The top-ranked Stanford women’s water polo team used a stout defensive effort in the second half to help beat No. 3 USC 11-7 in the NCAA championship game on Sunday in Indianapolis.

Juliette Dhalluin led Stanford (25-1) with a hat trick, Kamryn Barone, Serena Browne, and Jenna Flynn each added two goals and Ryann Neushul and Jewel Roemer both had one.

Dhalluin scored with a second left in the first half to make it 6-6 and again with 6:47 left in the third — the only goal of the quarter — gave Stanford the lead for good. Browne added a goal with 6:04 to play and another with 3:06 remaining to make it 9-6.

Neushul’s goal gave her 228 — fifth most in program history — in her seven-year career as she became Stanford’s first four-time NCAA team champion. After winning the 2019 national championship, Neushul stepped away from the Cardinal for two years to train with the U.S. national team.

Goalkeeper Christine Carpenter was named MVP of the All-Tournament Team as she finished with nine saves and anchored a defense that surrendered only one goal in the second half.

The national title was Stanford’s 10th overall and third in four seasons. As an athletic department, Stanford has now won at least one NCAA team championship during each of the last 49 seasons, dating back to 1976-77.

Meghan McAninch led USC (29-5) with two goals and Anna Reed finished with 11 saves.

College softball

Stanford (40-11) was awarded the No. 17 seed for the upcoming NCAA Tournament and will play in the Eugene Regional, hosted by No. 16 Oregon. The Cardinal will play Binghamton of New York in its first game on Friday at 2 p.m., with the winner playing either Oregon or Weber State in the second game of the double elimination tournament.

Cal (35-19) will play in the Norman Regional and face Omaha (39-11) in its tournament opener on Friday at 12:30, with the winner playing either No. 2 Oklahoma or Boston University the next day. Oklahoma is the four-time defending national champion, but was edged by Texas A&M for the tournament’s top overall seed.

Santa Clara (32-20), which won the West Coast Conference tournament title on Saturday to earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 46 years, will play in the Tucson Regional and face No. 13 Arizona in its first game on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The winner will face either Mississippi or Grand Canyon.

HOCKEY

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists, including on the tiebreaking goal off defenseman Alexander Petrovic’s skate that was finally confirmed after a lengthy review as the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 to take 2-1 lead in the second-round Western Conference series.

Officials looked at Petrovic’s goal for well over five minutes after the NHL initiated a video review to determine if he kicked the puck into the net for a 3-2 lead with 16:09 left. But replays supported the referee’s on-ice call that goalie Connor Hellebuyck propelled the puck into his own net.

Stars coach Pete DeBoer said he was glad officials took as much time as they needed “to get it right,” adding that the explanation he got was that Hellebuyck was trying to make a play on the puck.

Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel had a different interpretation.

“The rule states that if the puck gets kicked, if it hits a body or a stick of anybody else other than the goaltender, it counts as a goal. It hit our goaltender’s stick and went in the net. That is no goal,” Arniel said. “So they said that Helly propelled the puck in, and I haven’t seen the word propelled in the rulebook.”

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots for his fifth career playoff shutout, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett scored and Florida beat Toronto 2-0 in Game 4 to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Verhaeghe scored on a power play in the first period, Bennett added the insurance score with 7:50 left and Bobrovsky did the rest. He’s the first goalie with two shutouts this year in the playoffs.

Joseph Woll stopped 35 shots for the Maple Leafs, who took a 2-0 series lead with a pair of home wins and now return there for Game 5 on Wednesday night with the series tied.

Verhaeghe’s goal came on Florida’s fourth power play of the first period.

Sharks center Macklin Celebrini scored a third-period goal as part of Canada’s 7-1 win over Latvia in a preliminary round game at the IIHF World Championships in Stockholm. Celebrini also had an assist in Canada’s 4-0 win over Slovenia on Saturday.

Fellow Sharks forward Will Smith had two assists for Team USA in its 6-0 win over Hungary. He also had an assist in the Americans’ 5-0 win over Denmark.

Motorsports

Kyle Larson took most of the drama out of his second straight spring victory at Kansas Speedway. After putting his car on the pole, Larson led 221 of 267 laps and won both stages to cruise to his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season. He was never challenged down the stretch by second-finishing Christopher Bell.

Larson, who also has wins at Homestead and Bristol, has finished in the top four in each of his past four Cup Series races, and now he will take that momentum to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Larson will be on track Tuesday as he begins another shot at “the Double” — running every lap of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day Memorial Day weekend.

Last year, he contended in the rain-delayed Indy 500 before a speeding penalty on pit road resulted in an 18th-place finish. He then hopped a flight to Charlotte for the NASCAR race, but rain there kept him from ever completing a lap.

NFL

Veteran linebacker Jaylon Smith is signing with the Raiders after a weekend tryout at rookie minicamp, ESPN reported. Smith, 29, last played in 2023, appearing in one game for the Raiders.

Smith played five seasons with the Cowboys from 2017 to 2021 and was a Pro Bowl selection in 2019.

Golf

Sepp Straka seized the Truist Championship lead with a par on the 16th hole and shot a 2-under 68 at Philadelphia Cricket Club to outduel Shane Lowry for his second victory of the season and fourth PGA Tour title.

After Lowry missed the green with his tee shot at the 212-yard, par-3 16th, Straka hit to approximately 30 feet. Lowry chipped out of the heavy rough but failed to convert a 6-foot par putt, falling a shot behind. Lowry missed a potential tying 22-footer for birdie at the par-4 17th and after driving into trouble at the stout 514-yard, par-4 closing hole, he finished with a three-putt bogey.

A back-nine duel had an anticlimactic ending. Straka made a two-putt par at 18 and joined Rory McIlroy (three victories) as a multiple winner this season.

Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand played bogey-free over the final 27 holes at Liberty National, closing with a 3-under 69 for a four-shot victory over Celine Boutier in the Mizuho Americas Open.