Pioneers start season with back-to-back wins

The No. 1 ranked DU Pioneers kicked of their hockey season with a sweep at Alaska Anchorage, including a 4-1 victory Sunday night that followed a 6-2 season-opening win at Avis Alaska Sports Complex on Saturday. Denver won its fourth consecutive season-opener.

Pioneers goaltender Matt Davis made 24 saves in Sunday’s game and four different players scored for the University of Denver. Forward Aidan Thompson notched a goal in Sunday’s game after picking up two on Saturday. Jack Devine had six assists in the series, including a career high of four on Saturday.

Alaska Anchorage goaltender Greg Orosz made 32 saves on Sunday.

On Saturday, the Pioneers scored four of their goals on power plays.

“Proud of how the team played. You never quite know what you’re going to get on game 1, but they were certainly really excited to get out there, play against someone other than themselves,” DU coach David Carle said.

Boston goalie Swayman signs for 8 years, $66M

BOSTON>> The Boston Bruins signed goalie Jeremy Swayman on Sunday to an eight-year contract that will pay him $66 million, ending a second straight summer of contentious negotiations just two days before the season opener.

The deal comes a year after the team took Swayman to arbitration and less than a week after Bruins president Cam Neely told reporters: “I have 64 million reasons why I’d be playing right now.” Swayman’s agent, Lewis Gross, denied that the team had offered the 25-year-old from Alaska $64 million.

But in the end they did, avoiding a holdout that threatened to derail the season.

The $8.25M average annual value makes Swayman, who has never before worked a season as a team’s sole top goalie, among the top five highest-paid goalies in the NHL.

Pereira wins by TKO over Rountree

SALT LAKE CITY>> Alex Pereira retained the UFC light heavyweight crown by beating Khalil Rountree Jr. by TKO with 28 seconds left in the fourth round at UFC 307 on Saturday night.

It was the fourth straight title bout for Pereira (12-2) and his third consecutive successful title defense.

“I want to push myself as much as I can. I’m 37 and I want to take advantage of time but I do need to take a break,” Pereira said on fighting four bouts in a less than a year.

Rountree (14-6) showcased his speed early and delivered several hard strikes. At one point, in the second round, he ducked under a roundhouse kick and countered with a strong hook to the face. But Pereira showed more accuracy and consistency in landing blows.

Pereira’s victory headlined five main card fights on Saturday night. Julianna Peña defeated Raquel Pennington via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 48-47) to reclaim the women’s bantamweight crown.

Gauff wins China Open

BEIJING>> Coco Gauff won her second title this season with a lopsided 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open on Sunday.

Aged 20, the sixth-ranked U.S. player became the youngest China Open champion in 14 years. She is also the second American champion in Beijing, following Serena Williams’ title runs in 2004 and 2013.

“Anytime my name is mentioned in whatever sentence hers is, it’s a huge honor.”Gauff said.