Kelly Pannek scored to rally the United States past the Czech Republic 2-1 and into the final at the women’s ice hockey world championship on Saturday in Budejovice, Czech Republic.

In today’s final, the U.S. will play defending champion Canada, which blasted last year’s bronze medalist Finland, 8-1, in the other semifinal.

With the win, the Americans improved to 6-0 against the Czechs all-time at the worlds and 3-0 in semifinals.

Laila Edwards also scored for the U.S. and captain Hilary Knight recorded an assist to increase her record at the worlds to 52. U.S. goalie Aerin Frankel made 10 saves.

Pannek has earned at least a point in every U.S. game and leads the team with four goals.

Pannek skated around the net and her backhand shot was saved by Czech goalie Klára Peslarová, but she netted the winner on a rebound 8:26 into the final period.

In the second period when the Americans pushed hard for an equalizer, outshooting the Czechs 17-2 and 45-11 overall, Edwards got it 8:56 in, wristing a shot into the roof of the net from the left circle on a power play.

Tereze Plosová scored for the Czechs, who will play the bronze medal game for the fourth straight tournament.

Canada and the U.S. will meet in the final for the 23rd time in 24 worlds. Canada has won 13 times and the U.S., which has never missed a final, 10 times.

FIGURE SKATING

World champion Alysa Liu produced a flawless routine in the women’s free skate as the United States won its sixth gold medal at the figure skating World Team Trophy in Tokyo.

Liu, 19, landed seven triple jumps for a personal-best score of 150.97 points to finish ahead of teammate Amber Glenn, who was second with 148.93.

Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto was third with 145.00 points.

The United States finished the three-day competition with 126 points, 16 ahead of Japan. Italy was third with 86 points to claim its first ever medal in the event.

TENNIS

Jelena Ostapenko continued her dominance over Iga Swiatek by beating the world No. 2 on her favorite surface.

Ostapenko won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the clay-court Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, to improve her head-to-head record against the four-time French Open champion to 6-0.

“Every time I step on the court with her it’s another battle, I’m ready for it,” said Ostapenko, the 2017 champion at Roland Garros. “Even if I don’t feel great on the day, I will just fight and leave it all on the court.”

The Latvian player, ranked No. 24, previously beat Swiatek four times on hard-courts and once on grass.

“I tried to be aggressive today and take time away from her because when she has time, she’s playing very well,” Ostapenko said.

In the semifinals, she will play Ekaterina Alexandrova, who ousted third-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-0, 6-4.

No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka finally played her first match in Stuttgart and beat former doubles partner Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-1.

Sabalenka got a bye through the first round and a walkover in the second.

“Never happened before that I play the first match on Saturday,” she said.

She will next face No. 6 Jasmine Paolini, who knocked off No. 4 Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-3 for the first time in three career meetings.

Top seed Alexander Zverev will play for a record-equalling third ATP Munich title after reaching the final.

The German riding home crowd support will face second-seeded Ben Shelton in today’s decider at the BMW Open.

Zverev lost his serve only once while beating Fabian Marozsan of Hungary 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the semifinals.

Shelton overcame fifth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 from a break down in the final set.

Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz will play Holger Rune for the Barcelona Open title after straight-set semifinals.

No. 2-ranked Alcaraz beat No. 14 Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, while Rune dispatched Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-2 on the outdoor clay.

Alcaraz holds a 2-1 record against the 13th-ranked Rune. The pair of 21-year-olds have yet to meet on clay. Alcaraz won their last meeting at 2023 Wimbledon.

MOTORSPORTS

Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love won the first Xfinity Series race at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway in more than two decades after surviving an overtime restart.

In the 256-lap event, the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet led a race-high 77 laps to pick up his second Xfinity Series win of the 2025 season.

Sammy Smith, Parker Retzlaff, Harrison Burton and Brennan Poole rounded out the top five.

Taylor Gray, Austin Hill, Josh Williams, Jeb Burton and Daniel Dye completed the top 10.

Lando Norris showed just how fine the margins can be when he crashed while chasing pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah. Max Verstappen stayed just the right side of the limit.

Formula 1 champion Verstappen will start at the front of the grid after the crash by standings leader Norris.

Red Bull’s Verstappen beat McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s time by .01 of a second on his final run to take pole for today’s race. George Russell was third fastest for Mercedes, .113 off the pace.

MEN’S COLLEGE GYMNASTICS

Michigan’s Fred Richard and Paul Juda finished first and second in the all-around and Wolverines team total of 332.224 edged them past five-time defending champion Stanford (332.961) to win their first NCAA men’s gymnastics title since 2014 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Juda, the individual champion on the parallel bars with a score of 14.200 and host Michigan’s last competitor of the day, scored a 13.966 on the vault to clinch the program’s seventh national title. The Wolverines finished second, 5.635 points behind Stanford, at the 2024 championships.

Oklahoma finished third with 327.891, ahead of Nebraska (326.222), Penn State (317.258) and Illinois was sixth with 316.293.