Levels To The Game: No. 6 Irish Too Good For Cal Women Down The Stretch in 73-64 Win

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Cal Bears Marta Suarez (right) finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds and got her sixth double double of the season against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro NC on Fri Mar 7, 2025 (Cal Bears photo)

By Morris Phillips

For 26 minutes, Cal’s typically uneven game was more smooth than rough, giving them an unlikely 47-43 lead over higher-seeded Notre Dame. Over the final 14 minutes, the Irish took over.

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame’s only efficient scorer in this one, scored 25 points and the Irish advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinals with a 73-64 win. Cal finishes their season 25-8 but should hear good news next weekend when the NCAA Tournament field is announced.

The Bears played without top reserve Jayda Noble, and saw Michelle Onyiah limited by foul trouble before fouling out in the final minutes. Still, the Bears came up with a far better effort against Notre Dame than they did in a 91-52 regular season loss. The Bears could have fared better but 28 turnovers gave the Irish more than enough opportunities to lift their play as the game progressed.

“I thought we were really competitive, and I thought we played good basketball aside from turning it over a bit too much,” coach Charmin Smith said.

“I think defensively we did a great job,” Marta Suarez said. “I think offensively we did a good job finding our shots. Our only issue was taking care of the ball.”

Cal’s offense looked elite with Onyiah on the floor and providing her team with a low-post presence. Onyiah shot 6 of 8 from the floor, and Lulu Twidale led Cal with 16 points. But the turnovers were glaring, and they kept the Irish from having to pay for subpar shooting from distance, and having anyone else on point from a shooting standpoint besides Hidalgo.

“Some of our shots, our normal shots, didn’t really go in in the first half. But I thought we really settled in in the second half,” coach Niele Ivey said.

The Irish will face Duke in the ACC semis with North Carolina and North Carolina State facing each other in the first matchup.

Smith wants to see her team seeded higher than eighth in the NCAA Tournament but without a significant upset win over Notre Dame or another top eight-nationally program, that’s where they figure to land come selection day a week from Sunday.

Barracuda shutout Canucks 3-0, 2nd period frenzy

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San Jose Barracuda vs Abbotsford Canucks at Abbotsford Centre on Friday March 7th (via abbycanucks/x)

By Madison Montez

Prior to Friday’s game, it was announced that a trade occurred. The San Jose Barracuda lost one of their longest players, Tristen Robins.

Robins was apart of a trade that sent him, the San Jose Sharks Fabian Zetterlund, and a 2025 fourth round pick to the Ottawa Senators. In exchange, San Jose received forward Noah Gregor, forward Zack Ostapchuk and a 2025 second round pick.

On the ice the Barracuda shutout the Abbottsford Canucks in Abbottsford 3-0. Barracuda goalie Gabriel Carriere stopped all 35 Canucks shots for the shutout.

San Jose opened up the scoring at 4:16 of the second when Thomas Bordeleau scored his fourth power play goal of the season. Lucas Carlsson and Ethan Cardwell registering the assists. At 8:30, San Jose struck again with Danil Guschin scoring his ninth power play goal of the season. Luca Cagnoni and Rem Pitlick registering the assists.

Three minutes later, Walker Duehr scored his second goal in his second game, unassisted to seal the win. Duehr is only in his second game with the Barracuda and has shown what he can bring to the table.

Earlier Friday, Gabriel Carriere signed a two-way NHL contract and on that same day, he recorded his first shutout in the American Hockey League. It was announced that Georgi Romanov will not be available for AHL playoffs since he is currently on the Sharks roster. This means that Carriere is set to be the backup of Yaroslav Askarov when playoffs roll around.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

  • 1. Gabriel Carriere, 35 SVs on 35 SH
  • 2. Thomas Bordeleau, 1G
  • 3. Nikita Tolopilo, 21 SVs on 24 SH

The Barracuda will be back in action Saturday against the Canucks, looking to sweep the series.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks return home after long 7 game road trip; San Jose hosts New York Saturday

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San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) scored a goal against the Colorado Avalanche on Thu Mar 6, 2025 one of the three goals by the Sharks at Ball Arena in Denver (AP file photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Colorado Avalanche Cale Makar scored two goals and four assists becoming the first defenseman in Aves history to have a six point game. Was this a matter of Makar was just having a great get out of the way night or the Sharks defense just couldn’t get acclimated?

#2 The Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon added two more goals and had three assists that help extend his streak of home points to 18 games.

#3 The Avalanche had goals from Jonathan Drouin, Joel Kiviranta, Martin Necas in the offensive onslaught that got Colorado fourth win on their current six game homestand. The Aves have now won 12 straight games against the Sharks.

#4 The Sharks got scoring help from Fabian Zetterlund, Macklin Celebrini and William Eklund for all three goals for San Jose. The Sharks wrapped up their seven game road trip with a 2-3-2 record. Before their game in Colorado the Sharks traded forward Nico Sturm and on Friday the Sharks traded Luke Kunin to the Columbia Blue Jackets.

#5 The Sharks return home Saturday night to face off against the New York Islanders are sixth in Metropolitan Division and have lost six of their last ten games. How do you see this match up for Saturday night.

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Last team to Relocate and the Atléticos Saga

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Former Montreal Expos French play by play announcer Jacques Doucet is honored by Topps Baseball Cards and the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020 (photo by Cooperstown in Canada)

Last team to Relocate and the Atléticos Saga

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

The Montreal Expos played their final season in Montreal in 2004, averaging under 10,000 fans per game during that final season, and they had a 23-year playoff drought. They moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals.

In Montreal, the predominant language is French, 71% of the Montreal population speaks French. From 1969 to 2004 (35 years), Jacques Doucet called the games in French for the entire duration of the team’s existence in Canada’s most French city.

Doucet is the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, 84, and retired. I had the pleasure of meeting Doucet.. His career in baseball broadcasting was unique, as the only French announcer in the Major Leagues.

That career ended as the team changed cities. With their new name, the Washington Nationals, the Nationals played their first three seasons at RFK Stadium while Nationals Park was under construction. During those three seasons at RFK Stadium, they averaged between 23,000 and 33,000 fans per game.

Nationals Park was completed in 2008, and the Nationals played their first home game there on March 30, 2008. Since moving to Washington, D.C., the Nationals have won five NL Eastern Division titles, one NL Pennant in 2019, and the World Series against the Houston Astros that year.

Athletics relocation: The A’s have a good spring training home in Arizona. Their home opener is scheduled against the Chicago Cubs on March 31 at 7:05. Their plans for their permanent destination, Las Vegas, Nevada, are still on a bumpy road.

They have unsuccessfully hit up potential local investors in Sin City for months, but no takers have contacted them. Recent reports show that A’s expected to build the Las Vegas stadium, which will cost around $1.75 billion. Most of the cost, estimated by John Fisher and his family, is around $1.75. Originally the stadium’s projected $1.5 billion price tag went up to $1.75 because of inflation and the addition of 70,000 square feet of ballpark features.

The A’s announced they have sold out for the 2025 season at Sutter Health Park, Sacramento. The capacity is 14,014, which includes 10,624 permanent fixed seats and additional lawn seating on the grass berms beyond the left- and right-field walls.

Major League Baseball did not schedule the Los Angeles Dodgers to visit the A’s in Sacramento this season, which proves some relief to the A’s organization since the LA Dodgers generally travel with a rather large group of Japanese media reporters mostly following Shohei Ohtani, who is the #1 talent in the Major Leagues.

Those hardcore baseball fans in Sacramento if they want to see the Dodgers and Ohtani this year, they will have to travel to Oracle Park in San Francisco. These are the dates the Dodgers visit San Francisco this year. April 1-3, May 13-15, June 28-30 and July 22-25 The Traveling A’s, indeed.

Only God knows where the A’s will end. We see this year they stopped in Sacramento for three years, but Q: are they done traveling? A:Nope.

The Oakland Athletics called Philadelphia their home until 1955 and spent 13 years in Kansas City before relocating to the Bay Area (1968-2024) When the Athletics left Oakland after the 2024 season and move to Sacramento they will be the franchise with the most relocations in history across the major U.S. sports.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame

Sacramento Kings podcast Jeremiah Salmonson Fri Mar 7, 2025: Kings need to line up wins if they’re going to make post season

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Sacramento King forward Keegan Murray center tries to squeeze between Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (left) and forward Michael Porter Jr (right) in the first half at Ball Arena in Denver on Wed Mar 5, 2025 (AP News photo)

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson:

#1 The Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic scored 22 points and had 14 rebound and teammate Russell Westbrook had 25 points and the Nuggets came back from behind to overcome the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night at Ball Arena 116-110.

#2 The Kings defense had a tough time defending the Nuggets Jamal Murray who scored 24 point and the Nuggets with the win had won the first three games against the Kings this season.

#3 Sacramento Kings DeMar DeRozan had scored 18 of 35 points that help give the Kings a 93-84 lead towards the end of the third quarter. Westbrook however beat back the tide scoring seven points in a row.

#4 The Kings Zach LaVine scored 12 of 20 points and had two 3 pointers that were deep outside shots, and it kept the Kings in the game by three points.

#5 The Kings are now ninth in the Western Conference behind the Clippers, Minnesota and Golden State for a shot at a playoff spot. The Kings tip off against the San Antonio Spurs at Golden 1 in Sacramento on tonight at 7:00pm PST. The Spurs are 13th in the Western Conference and lost four of their last ten games. Crucial game for the Kings if they plan to make that climb to sixth place for that last playoff spot.

Jeremiah Salmonson does the Sacramento Kings podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Fri Mar 7, 2025: Utah’s Veimelka 31 saves shutout Red Wings 3-0; Bjorkstrand scores game winner for Bolts 6-5 win over Sabres; plus more news

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Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Veimelka saved 31 shots for a 3-0 shutout against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Thu May 6, 2025 (AP file photo)

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Fri Mar 7, 2025

Len before we start just a quick run down about the NHL trade deadline and the Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin’s run at the all time goal scoring record.

#1  Karel Veimelka stopped 31 shots for the Utah Hockey Club and Utah scored three unanswered goals against the Detroit Red Wings for a 4-2 win at Little Caesars Arena Thursday night in Detroit. Vejmelka just signed a five year extension before the game for Utah.

#2 Jake Guentzel had a big night for the Tampa Bay Lightning picking up a hat trick that helped the Bolts edge the visiting Buffalo Sabres at Amailie Arena on Thursday night 6-5. Oliver Bjorkstrand ended a 5-5 tie in the third period in his Tampa Bay debut with a goal. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

#3 Florida Panthers Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots as the Florida Panthers picked up their fifth straight game in a shutout over the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 at Amerant Bank Arena Thursday night. Bobrovsky picked up his 433rd career win which tied goaltender great Tony Esposito for the tenth spot on the NHL all time list.

#4 Winnipeg Jets Mark Scheifele scored a goal and had two assists as the Jets got a convincing 4-1 win over Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night. Gabriel Vilardi picked up three assists teammate Kyle Connor scored a goal and got an assist. The Jets snapped a three game losing streak with the win.

#5  Carolina Hurricanes Seth Jarvis scored a key goal with 19 seconds left in regulation to get the Canes a 3-2 win against the visiting Boston Bruins at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Thursday night. Jarvis scored his goal from the short side at the left hash marks after defenseman Nikita Zadrorov broke his stick in an attempt to clear the puck in the right circle.

Join Len Shaprio for the NHL podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden State Warriors game wrap: Warriors just get by Nets 121-119 at Barclay Center

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Golden State Warrior guard Stephen Curry (30) led with 40 points against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Thu Mar 6, 2025

By Jessica Kwong

BROOKLYN, NY. — Stephen Curry scored 40 points against the Brooklyn Nets for the first time in 25 career games against them and led the Golden State Warriors to a 121-119 victory at Barclays Center on Thursday night.

It wasn’t until after the Warriors got the win that put them 4-1 in the five-game road trip that Curry realized his accomplishment – one that puts him one step away from a new personal record.

“Naw I didn’t know until after. When I had 38, two people came up and said, get a layup or something, but they didn’t say why,” said Curry. “I found out after.”

Golden State trailed 27-5 early on and Curry changed the tide by making a fadeaway buzzer-beater from the Nets’ half court logo at the end of the first half. Some of his teammates were only slightly surprised that it went in.

“He just had one in Orlando, so I think every shot’s going in anyway,” said Gary Payton II. “So let’s head into the locker room, regroup, let’s come back out for the second half. And you know, he gives us those sparks at the end of the half. And we needed that win so, it’s nice.”

The Warriors started the second half only five points behind and outscored the Nets 31-29 in the third quarter and 35-30 in the fourth. Head coach Steve Kerr called it a “very professional win to come back from 22 down right out of the gates”.

“I give them credit, they were just amazing that first quarter,” Kerr said of the Nets. “They took it to us and so for our guys to get settled and make a good comeback and take control of the game late, it was a hell of an effort and a great trip.”

Jimmy Butler contributed 25 points and six assists. The Warriors are 10-1 since he joined the lineup, and the chemistry they had with him in their 114-102 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden continued at Barclays Center.

Brooklyn trailed 97-91 with 7:30 to go in the game and were unable to close in. The Nets (21-41) suffered their sixth straight loss as the crowd chanted “MVP! MVP! MVP!” for Curry, making it feel like a home game for Golden State.

The Warriors (35-28) head back to Chase Center for a seven-game homestand that starts on Saturday hosting the Detroit Pistons. That happens to be the only team in the league that Curry has not scored at least 40 points against.

“He’s got one more, one more on the hit list and then he has everybody,” Payton said. “So hopefully we get that done for him.”

Asked if he will aim to get the job done against Detroit, Curry answered humbly.

“You know – maybe you don’t know me. I don’t ever think that way. I play the game the way I want to,” he said. “Obviously it’s on my mind so I won’t shy away from it, but you don’t sabotage a game just to score 40. You try to win, no matter what it takes.”

Asked if Curry will make the milestone on Saturday, Draymond Green laughed and said: “Let’s not piss the Pistons off.”

Tip-off on Saturday is at 5:30 p.m. PT.

Sharks Lose 7-3 to Avalanche, Celebrini Scores 20th

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San Jose Sharks gets blown out by the Colorado Avalanche 7-3 at the Ball Center in Denver on Thu Mar 6, 2025 (San Jose Sharks X photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 7-3 to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Joel Kiviranta, Cale Makar, Jonathan Drouin, Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche. Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves for the win against his former team. Fabian Zetterlund, Macklin Celebrini and William Eklund scored for the Sharks. Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves in the loss to his former team.

The first goal of the game was a short-handed one from Colorado. Joel Kiviranta scored it at 4:19 of the first period. Cale Makar knocked the puck away from Macklin Celebrini in the Sharks’ zone. Kiviranta carried it all the way to the other end for the shot.

A few minutes later, Colorado scored on the power play. Skating in from the blue line, Cale Makar caught a pass from Jonathan Drouin and scored on Georgiev’s stick side. Assists went to Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon.

Fabian Zetterlund got one back for the Sharks, on the power play at 10:08. Lurking just outside the blue paint, Zetterlund rediretced a shot from Collin Graf behi8nd Blackwood.

Jonathan Drouin made it 3-1 in the last three seconds of the period. Martin Necas passed the puck through the blue paint to Drouin for the goal. An assist also went to Artturi Lehkonen.

Martin Necas scored another power play goal just 40 seconds into the second period. Cale Makar set up the slap shot for Necase. An assist also went to MacKinnon.

Nathan MacKinnon scored the first even strength goal of the game at 10:54 of the second. Cale Makar shot it in and it went wide, then off of the backboards. It boucned right to MacKinnon next to the goal mouth for a snap shot. Assists went to Makar and Josh Manson.

In the final second of the second period, Keaton Middleton put the puck in the net but it was called off due to goaltender interference. It would have been Middleton’s first NHL goal.

MacKinnon scored another even strength goal at 5:21 of the third period to make it 6-1. On a rebound, the puck came right to MacKinnon as he skated to the net. Lehkonen and Makar got the assists.

Macklin Celebrini scored one for the Sharks at 8:10, putting the puck in the top of the net on a power play. It was Celebrini’s 20th goal for the season. Assists went to Will Smith and William Eklund.

Cale Makar restored the five-goal lead with a wrist shot less than a minute after Celebrini’s goal.

William Eklund scored the third Sharks goal at 17:24, the Sharks’ first even strength goal of the game. Three Colorado players were trying to corral the puck right in front of the blue paint. Eklund slid in between them and poked it into the net. Assists went to Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg.

Colorado out-shot the Sharks 13-9 in the first period. In the second period, it was 13-6 Colorado. In the third period the Sharks made a push, out-shooting Colorado 19-6.

The Sharks next play on Saturday back in San Jose against the New York Islanders at 7:00 PM PT.

Cal Women Play Big: Bears Win ACC Tournament Opener 75-58 Over Virginia

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Cal Bears Marta Suarez is double teamed by the Virginia Cavaliers in ACC Tournament action in Greensboro NC on Thu Mar 6, 2025 (Cal Bears X photo)

By Morris Phillips

The Bears’ 30 points in the first 13 minutes of their ACC Tournament opener emphatically stated that they were more than happy to participate in a conference tournament 3,000 miles from campus.

And from that point, things got better still.

“I was really proud of how we started the game,” coach Charmin Smith said. “We came out with the intensity that we needed and were able to jump on Virginia right away and then kind of never looked back.”

The Cal women played fast from the start, and were forceful in getting the ball into Michelle Onyiah against a Cavaliers’ defense that was light in the post. The higher-seeded Bears hit just two 3-pointers in their opening run, but finished with nine, which demonstrated how their early aggressiveness opened up their complete attack.

Four Bears finished with double digits in points, including Lulu Twidale, Marta Suarez and Onyiah, who each scored 16. Cal again enjoyed a healthy edge on the glass, outrebounding Virginia 46-28.

The Bears advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round and a meeting with Notre Dame at 2pm.

Virginia was led by Kymora Johnson with 18 points and Paris Clark with 15. They finish the regular season at 17-15 and will be eligible for an invitation to the WNIT.

Headline Sports with Jessica Kwong: Mavericks Irving out for season ACL injury; Magic’s Suggs out with knee injury; plus more news

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Dallas Mavericks Naji Marshall (left) and Max Christie (00) stand by Kyrie Irving (center) after Irving took free throw shots and was in pain from an ACL injury which turned out to be a season ending injury in a game against the Sacramento Kings in Dallas on Mon Mar 3, 2025 (AP News photo)

On Headline Sports with Jessica Kwong:

#1 Dallas Mavericks Kyrie Irving is out for the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee. Irving 32 was playing against the Sacramento Kings in the early minutes of the game when the injury occurred. What does mean to lose a player like Irving?

#2  Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs who left the game with back spasms on Jan 3 was out until Jan 25 in a game against the Detroit Pistons when he had discomfort in his knee and after further tests show Suggs will need mosaicplasty to repair the trochlear joint surface. His full recovery is expected.

#3 Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr says that the officials need to call more traveling calls. Kerr got a technical foul on Monday night in a game against the Charlotte Hornets which the Warriors had won 119-101. Kerr observed traveling by the Hornets were not being called. Kerr pointed to the fans who were screaming for a travel call and Kerr was hit with the technical.

#4 The Dallas Mavericks fans feel like they’re be left holding the bag. First fan favorite and team star Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. Davis is now injured after suffering abductor strain. Davis could miss the rest of the season. With that disappoint to add insult upon injury the Mavericks announced that they will be raising ticket prices and increase of about 8.6% for next season. Since the Doncic trade the fans have express their dissatisfaction on how the Mavericks are conducting business decisions.

#5 Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome was hit with a whopping $25,00 fine for speaking out against the officials after the Cavs 133-129 close margin win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Jerome disputed that the Cavaliers were called for 53 fouls and that a total of 70 free throws 35 for each team. On average the an NBA game has fewer than 40 fouls. Jerome was upset that the teams were called for a combined 53 fouls and shot 70 free throws Sunday, which included 35 fouls for each team. Jerome was fined for saying “I thought the refs were really bad tonight, especially Natalie (Sago), she was really bad,” Jerome said. “Stuff like that happens. They kind of lose control of the game, and you just got to keep your head. I thought that first half was ridiculous. Third quarter was horrendous.”

Jessica Kwong does Headline Sports podcasts every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com