Esther Gonzalez scored twice as NJ/NY Gotham FC erupted for three late second-half goals in a four-minute flurry to snap a 1-1 tie and hand Bay FC a rough 5-1 loss Saturday night.

Bay FC (9-13-1), though, maintained a three-point edge over ninth-place Racing Louisville FC for the eighth and final NWSL playoff spot with three matches left in the regular season.

Rose Lavelle headed in a goal for Gotham FC (14-4-5, 3rd place) at the 70-minute mark to snap a 1-1 tie and triggered the scoring spree that sunk Bay FC. Two minutes after Lavelle scored, Gonzalez headed in another goal off a headed pass by Emily Sonnett. Two minutes later, Gonzalez scored yet again by right-footing a shot into the bottom left corner of the net from close range.

The five-minute collapse left Bay FC trailing 4-1, a deficit that grew to 5-1 when Cece Kizer scored from in front of the goal 10 minutes later.

The loss at New Jersey’s Red Bull Field snapped an impressive run on the road for Bay FC, which had scored points in five of their last six road matches (4-1-1).

Golf

Mitchell rides birdie surge to lead >> Keith Mitchell finished with a pair of birdies for a 7-under 65 and avoided some of the blunders that tripped up other contenders, giving him a one-shot lead over Beau Hossler going into the final round of the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss.

At stake for Mitchell, whose lone PGA Tour victory was more than five years ago, is a chance to earn a spot in four premium events on the PGA Tour next year.

NHL

Cotter, Meier lead Devils over Sabres in Prague >> Former Shark Timo Meier scored a goal for New Jersey in Prague, as did newcomer Paul Cotter as the Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 for a sweep of their regular-season-opening series in the Czech capital.

Cotter, among New Jersey’s new additions, also scored in a 4-1 win Friday and added an assist.

WNBA

Aces try to avoid elimination again >> A return home helped Las Vegas stave off elimination by New York and look like the team that has won consecutive WNBA championships, while Connecticut couldn’t stop Minnesota and take advantage of their homecourt.

Both the Aces and Sun now will try to avoid seeing their seasons end today when they host Game 4 of their semifinal series.

Las Vegas beat New York 95-81 on Friday night in Game 3 of the best-of-five semifinal series. The Aces still trail 2-1. Connecticut got down early and never really was able to get close to Minnesota, falling 90-81. The Sun are also down 2-1.

Las Vegas turned up the defensive intensity, outscoring the Liberty 42-28 in the lane and holding ex-Miramonte High star Sabrina Ionescu — who entered the game averaging 24.5 points — to four points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Tennis

Gauff rallies to reach China Open final >> Coco Gauff rallied from a set down for the third consecutive match as she beat Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the China Open final.

The sixth-ranked Gauff will play Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in today’s final.

Muchova defeated Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Meanwhile, both Carlos Alcaraz and top-ranked Jannik Sinner won easily in the men’s tourney in Shanghai.