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Girls soccer tournament preview: Bishop Feehan, Masconomet are teams to beat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

Since 2019, three Div. 1 girls soccer schools have consistently reached the Final Four, each claiming one title during their respective dynasties: Bishop Feehan, Hingham and Natick.Two of the three stand atop all Div. 1 seeds entering the postseason, with one school moving down one division. Natick (16-1-1) earned the No. 1 seed. One looming obstacle may be the second-seeded Shamrocks. Led by two electrifying scorers in Holy Cross commit Ava Graham (21 goals, 13 assists) and Merrimack-bound Maddy Eddy (10 goals, 22 assists), Bishop Feehan appears poised to enjoy another elongated run.There has been plenty of chatter over Hopkinton’s program the last handful of seasons and now the Hillers (17-0-1) claim the No. 3 seed. Playing key offensive roles will be Georgina Clarke (16 goals, nine assists) and Maddie Recupero (14 goals, 13 assists).Wellesley (13-5-0) made headlines by clinching the fourth seed, while rival Brookline (13-3-2) took the fifth. No. 6 Franklin (16-2-0) remains a thre...

Week 9 football playoff preview: Patriot League teams enter the state tournament battle tested

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

The Catholic Conference has earned its share of football props, as well as the Merrimack Valley Conference and Hockomock League.But it’s time to give the Patriot League its proper due.The league has won five Super Bowl titles since 2016 and appears ready to add to that number. Duxbury and Hanover enter the tournament as the top seed in Division 4 and 5, respectively. Marshfield is the third seed in Div. 2 and Scituate checks in at No. 7 in Div. 4.“I think there are a lot of good teams in our league and you really don’t have any weeks off,” said Scituate coach Herb Devine, who won Super Bowl titles in 2018 and 2021. “Because of that, we really go into the tournament battle tested. This year, Hanover is one of the best teams we’ve seen in years, they rival the really good Duxbury teams. Plymouth South is good, Marshfield is good and that provides for great competition every week.”There are plenty of quality teams, but the unquestioned top dog over the past 15-20 year...

Boys soccer tournament preview: St. John’s Prep, Billerica will net titles

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

Ten Div. 1 boys soccer schools with title aspirations were separated in the final power rankings by less than 1.4 points. No. 1 Concord-Carlisle (15-0-1), No. 2 Needham (14-2-2), No. 3 Acton-Boxboro (14-1-2) and reigning champion St. John’s Prep are separated by just .99.The fourth-seeded Eagles began their title pursuit slowly, but rallied behind sophomore Garrison Murphy, who led the team with 12 goals and three assists. Senior midfielders Shamus Flaherty (eight goals, six assists) and Jake Vana (six goals, six assists) have also starred, while sophomore goalkeeper Matt Droggitis has recorded 10 shutouts in 13 starts.For Acton-Boxboro, count on Andrew Yendluri (seven goals, four assists), Millis Lillis (six goals, two assists) and Andrew Krieger (goal, six assists) to pace the attack come crunch time.Coaches have also pointed to No. 10 Franklin (13-0-5) as a threat. Rex Cinelli (Hockomock League MVP) has the Panthers undefeated.Div. 2Bedford (9-2-5) and Billerica (16-1-1) are the ...

Week 9 high school football schedule

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

FRIDAY’S GAMESDIVISION 1 FIRST ROUNDLeominster at St. John’s Prep, 6St. John’s (Shrewsbury) at Xaverian, 6Central Catholic at Springfield Central, 7Franklin at Andover, 7Natick at Methuen, 7Taunton at BC High, 7Westford Academy at Needham, 7Weymouth at Lincoln-Sudbury, 7DIVISION 2 FIRST ROUNDConcord-Carlisle at Bishop Feehan, 6Winchester at North Andover, 6North Quincy at Barnstable, 6:30Arlington at Peabody, 7Cambridge at Catholic Memorial, 7Diman at King Philip, 7Plymouth North at Marshfield, 7DIVISION 3 FIRST ROUNDHingham at Walpole, 6Westfield at Woburn, 6Minnechaug at Milton, 6:30Doherty at Dartmouth, 7North Attleboro at West Springfield, 7Plymouth South at Billerica, 7Stoughton at Milford, 7Westborough at Mansfield, 7DIVISION 4 FIRST ROUNDAshland at Holliston, 6Burlington at Norwood, 6South at Grafton, 6Westwood at Somerset Berkley, 6:30Bedford at Duxbury, 7Canton at Tewksbury, 7Marblehead at Middleboro, 7Wayland at Scituate, 7DIVISION 5 FIRST ROUNDApponequet...

Brad Stevens’ basketball journey was shaped by late Bob Knight: ‘He was bigger than life’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

Brad Stevens was in the building for one of Bob Knight’s most infamous moments.It was Feb. 23, 1985. Assembly Hall. Another meeting in the intense intrastate college basketball rivalry between the Purdue Boilermakers and Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers. Stevens, then eight years old, made the trip to Bloomington with his father Mark, like they typically did a few times per year.But this was anything but typical.The clip has been watched millions of times, nearly four decades later. Five minutes into the game, the contentious Knight drew a technical foul arguing a foul. Moments later, as Purdue’s Steve Reid stepped to the free throw line, Knight turned around, picked up a red plastic chair from the bench and hurled it across the court in an incredible and iconic scene.A young Stevens watched in amazement from several rows up.“My dad always jokes that when I was eight years old and I saw him throwing the chair, he looked over at me and I was cheering him on,” Stevens told the Herald in an e...

Police offer safety tips to drivers, pedestrians with clocks falling back this weekend

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

Many of us will get a most-welcome and much-needed extra hour of sleep this weekend as clocks fall back, but the time change also comes with a warning from police.Daylight saving time officially comes to an end this when the clocks go back one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday. The downside of the time shift means dusk comes earlier, which often causes issues for drivers and pedestrians alike.Const. Sean Shapiro with Toronto Police Traffic Services tells CityNews that motorists and people out walking around need to be more alert than ever. He says police always anticipate an increase in pedestrian collisions this time of year.“We will be continuously speaking and trying to raise awareness,” Shapiro says. “Encouraging people to try and get sleep, to try and leave extra time, to be more cautious.”Shapiro recommends pedestrians wear brighter clothing, only cross the street at designated crosswalks and try to stay in well lit areas. He also stresses the importance of pede...

AP Election Brief | What to expect in Pennsylvania’s general election

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Tuesday’s general election in Pennsylvania will fill a vacant state Supreme Court seat that could play a significant role on voting-related cases during the 2024 presidential campaign.The candidates are Republican Carolyn Carluccio and Democrat Daniel McCaffery. Carluccio is the president judge on the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. McCaffery is a state Superior Court judge. The two are competing to replace Max Baer, the former chief justice who died in 2022.The Court has a 4-2 Democratic majority, so the outcome of this race will not determine partisan control. But the seat could help Democrats or Republicans keep or gain control of the court when the next elections are held in 2025. In the meantime, he new justice could break any 3-3 ties on election-related cases that come up in the 2024 presidential campaign, in which Pennsylvania will be a hotly contested battleground. Despite the Democratic majority, the court has deadlocked on a few occasi...

No police investigation for husband of Norway’s ex-prime minister over stock trades

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

The husband of Norway’s former prime minister Erna Solberg will not face investigation over his stock trading during her two terms in office, Norwegian police announced Friday, saying it had found no indications that he had benefited from inside information. Solberg, who was prime minister from 2013 to 2021, has faced intense political and media pressure because of the trading of her husband, Sindre Finnes, who made more than 3,600 share deals.Pål K. Lønseth, head of Norway’s economic crime unit, known by its Norwegian name Oekokrim, said its task had been to assess whether Finnes had gotten inside information from “either from Solberg or other sources, and whether there is evidence that he has used such information in his investments.”“We have found no indications of that,” Lønseth said. Solberg, who has led Norway’s center-right party Hoeyre since 2004, has repeatedly said she wants to be the conservative prime ministerial candidate at the 2025 general election. However, it ...

AP Election Brief | What to expect in Connecticut’s mayoral elections

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Connecticut voters throughout the state will elect mayors in Tuesday’s off-year general election, with one notable race taking place in the shadow of a complicated legal drama.A state judge on Wednesday ordered a redo of the Sept. 12 Democratic primary in Bridgeport, the state’s largest city. In that contest, incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim defeated challenger John Gomes by 251 votes out of 8,173 cast. The Gomes campaign later sued the city, demanding a new primary after obtaining evidence of possible illegal ballot box stuffing days before the original primary. The date for the new primary has not been set, but the general election on Tuesday will proceed as planned. The candidates in Tuesday’s mayoral election in Bridgeport are Ganim; Gomes, who filed to run as an independent after losing the primary; Republican David Herz; and independent Lamond Daniels. The Associated Press will tabulate vote results of the Tuesday election but will not declare a winner until the leg...

A planted bomb targeting police kills 5 and wounds 20 at a bus stop in northwest Pakistan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:13 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb planted in a parked motorcycle exploded near a police vehicle in northwest Pakistan, killing at least five people and wounding 20 others Friday, police said.The explosion happened in Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, police officer Gul Sher Khan said. The motorcycle was parked near a bus stop and the bomb was detonated remotely when a police bus carrying officers from the city to the nearby Takwara area passed by, Khan said. All of the dead were locals, and the explosion at the busy stop wounded both civilians and police constables, he said. A rescue official, Bilal Faizi said wounded were moved to a nearby hospital, where three of them were in serious condition.There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any group, but the suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks on security forces since 2022. Authorities say the insurgents have become emboldened while livi...