nation
nation
Falk, Abily score
CARSON, Calif. — Allison Falk and Camille Abily each scored, and the Los Angeles Sol blanked the Washington Freedom 2-0 on a blustery Sunday in the inaugural game of the Women’s Professional Soccer league.
The Sol (1-0) and Freedom (0-1) were the first to play their games in the seven-team WPS, a league in the works for nearly three years before being finalized in late 2008.
Chivas USA beats FC Dallas 2-0
FRISCO, Texas — Eduardo Lillingston and Bojan Stepanovic each scored second-half goals to lift Chivas USA to a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas on Sunday.
Chivas is 2-0 for the first time in the club’s five-year history, while Dallas has lost each of its first two games at home.
Gerson Mayen made his MLS debut memorable, setting up Lillingston in the 56th minute by bending a pass from near midfield. Lillingston raced past Dallas defender Aaron Pitchkolan and took control of the ball from outside the top of the penalty area, placing a left-footed shot into the right corner from 16 yards away.
Dominguez takes four
NEW YORK — Ramon Dominguez, Aqueduct’s leading rider, won four races Sunday including both $100,000 divisions of the New York Stallion Stakes.
Dominguez guided Uncle T Seven to a 31‚Ñ2-length win over Empty Wallet in the colt and gelding division. The 9-5 favorite ran the six furlongs in 1:12.58 on the sloppy track.
Uncle T Seven paid $5.70 for the win, his second in seven starts for trainer John Morrison.
Mother Russia was even more dominant in the filly division, beating Hanna Can Fly by 43‚Ñ4 lengths for her third win in five races.
Chodounsky grabs national slalom title
GIRDWOOD, Alaska — Former Dartmouth College skier David Chodounsky has won the slalom at the 2009 U.S. Alpine Championships.
Chodounsky finished fourth in the first run, finishing .24 seconds behind leader Jimmy Cochran, who had won two titles in the event at the Alyeska Resort course.
Starting 27th in the second run, Chodounsky finished with a combined 1:40.60. Cochran was second in 1:40.98 and Cody Marshall third in 1:41.51.
world
Stampede kills 22 in Ivory Coast match
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — A stampede at a World Cup qualifying soccer match in the Ivory Coast killed at least 22 people and wounded 132 Sunday, the Minister of the Interior announced on state TV.
Desire Tagro said fans pushed against each other, setting off a panic that led to the stampede at the game between the Ivory Coast and Malawi.
“Lots of fans showed up,” Tagro said. “They started pushing to get in because the match was about to start and each and every one of them wanted to get in.”
An Associated Press photographer said people began shoving and pushing 40 minutes before the beginning of the game at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny arena. Police fired tear gas into one section of the crowd.
Ivory Coast won the match 5-0.
Montiel KO’s Silva
TIJUANA, Mexico — Fernando Montiel won the vacant WBO bantamweight title by stopping Diego Silva in the third round on Saturday night at Plaza de Toros.
Montiel (39-2-1, 29 KOs) stole the show on a night when fellow Mexicans Humberto Soto and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. also were in action. Montiel, a former super flyweight champion, has won seven straight since losing to Jhonny Gonzalez in May 2006.
Chavez Jr. (39-0-1, 29 KOs), the son of the great Mexican champion, won a tight but unanimous decision over Luciano Leonel Cuello and could be in line for a title shot. The judges scored the fight 98-92, 96-94 and 96-95.
Oxford out front again
LONDON — Oxford’s heaviest ever crew won the university boat race against Cambridge on Sunday for its fourth victory in five years.
Cambridge matched Oxford through the first half of Sunday’s race and even led through the second of the three bends, but the favorites surged ahead late, tapping into their greater stamina and power.
It was Oxford’s 75th victory in 155 runnings of the rowing classic on the River Thames.
Cambridge chose to start at the Surrey station after winning the toss and led by half a length 2 miles into the 4.25-mile race, but could not pull clear of the Dark Blue boat at the sweeping middle bend.
Mooloolaba Triathlon
MOOLOOLABA, Australia — Canada’s Kirsten Sweetland won the season-opening ITU Mooloolaba World Cup triathlon by 55 seconds Sunday, beating Olympic bronze medalist Emma Moffatt of Australia.
The 20-year-old Sweetland made a strong comeback from an 18-month injury layoff by dominating the final 10-kilometer run leg to upset Moffatt.
The 2006 world junior champion finished in 2 hours, 2 minutes. Switzerland’s Daniela Ryf was third, and New Zealand’s Nicky Samuels finished fourth.
Vindicator staff/wire reports