SPORTS DIGEST | YSU soccer coach to speak to Curbstone

YSU soccer coach to speak to Curbstone

BEAVER TOWNSHIP

Brian Shrum, Youngstown State University soccer coach, will be the guest speaker at Monday’s luncheon meeting of The Curbstone Coaches at the Avion Banquet Center on Western Reserve Road.

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

YSU volleyball falls in 3 sets to Oakland

Rochester, Mich.

Western Reserve graduate Aleah Hughes, posted 13 kills as the Youngstown State volleyball team lost 3-0 to Oakland on Saturday at the Athletics Center O’rena. The set scores were 25-20, 25-23, 25-20.

Sarah Varcolla added eight kills, three blocks and an ace, and Giovanna Kuntze contributed team highs of 31 assists and 13 digs.

Jamie Walling led the Golden Grizzlies, who were playing their Horizon League opener, with 14 kills on 29 attempts.

YSU was the first to 10 points in all three sets, but Oakland rallied midway through each set to come away with the sweep.

Youngstown State will host Wright State on Friday at 6 p.m. to open a three-match home stand.

YSU soccer drops sixth straight in loss to NKU

Newport, Ky.

The Youngstown State women’s soccer team lost to Northern Kentucky 2-0 on Saturday afternoon from the NKU Soccer Stadium. Goalkeeper Kate McEachern made five saves for the game

The Penguins fall to 1-8-2 while the Norse improve to 6-3

After a scoreless first half, Northern Kentucky (6-3, 2-0 Horizon League) wasted no time getting on the board, as Samantha Duwel headed a pass from Emily Soltes into the back of the net in the 49th minute to give the Norse a 1-0 lead. Lauren Dolak had a shot in the 60th minute but the NKU goalkeeper was able to make a save. Emily Soltes extended the NKU lead to 2-0 in the 87th minute.

The Norse out shot the Penguins 16-3. Dolak and Sydney Ossege recorded the shots for YSU (1-8-2, 0-2 HL).

The Penguins will host Cleveland State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. from Farmers National Bank Field.

Cullen leads Penguins to preseason win

PITTSBURGH

Matt Cullen scored two goals and had an assist to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-3 preseason win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Zach Trotman, Garrett Wilson, Adam Johnson, Juuso Riikola and Kris Letang also scored for Pittsburgh. Fourteen Penguins players recorded at least one point, led by Cullen and Zach Aston-Reese (three assists) who had three points each.

Matt Murray stopped 30 shots while playing the entire game in goal for the Penguins.

Oliver Bjorkstrand had all three goals for the Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo started in goal and allowed four scores on 30 shots in two periods. Jean-Francois Berube played the third and yielded three goals on eight shots.

Kyle Busch wins playoff race at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va.

Kyle Busch passed Brad Keselowski with 38 laps to go and held off hard-charging Kevin Harvick to win the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.

Busch won for the 50th time in his career.

Harvick closed a gap of more than 1.5 seconds over the final few laps, but was not able to deprive Busch of tying him with a season-best seven wins this season.

Martin Truex Jr. rallied for third, followed by Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola. It was the first time all season that the three drivers who have dominated all season claimed the top three spots in a race.

Busch and rival Brad Keselowski, seeking his fourth consecutive victory in the series, battled for the lead for much of the last 100-plus laps. Keselowski grabbed to top spot on lap 343, but Busch took it back 20 laps later before Keselowski faded and Harvick picked up the chase.

Staff/wire reports