SPORTS digest

Phantoms take another road game from Steel

GENEVA, ILL.

The Youngstown Phantoms let an early 3-0 lead slip away, but defeated the Chicago Steel 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night at the Fox Valley Ice Arena in United State sHockey League action.

Max Ellis and Mike Regush scored in the shootout to lift Youngstown (18-14-4-1). They also had back-to-back goals in the second period as the Phantoms built a 3-0 lead.

Chase Gresock scored for Youngstown less than a minute into the first period.

But Chicago (18-14-1-3) got a second-period goal from Nick Abruzzese and third-period goals from Robert Mastrosimone and Aaro Vidgren to force overtime.

The game went to a shootout after a scoreless OT.

Phantoms goalie Ivan Prosvetov made 39 saves.

YSU’s Campbell set for Curbstone visit

Youngstown State University softball coach Brian Campbell will be the guest speaker at Monday’s luncheon meeting of The Curbstone Coaches at the Avion Banquet Center on Western Reserve Road in Beaver Township.

The event begins at noon and the public is welcome to attend.

Also, plans are underway for the 51st Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame Induction ceremony which is set for May 6th at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman. The keynote speaker will be former YSU and NFL place kicker Paul McFadden. Tickets are now available by contacting Mariel Sallee at 330-519-6819.

Rutgers, Syracuse will play in 2020 and 2021

PISCATAWAY, N.J.

Rutgers has agreed to play Syracuse in a home-and-home series in football starting in 2020.

The Orange will play at High Point Solutions Stadium in 2020 and the Scarlet Knights will go north the following year to play at Carrier Dome.

The series replaces a previously scheduled home-and-home for Rutgers against UCLA. The Scarlet Knights dropped out of that series and will have to pay UCLA $500,000. About half of that amount will be saved by not having to send the team to California for two days.

Rutgers of the Big Ten and Syracuse of the ACC played for 33 consecutive seasons between 1980 and 2012. The run ended when the schools changed conferences.

Lindsey Vonn clinches 80th World Cup win

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany

Lindsey Vonn edged Italian rival Sofia Goggia by two hundredths of a second in a women’s World Cup downhill on Saturday for her 80th career victory.

The American standout trailed Goggia by 0.08 at the last split time but overcame the deficit in the final section. Cornelia Huetter of Austria was 0.13 behind in third.

Vonn and Goggia, the only racers with more than one downhill victory this season, are the main favorites for gold at the Olympic downhill in Pyeongchang on Feb. 21.

Shortly after Vonn’s run, her American teammate Jacqueline Wiles suffered unknown injuries in a crash and had to be transported off the hill by helicopter. Another downhill is scheduled for today, the last World Cup race before the Olympics.

Darlington spending millions on upgrades

COLUMBIA, S.C.

NASCAR’s “Lady in Black” is getting a multimillion dollar upgrade.

Darlington Raceway is spending nearly $7 million to upgrade and improve seating in three of its main grandstands, a project that will impact nearly 60 percent of the 58,000 seats at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway.

“This solidifies our place as one of the sport’s crown jewels,” Darlington President Kerry Tharp told The Associated Press.

Tharp said the project, dubbed “A Better Darlington,” will begin Thursday and will be completed well before the Southern 500 is run Sept. 2.

The construction is the track’s biggest capital expenditure since spending $10 million to repave its surface and construct a new infield access tunnel in 2008.

From staff and wire reports