SOCCER

Balogun, Reyna score as U.S. tops Paraguay

Gio Reyna scored in his first international start in 16 months to surpass his father in career goals and then set up Folarin Balogun’s tiebreaking goal in the 71st minute to lead the United States over Paraguay 2-1 on Saturday night in Pennsylvania in a friendly between World Cup-bound teams that sparked a late brawl.

American defender Alex Freeman and Paraguay captain Diego Gómez both tried to pick up a ball that rolled out during second-half stoppage time, and they started scrapping as both benches joined in.

Paraguay’s Omar Alderete, who was not in the game, was given a red card and American midfielder Cristian Roldan a yellow card.

Playing two days after his 23rd birthday, the oft-injured Reyna scored in the fourth minute of his first start for club or country since Sept. 14 and just his second since March 1.

Álex Arce took advantage of a defensive lapse to equalize in the 10th minute.

Washington beats Portland in NWSL semi

Gift Monday and Croix Bethune scored and the Washington Spirit beat the visiting Portland Thorns 2-0 on Saturday to advance to the National Women’s Soccer League championship game.

With the win, the Spirit will play in its second consecutive NWSL final next weekend in San Jose. They will face the winner of Sunday’s semifinal between Gotham FC and the Orlando Pride.

It will be the fourth championship appearance in Spirit history. Last season, the Spirit were defeated 1-0 by the Pride.

The Spirit’s opening goal was sparked by a Thorns corner kick in the 27th minute. The counterattack was created by Rosemounde Kouassi, who sprinted 80 yards before laying the ball off for Monday to tap in from a yard out to make it 1-0.

TENNIS

Alcaraz, Sinner to meet for ATP Finals title

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been playing each other nearly all year for the biggest titles in tennis.

Add one more important trophy that they will vie for on Sunday in Italy: the ATP Finals.

The top-ranked Alcaraz beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 and No. 2 Sinner defeated Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals Saturday to set up another meeting between the two players who have distanced themselves from the rest of the field.

Alcaraz already secured the year-ending No. 1 ranking but will be contesting his first final at the event for the year’s top eight players.

Sinner will be playing in his third consecutive final in Turin and aiming for his second consecutive trophy before his home fans.

Sinner and Alcaraz have met in the last three Grand Slam finals: Alcaraz beat Sinner in a fifth-set tiebreaker to win the French Open; Sinner gained a measure of revenge by beating Alcaraz for the Wimbledon trophy; then Alcaraz again came out on top at the U.S. Open.

NBA

Pelicans fire coach following 2-10 start

The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Willie Green on Saturday on the heels of a 2-10 start to the season.

Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars, who announced the coaching change, named top assistant James Borrego, a former Charlotte Hornets head coach, as interim coach. The Pelicans next play at home Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.

“It really wasn’t the won and lost record as the ultimate determining factor,” Dumars said. “We have to establish who is going to be here in New Orleans going forward and I just did not see that happening.”

Rather, Dumars saw a team “losing the same way, over and over again.”

“That’s not improvement,” he continued. “We have to establish that we’re going to play hard every night. Before you can become anything in this league, you have to establish that first ... and that’s still what I’m looking for right now.”

NFL

Seahawks Hall of Famer easley dies at 66

Former Seattle Seahawks safety Kenny Easley, who was nicknamed “The Enforcer” for his hard hitting, has died, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Saturday. He was 66.

Easley died Friday night, his family told the hall, which did not provide a cause of death.

Easley is one of just four players in franchise history — alongside Steve Largent, Cortez Kennedy and Walter Jones — to spend his entire career with the Seahawks and be named to the Hall of Fame, which he was inducted into in 2017. Easley’s No. 45 was retired by the Seahawks that season.

The Chesapeake, Virginia, native was a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro player across his seven seasons in Seattle. The Seahawks drafted Easley out of UCLA with the No. 4 overall pick in 1981.

His best season was in 1984, when Easley led the NFL with 10 interceptions and was named defensive player of the year by The Associated Press.

SKIING

Shiffrin dominates World Cup slalom race

Mikaela Shiffrin opened the Olympic slalom season in convincing style Saturday by dominating a World Cup race in Finnish Lapland for her record-extending 102nd career win.

The American star built on a commanding first-run lead of more than a second, clocked the fastest time again in the final run and won the race by 1.66 seconds ahead of second-placed Lara Colturi.

“It’s for sure a good feeling, it was so nice to race today. I felt really strong on both runs,” said Shiffrin, adding she didn’t want to be too cautious in protecting her big lead.

“I was just feeling like: ‘Oh, don’t mess it up, like it would be embarrassing, kind of.’ But then, in the end, if you are pushing as hard as you can, you can’t mess it up.”

Colturi, an Italian-born prodigy competing for Albania, matched her career-best result. Colturi turned 19 on Saturday. All-rounder Emma Aicher placed third, 2.59 behind, for her first podium in a tech race.

— Associated Press