Sports briefs

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Kyrou, Schenn and Walker score in third period, send Blues past Kraken

ST. LOUIS | Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn and Nathan Walker scored in the third period, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday.

Kasperi Kapanen also scored for St. Louis. Joel Hofer made 19 saves and hiked his record to 15-12-1.

“For me, it was all about the fans, making sure that we played for the fans tonight, getting the win so the fans can go home obviously happy,” interim Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “I think that was the No. 1 thing for us here was make sure we do the right things for the fans.”

Jared McCann scored for the Kraken and Joey Daccord made 25 saves as his record slipped to 18-18-11.

“I thought we played really well. We generated some good looks,” Daccord said. “Their goalie made some good saves. It was a pretty good effort from our group tonight.”

The Blues, who were eliminated from the postseason on Friday, improved to 43-33-5 with one regular-season game remaining.

“Obviously after last game, when we’re out of the playoffs, it’s tough, right? You can’t really regroup from that in like two days,” Kyrou said. “We’ve been working all year trying to make that. It’s tough not being able to make the playoffs.”

St. Louis went 7-0-0 in Sunday games this season, the most wins without a loss in Sunday contests. The Blues are 7-2 against Seattle since the expansion team joined the league in 2021-22.

Seattle, which has two games remaining, fell to 33-34-13.

“We had good energy and we started the game well,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We gave up that late goal in the first period and that gave them a bit of energy. They got the early one there in the third. That obviously set the tone for the third there.”

Kyrou put St. Louis up 2-1 with his goal 59 seconds into the third period. Daccord made the save on a shot by Matthrew Kessel from the point before a long rebound went to Kyrou in the slot. It was the 31st goal for Kyrou, who has 10 goals and seven assists in his last 12 games.

Schenn added the insurance goal at 16:37, scoring off Daccord’s skate for his 20th this season.

Walker scored an unassisted empty-net goal at 19:00.

Each team scored in the first period.

McCann took the puck from Marco Scandella at the St. Louis blue line, raced down right side and snapped the puck by Hofer, scoring unassisted at 14:24. It was his second goal since March 5, and 29th of the season.

“Scoring 30 goals, it doesn’t mean anything,” McCann said. “It’s obviously great scoring goals, but I want to be in the playoffs. I want to play for something.”

Kapanen scored on a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle at 18:18. His shot hit Daccord’s arm and trickled in for the goal, tying it at 1.

“I feel like throughout the year I probably would have pulled up and tried to make a pass or something else,” Kapanen said. “So I thought I’d try shooting it for a change and it went in.”

UP NEXT:

Kraken: At Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Blues: At Dallas on Wednesday.

Tsitsipas sweeps aside Ruud to win Monte Carlo Masters for the third time

MONACO | Stefanos Tsitsipas swept aside Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to win the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters for the third time in four years, and then wept in his chair.

Tsitsipas sat holding his head in his hands, briefly crying as he took in his first title of the year and biggest tournament victory for two years.

“I’m very proud of myself today. I had been waiting for a moment like this for a long time,” said the 12th-ranked Tsitsipas, who reached a career-high No. 3 ranking in 2021. “I did not know what was going to happen this week.”

The big-serving Greek also won the title in 2021 and 2022 and this latest trophy at the Monte Carlo Country Club took him to 11 career titles overall.

“It has been very difficult, so to be back on the podium, winning tournaments, just feels amazing,” Tsitsipas said. “The third time is even more special than the first or second time. This is an unbelievable win for me. Capturing that win today was nerve-wracking, I really wanted this trinity.”

It was his first trophy since August last year, when he won a modest ATP 250-level tournament on outdoor hard courts at Los Cabos in Mexico.

This was much more prestigious and he shared a warm hug at the net with Ruud, who is chasing his first title of the year and remains stuck on 10 overall.

The match featured former French Open runner-ups and offered an early indication of form heading into the clay-court major at next month’s Roland Garros.

Tsitsipas was an outsider coming into this tournament, where he was seeded 12th.

But he got the better of Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals, handing him only his second defeat of the season to set up a perhaps unexpected final against Ruud, who beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s other semi.

Tsitsipas took an early control.

He broke Ruud’s serve and held for 3-1, then secured another break of serve when eighth-seeded Ruud flapped a loose forehand into the net from the back of the court. A nervous-looking Ruud double-faulted on set point.

Ruud improved in the second set and pressured Tsitsipas, who saved three break points and took 13 minutes to hold serve in a tough seventh game.

That seemed to be Ruud’s last chance while also summing up his erratic match, where he made too many unforced errors and failed to convert any of his eight break-point chances.

Tsitsipas hit an ace to win his next service game, leaving Ruud needing to hold serve to stay in the match.

An unforced error at 30-30 saw Ruud patting a straightforward-looking backhand long to offer Tsitsipas a first match point.

He seized the moment.

Tsitsipas dominated a brief rally and clinched victory with a forehand winner, then slid on his back with his arms outstretched and put his hands on his face.

“I managed the point relatively well and finished it with the winner,” Tsitsipas said. “I showed some ruthless tennis. From the beginning to the end, my play was cohesive.”

Tsitsipas will improve to No. 7 when the ATP rankings are released on Monday.

Mallorca probing another racial-abuse incident

MADRID | Spanish club Mallorca said Sunday it was working with authorities to identify the fan who made monkey gestures after Real Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni scored a goal in a Spanish league match this weekend.

The young fan was seen on television appearing to make the monkey gestures as Madrid players celebrated Tchouaméni’s goal early in the second half at Son Moix Stadium on Saturday. The fan then threw a plastic water bottle onto the field and Madrid players quickly showed it to the referee.

The Spanish league said it was going to formally report the racial abuse to the appropriate authorities.

It said it “vehemently condemns any racist acts and will continue working to eradicate this inexcusable behavior from our sport.”

Mallorca said it “will not tolerate any manifestation of racism” and noted that it “actively participates in all campaigns to eradicate this scourge that goes beyond sport.” In its statement, it said it didn’t want the “isolated case” to tarnish the image of Mallorca fans.

It wasn’t the first time Madrid players complained about being subjected to racist abuse in a match at Mallorca. Vinícius Júnior said he was called a monkey during a league match there last year and the fan has been accused of a hate crime. Both Vinícius and the fan appeared before a judge during the probe. Mallorca banned the fan for three years.

Mallorca, partially owned by NBA greats Steve Nash and Steve Kerr, made headlines recently after reaching the Copa del Rey final. It lost the decider to Athletic Bilbao earlier this month.

There were several cases of racial abuse against Vinícius since he arrived in Spain six years ago. An incident in a league match last season prompted an outpouring of support for the Brazilian and a series of actions by local officials to boost the fight against racism.

But there was another wave of cases of abuse against him recently, just before Spain hosted the “One Skin” friendly against Brazil at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to highlight the fight against racism.

No one has stood trial in Spain in a case of racial abuse in professional soccer.

Madrid won Saturday’s match 1-0 thanks to Tchouaméni’s second-half goal. It leads the league by eight points over defending champion Barcelona.

Mallorca sits in 15th place six points from the relegation zone.

Former Kentucky swimmers sue ex-coaches, AD Mitch Barnhart

LEXINGTON, Ky. | Two former Kentucky swim team members have sued the school, former coach Lars Jorgensen and athletic director Mitch Barnhart, alleging sexual assaults including rape by the former coach and claiming the school “purposefully” disregarded multiple credible reports of inappropriate sexual relationships.

The lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court by former swimmer and assistant coach Briggs Alexander and a woman identified only as Jane Doe said Kentucky empowered Jorgensen to “foster a toxic, sexually hostile environment within the swim program and to prey on, sexually harass, and commit horrific sexual assaults.”

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to being identified, as Alexander did.

Alexander, who according to the lawsuit now identifies as male, claims that Jorgensen “spent years” grooming him and creating a sexually hostile environment, including sexually assaulting and raping him. The suit also alleges that Jorgensen groomed Jane Doe over several years after her arrival as a Kentucky freshman, made sexualized comments and asserted control over her.

The ex-coach also “repeatedly and violently” assaulted an assistant coach, identified as Jane Doe II, starting with a December 2013 Christmas party with staff at his home.

The lawsuit also alleges that former Kentucky head coach Gary Conelly, who led the program from 1991 until retiring in 2013, did not follow up on being told of previous alleged misconduct by Jorgensen at Toledo. It also alleged that Barnhart did not follow up an email about allegations or investigate them and hired Jorgensen, the suit said, and accused him of intentionally concealing the allegations.

Jorgensen did not respond to messages left by the AP on Saturday but told The Athletic none of the allegations are true. Conelly also did not respond to a message left by the AP but told The Athletic that he contacted the former Toledo swimmer and was told she began dating Jorgensen after her swimming career. He added that it’s not uncommon for coaches to have a relationship with one of their former swimmers.

A statement sent to AP on Saturday by Kentucky spokesman Jay Blanton said Jorgensen is no longer employed by the university. It said the university takes sexual assault allegations “very seriously” but that it does not discuss specific personnel issues.

The lawsuit, first reported Friday by The Athletic, also said Kentucky’s athletic department received credible reports from University of Toledo assistant coach Mark Howard that Jorgensen “was a sexual predator” who couldn’t be trusted around young women while at the school in Ohio. Howard had discovered a video that showed Jorgensen having sexual intercourse with a female swimmer who appeared to be incapacitated, the lawsuit said, and reported the incident to school officials.

Howard’s report to a Toledo associate head coach was not followed up, the suit said.

Rather than investigate the allegations, the suit added, Kentucky chose to conceal them and hire Jorgensen as an assistant in 2012 and received numerous allegations from various sources during his 10-year tenure as head coach that either weren’t documented or pursued. Howard reported the allegations at Toledo to Conelly, but Conelly didn’t respond after stating via email that he would follow up, the suit said.

Jorgensen resigned last June after SwimSwam.com, a swimming-based website, reported that he had been suspended for a NCAA violation. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported in August that Kentucky and Jorgensen reached a $75,000 settlement but said the agreement did not constitute admission of fault, liability or wrongdoing by either side.

SafeSport, which investigates and resolves allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, added Jorgensen to a disciplinary database last November.

Kentucky said it takes concerns raised by employees and potential employees seriously and reviews such concerns before hiring.

The university said in its statement that when “issues between employees (or any members of our community) involve concerns over allegations of harassment or misconduct,” policy calls for reporting them to its Office for Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity.

“Our Athletics Department takes those issues and those policies very seriously as the welfare and well-being of all of our employees and students is a priority,” the statement said.

“In such cases, a victim or complainant is reached out to a number of times during the course of a review. It is entirely up to the victim or complainant to decide whether they want to participate in such a review or not. Part of ensuring the well-being of our people is giving them the opportunity to decide whether they want to participate in an investigation of this kind.”

—From AP reports