and honoring my husband. When those two things can overlap, it’s more than I can ask for right now. It just means everything to me.”

    Team USA honors the late Johnny Gaudreau after winning Olympic gold in Milan

    Meredith’s in-laws changed their minds, canceled a trip to Las Vegas with friends, and boarded a plane to Milan on Feb. 19. The family arrived in time to see the U.S. beat Slovakia, 6-2, in the semifinals the following day.

    As the gold-medal game against Canada approached, Meredith couldn’t help but feel the U.S. was destined to win gold. The game was on Feb. 22, which happened to be Johnny Jr.’s second birthday.

    “I just was like, ‘This is going to happen,’” Meredith said. “I just was reflecting on everything, and it was just the ultimate gift from John, the ultimate birthday present he gave to us for Johnny.”

    ‘We were really hoping for this together’

    Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau grew up in Carneys Point Township in Salem County and played youth hockey for the Little Flyers and Team Comcast.

    Meredith also is a Philly-area native and grew up with five siblings in Malvern. She and her sisters went to the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Villanova, while her brothers went to St. Joseph’s Prep in North Philly.

    Meredith was a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia when she met Johnny in 2018 at her sister’s birthday party in Avalon, N.J. The pair got married in September 2021.

    Johnny, a forward, played nine seasons with the Calgary Flames and two with the Columbus Blue Jackets and was hoping for a spot on Team USA’s Olympic roster.

    “We weren’t getting too ahead of ourselves, but we were talking about planning our pregnancies around it,” Meredith said. “I was like, ‘It’d be hard to be out there with a newborn; it would be kind of hard to be out there pregnant, at the end of a pregnancy.’ … All those memories flushed into my mind thinking, ‘We were really hoping for this together.’”

    Photographic memories

    While the trip to Milan was a bittersweet moment for the Gaudreaus, Meredith said she’s glad that her children have the photos on the ice with Team USA to look back on.

    Meredith’s 11-month-old, Carter, did not make the trip to Milan, but 3-year-old Noa and Johnny Jr. got a chance to celebrate with “the team that is all of Daddy’s friends,” which is how Meredith described Team USA to her children.

    South Jersey reacts as Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey is displayed in Team USA’s golden victory

    “I said, ‘They want to take a picture with you. It’s for Daddy,” Meredith said. “[Noa] was smiling really hard, and I was really proud of her for that because I think she’s at a stage right now where she’s starting to piece things together, and she’s very, very proud of her father.

    “We look at pictures every single day, and she’s still super young and wasn’t even 2 when he passed. I try to tell her stories with the photos that she sees. I think she remembers pictures more than the actual memories.”

    Dylan Larkin (21) holds Johnny, the son of the late Johnny Gaudreau after Team USA beat Canada in the gold-medal game in Milan.

    Meredith hopes the pictures that came after the team’s win will be something Noa, Johnny Jr., and Carter can look back on as they grow up to help them remember and connect with their father.

    “I was thinking into the future, too,” Meredith said. “That they’re going to look back on this and hopefully be blown away.”

  • St. Joseph’s women drop their regular-season finale to Richmond

    St. Joseph’s women drop their regular-season finale to Richmond

    Maggie Doogan left it all out on the floor in what may be the final college game in her hometown.

    Doogan, a graduate of Cardinal O’Hara, scored a game-high 35 points to lead Richmond past local Atlantic 10 rival St. Joseph’s, 72-61, at Hagan Arena in what was the final regular-season game for the Hawks.

    It was the third time Doogan, the reigning A-10 Player of the Year, has scored 30 or more points this season for Richmond (25-6, 15-3 A-10).

    Saturday was senior day for St. Joe’s (19-10, 10-8), which honored its two senior players, forward Faith Stinson and Emirson Devenie. Stinson scored eight points, while Devenie logged four minutes.

    St. Joseph’s guard Gabby Casey has emerged as a ‘multidimensional’ player

    Statistical leaders

    Gabby Casey, the Hawks’ leading scorer, did not play due to an injury.

    With Casey sidelined, Rhian Stokes led the Hawks with 15 points and went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Kaylinn Bethea and Emily Knouse, both freshman guards, added 12 apiece off the bench.

    Hawks guard Emily Knouse finished with 12 points off the bench on Saturday.

    Bethea was 4 of 5 from the field, while Knouse hit four three-pointers as St. Joseph’s tried to mount a fourth-quarter comeback.

    “Just to see both of them put up numbers today was really awesome,” said Hawks coach Cindy Griffin. “It’s just important. We need to have a punch off the bench.”

    Doogan led Richmond with her second-best scoring performance of the season, pouring in 35 points on 9-for-16 shooting. The senior forward made all 14 free throws.

    Spiders scuttle away

    After taking a six-point lead into halftime, Richmond began the third quarter on an 11-4 run to build its lead to 13. The Spiders had a 49-35 lead, their largest of the game, with 1 minute, 49 seconds to play in the third quarter.

    But St. Joe’s mounted a comeback in the fourth behind a three-point barrage from Knouse.

    Knouse knocked down 4 of 8 three-pointers in the fourth quarter, including a three from the left wing that cut Richmond’s lead to six with 4:38 remaining.

    Richmond forward Maggie Doogan finished with 35 points, her second-best scoring performance of the season.

    But Doogan kept the Hawks at bay with a 12-point quarter of her own. Doogan hit seven foul shots in the final quarter to seal a win for the Spiders.

    “I thought they all really stepped up today, and they needed to,” Griffin said. “We just needed a little bit more.”

    Tournament time

    St. Joe’s finished its season tied with La Salle for the fifth-best record in the A-10 at 10-8.

    Thanks to two regular-season wins over the Explorers, the Hawks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker and will enter the A-10 tournament as the No. 5 seed.

    Richmond guard Ally Sweeney (14) and St. Joe’s guard Kaylinn Bethea (22) reach for the ball on Saturday.

    “I like where we are, and it’s a new season,” Griffin said. “It doesn’t matter what your record is, who you beat, who you didn’t beat. It’s a new season, and I think it’s a good place to be.”

    St. Joe’s will have a bye in the tournament’s first round, which consists of two games between the bottom four teams.

    The Hawks will face the winner of a first-round game between Duquesne and Virginia Commonwealth in the second round on Thursday (1:30 p.m., ESPN+). The A-10 tournament will begin on Wednesday at the Henrico Sports & Events Center in Henrico, Va.

  • Historic night for Cavan Sullivan, who scores twice in the Union’s Champions Cup rout of Defence Force

    Historic night for Cavan Sullivan, who scores twice in the Union’s Champions Cup rout of Defence Force

    Cavan Sullivan scored twice for the Union in the team’s 7-0 rout of Defence Force F.C. at Subaru Park on Thursday night, netting his first in the 76th minute and a second in the 88th.

    Despite being the club’s most talked about prospect, Sullivan, the team’s 16-year old midfielder who will join Manchester City at the end of 2027, had been scoreless for the Union in 19 appearances leading up to Thursday night’s match.

    But his two goals, which were also coupled with two assists, found him become the youngest goalscorer in Champions Cup history.

    “Happy to score my first goal,” Sullivan said. “Two of them, actually. It was pretty special.”

    Former Penn product Stas Korzeniowski also scored twice in the win, while Geiner Martínez, Jovan Lukić, and Ben Bender each scored once for the Union.

    The first series in the Concacaf Champion Cup saw the Union outscore Defence Force, 12-0, over two legs. Now, with their first round series win, the Union advance to face Liga MX giant Club América in the round of 16.

    Martínez opens the floodgates

    Geiner Martínez opened the scoring with a goal in the seventh minute. It was his first goal for the club, which signed the centerback in the offseason.

    Jovan Lukić scored a second from the penalty spot in the 10th. Jeremy Rafanello earned the penalty after being brought down in the 18-yard box, and Lukić converted the kick past Defence Force goalkeeper Isaiah Williams.

    Thursday night was the first appearance of the season for Lukić, who missed the Union’s previous two games with a minor injury.

    Korzeniowski added a third in the 12th minute, his first for the Union’s first team since the club selected the former Quakers striker in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft.

    Cavan Sullivan was credited with an assist on the goal after sending Korzeniowski past Defence Force’s back line. Sullivan’s flick was the final pass of a five-pass combination, one that took the Union into halftime up, 3-0. Sal Olivas and Bender entered the game as second half substitutes, replacing Lukić and Olwethu Makhanya.

    Korzeniowski scored his second goal of the night to put the Union up, 4-0, in the 48th minute. Ezekiel Alladoh, a forward the club acquired for $4.5 million in December, was credited with an assist on Korzeniowski’s goal.

    Bender scored in the 53rd minute, giving Sullivan earning another assist. Sullivan played a lofted ball to Bender in the 18-yard box that Bender collected before sending a strike into the back of the net.

    Malik Jakupovic made his Union debut in the 59th minute, coming off the bench to replace Korzeniowski. The 16-year old forward is a product of the Union’s academy who has played for the U.S.’s under-17 youth national team.

    Jesús Bueno replaced Alejandro Bedoya in the 75th minute, which stood as the final substitution of the night for the Union. And then it was Sullivan’s night to ice the cake.

    “It was a good statement from us as a club,” Union manager Bradley Carnell said. “Just to be able to play all the young guys and get rewarded, and guys getting goals and contributions.”

    Up next…

    After a 1-0 loss at D.C. United last weekend, the Union will host New York City FC in their first home match of the Major League Soccer season on Sunday (4:30 p.m., Apple TV).

    New York (0-0-1, 1 point) knocked the Union out of the playoffs last season with a 1-0 victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

    “Everybody wants to be part of Sunday,” Carnell said. “Everyone wants to play and put off a good performance. It’s a derby. We know what it’s all about.”

    The Union’s next Champions Cup match will be against Liga MX giant Club América at Subaru Park on March 10. The away leg of the two-game series is scheduled for March 18 at famed Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

  • Rowan hires alumna Casey Burford as women’s volleyball coach

    Rowan hires alumna Casey Burford as women’s volleyball coach

    Rowan University has hired Casey Burford as head coach of its women’s volleyball team, the school announced Tuesday.

    The team’s previous head coach, Deana Jespersen, died of breast cancer on Nov. 2.

    Burford (née Grasso) played volleyball at Rowan from 2010 to 2014 before entering coaching and spent the last two seasons as head coach at Catholic University. She previously held assistant coaching roles at Goucher College, Delaware State, and Frostburg State.

    “This program has always meant so much to me because of my experience here as a student-athlete, alum, and student-assistant coach,” Burford said in a news release. “I’m truly excited by the work Deana did to shape Rowan volleyball into the culture and program it is today and feel so lucky to be a part of it again.

    “Returning to my alma mater and being part of this program feels like a full-circle moment, and I’m excited to work with a group of strong, talented young women as we continue to grow together.”

    The Profs were 25-6 and 7-1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference last season. Rowan lost to Stockton in the semifinals of the NJAC tournament 11 days after Jespersen’s death.

    “Coach [Jespersen] instituted a strong culture of family and togetherness, and I’m confident that Coach [Burford] will build upon that similar philosophy to lead our program to success on and off the court,” Rowan athletic director Shawn Tucker said in the release.

  • Reflecting on the top 10 moments of Julius Erving’s career as he reaches 76 years old

    Reflecting on the top 10 moments of Julius Erving’s career as he reaches 76 years old

    Julius Erving, an all-time 76ers great whose No. 6 is retired by the franchise, will celebrate his 76th birthday on Sunday.

    As the basketball legend marks a milestone, here’s a look back at the 10 best moments of Erving’s career with the Sixers:

    The Doctor is in

    The Sixers acquired Erving from the New York Nets at the start of the 1976-77 NBA season, the first season after the league’s merger with the American Basketball Association was completed. The ABA’s Nets, one of four teams incorporated into the league, were forced to move on from Erving in order to pay the fees associated with entering the NBA.

    The Sixers paid the Nets $3 million to acquire Erving, who was already a three-time ABA MVP by the time he joined the Sixers. The forward was also a season removed from winning the 1976 ABA dunk contest with a legendary leap from the free throw line.

    All-Star MVP

    Erving got off to a good start in his first NBA season with the Sixers, averaging 19.9 points before the All-Star break in 1976-77. But that season’s All-Star Game in Milwaukee was a point of arrival for the former face of the ABA.

    Erving scored 30 points and nabbed 12 rebounds in 30 minutes, earning the game’s Most Valuable Player trophy despite the East losing to the West, 125-124. Erving, who was named an All-Star in each of his 18 ABA and NBA seasons, won the NBA’s All-Star MVP again in 1983.

    Finals slam

    Erving led the Sixers to the NBA Finals in his first season with the team, averaging 21.6 points and 8.5 rebounds in 1976-77. One of the high-flyer’s most memorable dunks came in Game 6 of the Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. In the second quarter, Erving dribbled through three Trail Blazer defenders, leapt toward the rim and threw down a right-handed jam over the outstretched arms of Bill Walton.

    Despite an NBA playoff career-high 40-point outing from Erving, Walton’s Blazers won Game 6, 109-107, to claim the 1977 NBA championship.

    Baseline scoop

    Walton wasn’t the only Hall of Fame center Erving antagonized in the NBA Finals. His iconic “baseline scoop” move against the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980 Finals was a crafty way of getting around the shot-blocking ability of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

    In the fourth quarter of Game 4, Erving drove to the right side of the basket, leapt while underneath the backboard and tossed an underhanded shot that hit the left side of the backboard and rolled in.

    “I didn’t realize how long I had been in the air, but I knew I didn’t have any legs left and I didn’t have any hang time left, so I fell on the floor,” Erving said to ESPN in 2019. “Just another move.”

    The scoop was two Erving’s 23 points scored in Game 4, helping the Sixers to a 105-102 victory that evened the series at two games apiece. The Lakers won the series, 4-2.

    Most Valuable Doctor

    Erving won his lone NBA MVP award in the 1980-81 season. At the time, Erving was the second Sixer to win the league’s top individual honor alongside Wilt Chamberlain.

    Erving finished top-five in MVP voting five times as a Sixer, but the three-time ABA MVP only won the award once after the merger. Erving averaged 24.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists in the 1980-81 season. He led the Sixers to a 62-20 regular season record, tied for the NBA’s best with the Celtics. The Sixers lost the 1981 Eastern Conference finals to Boston, which would go on to win the title that season.

    Rock the baby

    Another iconic Erving dunk, the “rock the baby” slam, came against the Lakers at the Spectrum in January 1983. Erving picked up a loose ball along the sideline just past center court, drove toward the rim and cradled the ball with his right hand before bringing it up to the rim for a dunk over Michael Cooper.

    “I wanted this dunk to live on forever and to prove that people could fly,” Erving said to Sports Illustrated in 2023 on the slam’s 40th anniversary.

    The Sixers held on for a two point win in overtime against the Lakers in what turned out to be a preview of the 1983 Finals.

    Four, five, four

    Moses Malone was the Sixer that predicted a full sweep of the 1983 Playoffs — “four, four, four” — after the team earned the top seed with a 65-17 regular season record, but Erving helped his center’s postseason prediction (almost) come true as the Sixers marched to the third championship in franchise history.

    Erving and the Sixers were 12-1 in the playoffs, including a sweep of the defending champion Lakers in the 1983 Finals. The Sixers’ only loss was to the Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals. Erving averaged 18.4 points in the Sixers’ 13 playoff games, including a 21-point, six-assist performance to complete a sweep of the Lakers in Game 4.

    At the time, the Sixers were the only team to complete a postseason with one loss. The 2001 Lakers and 2017 Warriors are the only teams since to take only one loss in the postseason.

    Downing Dallas

    Erving sank two game-winning shots at the horn during the final stretch of the 1985-86 regular season, which was his penultimate NBA season. The first shot came in Dallas on Feb. 28, 1986.

    With two seconds remaining in a tie game, Erving inbounded the ball from the sideline to Maurice Cheeks. Cheeks passed it back to Erving, who launched a heave from beyond half court. The shot went in, and the Sixers won, 123-120.

    Beating Boston

    Erving’s next game winner came a little more than a month after his heroics in Dallas. Erving’s Sixers were down two to Larry Bird’s Celtics at the Spectrum on April 6, 1986.

    The Sixers fouled Bird with seven seconds remaining, sending the league’s best free throw shooter to the line with a chance to make Boston’s lead four. Bird missed both, leaving the door open for the Sixers to win the game, 95-94, on an Erving three-pointer as time expired.

    Jersey retirement

    After the Sixers’ opening game of the 1986-87 season, Erving announced he would retire at the end of the season. In total, Erving played 11 seasons for the Sixers and averaged 22 points over 836 games with the team.

    At the time of his retirement, Erving was the third-leading scorer in Sixers history, though he has since been passed by Allen Iverson. Erving is still the franchise’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 1,293 rejections in a Sixers uniform. The franchise retired his No. 6 jersey on April 18, 1988, in a ceremony at the Spectrum.

    Erving also had his No. 32 retired by the Nets in honor of his ABA career, making him one of 16 players in NBA history to have their jersey retired by multiple franchises. Erving was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.