Phantoms hold off Capitals in shootout

Phantoms hold off Capitals in shootout

MADISON

The Youngstown Phantoms lost a two-goal lead in the third period, but still got the 3-2 shootout victory against the Madison Capitals Saturday night.

The Phantoms’ Eric Esposito scored two goals in about two minutes to give his team a 2-0 lead in the second period. Noah Weber’s powerplay goal split Madison’s deficit and Billy Jerry scored in the third period to force overtime.

The Phantom’s Nicolas Werbick scored the opening goal of the shootout. Esposito was stopped by Madison goalie Dryden McKay, but Coale Norris followed up with the game-winner. Britt League stuffed both of Madison’s shootout attempts.

Texas hires Herman, fires Charlie Strong

AUSTIN, Texas

Tom Herman now gets his chance for a Texas takeover.

Herman, who coached Houston to national prominence the last two seasons, was announced as the new Texas coach Saturday, replacing Charlie Strong, who was fired in the morning after three consecutive losing seasons.

Contract details were not immediately released, and must still be approved by Texas’ Board of Regents. Texas still owes Strong nearly $11 million on his original five-year guaranteed contract.

Texas acted quickly to snag Herman, who has only two years of experience as a head coach but is 22-4 with the Cougars, with a 9-3 mark this season after Friday’s loss to Memphis. Herman’s name had emerged as a top target for Texas officials as Strong’s final season started 2-0 but faded to a 5-7 finish.

Herman’s brief stint at Houston galvanized the Cougars program. The coach coined the phrase “H-Town Takeover” in a bid to energize the local fan base and keep Houston-area recruits at home.

Herman was offensive coordinator at Ohio State when the Buckeyes won the 2014 season national championship. He spent a season at Texas as a graduate assistant early in his career under former Longhorns coach Mack Brown.

LSU hires Orgeron as head coach

BATON ROUGE, La.

On Saturday, LSU formally named Ed Orgeron the permanent head coach of Louisiana State, the flagship college football program in the state where he was raised before venturing out on a career that took him from coast-to-coast and back again.

The announcement by athletic director Joe Alleva came two days after the No. 25 Tigers defeated No. 22 Texas A&M 54-39 . Following Thursday night’s game, players’ raucous chants of “Keep coach O” could be heard from LSU’s locker room.

Orgeron has gone 5-2 since taking over for Miles, who was fired Sept. 26 after LSU, which entered the season ranked No. 5 in the AP preseason poll, started 2-2. LSU’s two losses since Orgeron was promoted came against No. 1 Alabama and 13th-ranked Florida , the Southeastern Conference East Division champion — and the loss to the Gators came down to the final play.

It was the second winning interim stint at a major program for Orgeron, who went 6-2 at USC after Lane Kiffin was fired in 2013.

U.S. coach Bradley earns first EPL win

SWANSEA, England

Bob Bradley celebrated his first win as Swansea manager when Fernando Llorente’s stoppage-time double clinched a wild 5-4 victory over Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Swansea led 3-1 with 15 minutes to go but faced a sixth successive winless game after going 4-3 behind by conceding three goals in nine minutes.

The comeback ended Bradley’s wait for a Premier League win but Palace manager Alan Pardew was condemned to a sixth loss in a row.

Swansea climbed off the bottom of the 20-team standings and Palace was two points ahead in 16th.

Staff/wire report