HOCKEY

The Norfolk Admirals scored four goals on nine shots in the first period, opened a five-goal lead early in the second and held on for a 6-3 victory Friday night against the Maine Mariners in an ECHL game at the Cross Insurance Arena.

Maine scored three straight goals – by Jake Willets from Xander Lamppa and Carter Johnson, Patrick Guay from Owen Pederson, and Wyllum Deveaux from Evan Vierling – to make it 5-3 before Norfolk added a goal with 13:51 left to clinch it.

The Mariners held a 34-22 advantage in shots. Maine is home again against Norfolk at 6 p.m. Saturday, then against Worcester at 3 p.m. Sunday.

TENNIS

Third-ranked Alexander Zverev paid for not closing out Lorenzo Musetti and lost their quarterfinal Friday in the Erste Bank Open at Vienna.

Zverev won the first set and led 3-0 in a tiebreaker but lost it from there, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

The sixth-seeded Musetti will face seventh-seeded Jack Draper, who beat Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic.

Also, Karen Khachanov beat Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-4 for the first time in five meetings. Khachanov is on a seven-match winning run after taking the Almaty title last weekend.

SWISS INDOORS: Ben Shelton knocked out top-seeded Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in the quarterfinals at Basel, Switzerland and will next face one of his best friends on tour, Arthur Fils of France, whom he lost to last month in the Tokyo quarterfinals.

The other semifinal will pair Holger Rune against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

PAN PACIFIC: Katie Boulter overcome a series of mediocre results on the WTA Tour’s Asian swing to advance to the Pan Pacific Open semifinals with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Bianca Andreescu at Tokyo.

Boulter will next play another Grand Slam singles champion, 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, in the semifinals on Saturday. Also, No. 1 seed and Paris Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen beat eighth-seeded Leylah Fernandez 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 and will play Diana Shnaider, who advanced in a walkover when Sayaka Ishii was not able to take the court due to an undisclosed illness or injury.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA 1: IndyCar star Pato O’Ward fulfilled a dream when McLaren allowed him to drive Lando Norris’ car in front of his home country crowd in the first for the Mexico City Grand Prix.

O’Ward wasn’t given much leeway to showcase his skills — he was under strict team orders to protect Norris’ car in the session. Norris is chasing Max Verstappen for the driver championship with five races remaining.

O’Ward ended up 13th on the speed chart without a scratch on Norris’ car. He was quicker than F1 regulars Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Pierre Gasly of Alpine, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and Alex Albon, who had a heavy crash in his Williams early in the session.

COLLEGES

FOOTBALL: South Carolina’s trustees gave initial approval for renovations to the school’s stadium that could increase the facility’s suites from 18 to around 90.

The trustees action lets the school hire an architecture firm for the work at Williams-Brice Stadium, where construction would likely start after the 2025 season and be finished before the 2027 season, according to Athletic Director Ray Tanner.

There are no plans to relocate any games due to construction. No construction cost was given. The school said in a statement that funding for the project would come from “capital gifts, suite and premium seating purchases, as well as from related revenue streams.

OLYMPICS

CYBERBULLYING CHARGED: Seven people were charged in connection with cyberbullying that targeted Thomas Jolly, the artistic mastermind behind the Paris Olympics’ opening and closing ceremonies, French authorities announced.

The online attacks erupted after Jolly’s acclaimed but controversial opening July spectacle on the Seine — a queer-inclusive, high-energy fusion of tradition and modernity that, for some, was too bold to ignore.

The abuse quickly escalated, laced with homophobic and antisemitic slurs, and reportedly aimed to silence the artistic intent behind the show. Jolly responded by filing a formal complaint with the Paris prosecutor’s office on July 31, prompting an investigation that led to the “first wave” of arrests, with more expected.

SOCCER

MLS: Austin FC hired former Dallas head coach and United States national team assistant Nico Estevez to revive the club after missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Estevez led Dallas to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 but was fired in June after a 3-8-5 start to this season. The club finished in 11th in the Western Conference, one spot below Austin.

Estevez, who is from Spain, replaced Josh Wolff, who had been the only coach in franchise history. Austin began play in the 2021 season, then advanced to the Western Conference final in 2022.

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