HIGH SCHOOLS
Rory Carlson and Elias Libby scored in the opening minute of the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie as fourth-seeded Camden Hills (13-4) won the Class B North boys’ hockey championship with a 5-2 victory over second-seeded Hampden Academy (15-4) Wednesday night at Alfond Arena in Orono.
Carlson put the Windjammers ahead just 24 seconds into the third, and Libby made it 4-2 with an unassisted goal. Aiden Aselton was credited with another unassisted goal at 2:37 when his attempted centering pass deflected past Hampden goalie Aaron Donavan.
Camden Hills took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Owen McManus and Emmet Marshall just 1:22 apart.
Hampden, though, took advantage of a series of Camden Hills penalties late in the period, getting 5-on-3 goals from Keith Brooks and Cameron Henderson.
Camden Hills will play Brunswick for the state championship at 1 p.m. Saturday at Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL: Jaycie Christopher, who led Skowhegan to its first basketball state championship, has been chosen as Gatorade Maine Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.
Christopher, a 6-foot senior point guard who is headed to Boston University, averaged 23.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 3.5 steals per game during a 22-0 season for the River Hawks.
She scored 24 points in a 60-46 victory Saturday over Greely in the Class A state final, and finished her high school career as Skowhegan’s all-time leading scorer.
Christopher is also one of three finalists for Miss Maine Basketball, which will be awarded on Saturday.
SOCCER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: With Manchester City’s progress to the quarterfinals never in doubt, even backup goalkeeper Scott Carson could be brought off the bench for his first appearance in the competition in 17 years.
The 36-year-old third-choice goalkeeper replaced Ederson in the 73rd minute and maintained a clean sheet as City drew 0-0 with Sporting, having won 5-0 in the first leg in Lisbon last month.
It was Carson’s first Champions League appearance since featuring for Liverpool in a 2-1 victory over Juventus in April 2005.
• Karim Benzema scored a hat trick in less than 20 minutes in the second half as Real Madrid came from behind to defeat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 and advance to the quarterfinals.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Adam Buksa scored twice and the New England Revolution beat Liga MX’s Pumas 3-0 in the first leg of a quarterfinal in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The Revolution’s first appearance in the Champions League since 2008 came amid a steady snow shower at Gillette Stadium. The second leg will be played next week in Mexico City.
NWSL: Jessica Berman, a former executive for the NHL and the National Lacrosse League, has been named commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Jessica Berman, new commissioner of the NWSL. Susan Walsh/Associated Press
Berman replaces Lisa Baird, who resigned last October amid a scandal involving allegations of sexual harassment and coercion brought against one of the league’s most prominent coaches. Berman’s appointment was announced Wednesday and her four-year term will start on April 20. Interim CEO Marla Messing, hired to oversee the league following Baird’s departure, will continue in her role and advise Berman during the transition until May 31.
Berman takes over the league after a turbulent 2021. Five league coaches either resigned or were dismissed. Among them was North Carolina Coach Paul Riley, who was fired after The Athletic detailed claims of sexual misconduct. He denied the allegations. Baird stepped down in the fallout, and both U.S. Soccer and the NWSL opened independent investigations.
Recently, the league appears more stable. A new collective bargaining agreement was struck with the NWSL Players Association, and two expansion teams will open their inaugural seasons and expand the league to 12 teams.
“Working on behalf of, and in partnership with, our players is my number one priority,” Berman said in a statement. “Having been involved in professional sports for many years, I know how critically important a genuine partnership with players is for us all to be successful and continue to grow.”
ENGLAND: Leicester triker Jamie Vardy will be sidelined for several weeks because of a knee injury, Manager Brendan Rodgers said.
Vardy, 35, had recently returned from a hamstring injury when he sustained the knee problem in Leicester’s 1-0 win over Leeds in the Premier League on Saturday.
HORSE RACING
FORMER DERBY WINNER DIES: Go For Gin, who won the 1994 Kentucky Derby and was the race’s oldest living winner, has died. He was 31.
Kentucky Horse Park announced on its website that Go For Gin died Tuesday from heart failure. He had lived there since retiring from stud in June 2011.
Trained by Hall of Famer Nick Zito, Go For Gin finished second to Tabasco Cat in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Kevin Magnussen will make a surprise return to Formula One this season with the same team that fired him a year ago.
The Danish driver was rehired by Haas F1 to replace Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, who was fired over the weekend following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Magnussen signed a multi-year contract and will drive the new Haas car for the first time on Friday in F1’s test at Bahrain. Reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi will test the car Thursday afternoon.
The 29-year-old was released from contracts with both Peugeot and Chip Ganassi Racing to return to Haas. Magnussen drove for Ganassi in IMSA sports cars last season, and opened this year as the endurance driver at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. He was scheduled to be Ganassi’s endurance driver next week at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
SLED DOG RACING
IDITAROD: Dallas Seavey was leading early Wednesday in his quest to become the race’s greatest champion.
Seavey was the first musher to leave the ghost town of Ophir, Alaska, as mushers continue to jockey for position in the early part of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and lead changes are common.
Ophir is 352 miles into the nearly 1,000-mile race. Seavey left there at 3:49 a.m. Wednesday with 12 dogs in harness. He had an 18-minute lead over the second-place musher, Brent Sass, who has 13 dogs remaining on his team. Sass, the race’s 2012 Rookie of the Year, is looking for his first Iditarod title.
A musher must start the race with at least 12 dogs but no more than 14. Race rules require at least five dogs be on the team at the finish line.
Seavey, the defending champion, is tied with Rick Swenson with the most Iditarod titles, at five apiece. Swenson won his fifth title in 1991, and the now-71-year-old musher last ran the Iditarod in 2012.
SKIING
WORLD CUP: Norwegian skier Atle Lie McGrath secured his first career win in a night slalom at Flachau, Austria, that produced the eighth different winner in nine races in the discipline this season.
McGrath trailed leader Johannes Strolz by almost a second after the opening run, but the Austrian dropped to fourth following several mistakes in his final run.
Olympic champion Clement Noel of France placed second, 0.29 seconds behind McGrath. The rest of the field, led by Daniel Yule of Switzerland in third, was more than six tenths of a second off the lead.
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