SOCCER

With two Women’s World Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal, Alex Morgan is retiring from professional soccer as one of the United States national team’s most prolific scorers and as someone who helped lead the fight for equal pay.

The 35-year-old Morgan, who said she is pregnant with her second child, made the announcement on Thursday in a social media post. At times during the heartfelt message, Morgan was near tears.

Over the course of a 15-year career with the United States national team which included World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, Morgan also won a gold medal with the United States at the 2012 London Olympics and a bronze at the Tokyo Games in 2021. She first joined the national team in 2009. Morgan played in 224 matches for the national team, ninth-all time, with 123 goals (fifth all-time) and 53 assists (ninth all-time). She was named the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year in 2012 and 2018.

900 FOR RONALDO: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal in Portugal’s Nations League victory over Croatia on Thursday.

The star forward found the net in the 34th minute at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

Advertisement

It was the 131st goal of his international career. He is the first man to reach the 900-goal milestone in official matches for club and country.

BASEBALL

MLB: Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman agreed to a $151 million, six-year contract with the San Francisco Giants for 2025-30, giving up his chance to become a free agent after the season.

Chapman will get a $1 million signing bonus, payable Jan. 15, and annual salaries of $25 million. The deal assures he will earn $169 million over seven seasons from 2024-30.

• The Minnesota Twins placed Max Kepler on the 10-day disabled list Thursday with left patellar tendinitis.

Outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was selected from Triple-A St. Paul to replace Kepler on the 28-man roster.

Advertisement

• Philadelphia placed outfielder Austin Hays on the 10-day injured list Thursday because of a kidney infection.

HOCKEY

HALL OF FAME: Olympian Brianna Decker, former NHL players Kevin Stevens and Matt Cullen, late Chicago Blackhawks founder Frederic McLaughlin and the 2002 Olympic gold medal-winning Paralympic sled hockey team are being inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

USA Hockey revealed the class Thursday for enshrinement at a ceremony Dec. 4 in Pittsburgh.

GOLF

EUROPEAN MASTERS: Seeking a third victory, Matt Fitzpatrick was upstaged by his younger brother in a low-scoring first round at the picturesque Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club at Crans-Montana, Switzerland on Thursday.

Advertisement

Alex Fitzpatrick shot 7-under 63 and was tied for the lead with unheralded Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, ranked No. 629, at the European tour event. Matt Fitzpatrick shot 66 and was in a six-man group three strokes off the lead. The 2022 U.S. Open champion is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 27.

COLLEGES

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Memphis Coach Penny Hardaway fired three assistants and a staff member two months before the Tigers’ season opener, and the university also confirmed officials shared an anonymous letter alleging multiple violations in his program with the NCAA.

Hardaway announced Wednesday morning that assistant coaches Rick Stansbury, Faragi Phillips and Jamie Rosser, and special advisor Demetrius Dyson were gone. Hardaway called it a “difficult decision” to go in a new direction with the season opener against Missouri on Nov. 4.

Join the Conversation

Please sign into your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.