Sports 2000

Phil Mickelson leads the WGC Champions in Shanghai after the third round. He fired a 67 Saturday to post a 54-hole score of 14-under par. Tiger Woods and Nick Watney shared the lead after two rounds. Both men posted two-under 70s today to finish at 12-under, two strokes behind Mickelson.

Bo Bae Song leads Akane Iijima and In-Kyung Kim by a shot with one round to go at the LPGA tournament in Japan. Seventh-ranked Boise State (9-0, 4-0 Western Athletic Conference) held off Louisiana Tech (3-6, 2-4), 45-35, in Ruston Friday.

The last two undefeated NBA teams lost tonight as Boston (6-1) fell to visiting Phoenix (5-1), 110-103, and Denver (5-1) dropped a 96-88 decision at Miami (5-1). New Jersey (0-6) remains the league’s only winless squad as the Nets were edged, 97-94, at Philadelphia (3-2).

Edmonton (9-9) clinched a CFL Western Division playoff spot tonight by thrashing British Columbia (8-10), 45-13, in Vancouver. B.C. could still advance to the playoffs depending on the outcome of Saturday’s game between Hamilton and Winnipeg.

Nick Watney leads the WGC Champions as the second round draws to a close in Shanghai. Tiger Woods is among three players tied for second, one shot behind Watney. Brittany Lang leads after the first round of the LPGA event in Japan.

Real Salt Lake upset Columbus, 3-2, to win its two-leg MLS Western Conference semifinal, 4-2. Connecticut is atop the preseason women’s college basketball coaches poll.

Virginia Tech broke its two-game losing streak as the #23 Hokies (6-3) dispatched East Carolina (5-4), 16-3, in a non-conference game at Greenville, North Carolina. Northern Illinois (6-3, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) humbled visiting Eastern Michigan (0-9, 0-5), 50-6. Temple (7-2, 5-0 MAC) rallied past Miami University (1-9, 1-4), 34-32, in Oxford, Ohio.

In the NHL, Montreal edged Boston, 2-1. Columbus defeated Atlanta, 4-3. Ottawa beat Tampa Bay in overtime, 3-2. Detroit squeaked past San Jose in a shootout, 2-1. Vancouver handled Minnesota, 5-2. Calgary won at St. Louis in overtime, 2-1. Phoenix beat Chicago, 3-1. The New York Rangers defeated Edmonton, 4-2. Anaheim blanked Nashville, 4-0. Los Angeles thrashed Pittsburgh, 5-2.

The UEFA Champions League completed Matchday 4 of the group stage this week. In Group A, Bordeaux (10 points) won at Bayern Munich (four points), 2-0, and Juventus (eight points) won at Maccabi Haifa (zero points), 1-0. In Group B, Wolfsburg (seven points) won at Besiktas (one point), 3-0, and CSKA Moscow (four points) drew at Manchester United (10 points), 3-3.

In Group C, Real Madrid (seven points) tied host AC Milan (seven points), 1-1, and Marseille (six points) crushed visiting Zurich (three points), 6-1. In Group D, Chelsea (10 points) and Porto (nine points) clinched places in the knockout round while Atletico Madrid (two points) and APOEL (one point) have been eliminated from contention. Porto won at APOEL, 1-0, and Chelsea tied at Atletico, 2-2.

In Group E, Liverpool (four points) drew at Lyon (10 points), 1-1, and Fiorentina (nine points) hammered guest Debreceni (zero points), 5-2. In Group F, Barcelona (five points) tied at Rubin Kazan (five points), 0-0, and Inter Milan (six points) won at Dynamo Kiev (four points), 2-1.

In Group G, Rangers (two points) drew at Unirea Urziceni (five points), 1-1, and Stuttgart (three points) tied at Sevilla (10 points), 1-1. Sevilla earned a spot in the last 16 with the result. In Group H, Arsenal (10 points) smashed AZ Alkmaar (two points), 4-1, and Standard Liege (four points) blanked visiting Olympiakos (six points), 2-0.

Behind a solid effort on short rest by Andy Pettitte and Series Most Valuable Player Hideki Matsui’s six RBI, New York won Game 6 of the World Series, 7-3, over Philadelphia. The Yankees won their 27th World Series and stopped the Phillies’ attempt to win consecutive Major League Baseball titles.

Pettitte lasted 5 2/3 innings in his first postseason game pitching on three days rest since 2002. He allowed three runs on four hits. New York scored all its runs in the first five innings. Four of them were scored against Philadelphia started Pedro Martinez, who had five days rest. Martinez allowed four runs in four innings and left the game trailing, 4-1. Phillie reliever Chad Durbin permitted three runs in the fifth inning and Philadelphia was in a six-run hole that proved to be too much to overcome. Mariano Rivera got the last five outs for New York.

In the NHL, Buffalo blanked the New York Islanders, 3-0. New Jersey edged Washington, 3-2. San Jose beat Columbus in a shootout, 3-2. Florida whitewashed Carolina, 3-0. Calgary squeaked past Dallas in overtime, 3-2. Colorado eased past Phoenix, 4-1.

Nick Watney scorched the first round of the WGC Champions for a 64 in Shanghai. Ryan Moore, Martin Kaymer and Shane Lowry trail by two strokes. Tiger Woods is tied for fifth place, three shots behind Watney.

Las Vegas (2-2) thrashed host New York (0-4), 41-10 in a UFL game. Bowling Green (4-5, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to rally past host Buffalo (3-6, 1-4), 30-29.

Meb Keflezighi became Sunday the first American to win the New York CIty Marathon since Alberto Salazar in 1982. Derartu Tulu became the first woman from Ethiopia to win in New York.