Oct 3, 2019 4 min read

Pitt’s Pickett to play against Duke

Kenny Pickett will be back at quarterback for Pitt on Saturday night when the Panthers play at Duke.

Coach Pat Narduzzi withheld Pickett as a precaution from last week’s game, a victory over Delaware. He said Pickett was “banged up” from the upset of UCF on Sept. 22.

Nick Patti played well in Pickett’s absence. The Panthers (0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference, 3-2 overall) got off to a slow start but rallied to a 17-14 victory.

Narduzzi said Thursday Pickett practiced all three days this week and will be ready to face the Blue Devils (1-0, 3-1).

Senior wide receiver Tre Tipton, however, is done for the season. Narduzzi said Tipton had knee surgery Wednesday. In three games this season, he caught seven passes for 81 yards. Narduzzi said the team will explore a medical redshirt.

Sports Illustrated cuts staff jobs

Sports Illustrated’s new manager said Thursday that the 65-year-old sports magazine is cutting more than 40 jobs out of a staff of 150.

Maven, the company now managing the magazine, will add 200 contractors to cover college and professional sports teams, said Maven spokesman Greg Witter. These people are “independent publishers, contractors” but “still professional journalists,” he said.

Girls soccer

Rhea Kijowski scored her 100th career goal Thursday night as Waynesburg blanked Laurel Highlands, 9-0, in a non-section match.

Kijowski had three goals to lead the Raiders. Erin Fitch also scored a pair of goals for Waynesburg (7-5).

Laurel Highlands falls to 4-9 overall.

Boys soccer

Joe Fonagy scored two goals and Canon-McMillan defeated host Upper St. Clair 4-2 Thursday night a battle for second place in Section 2-AAAA.

The Big Macs (8-1-1, 11-2-1), who were playing without head coach Larry Fingers, forged a 3-1 halftime lead. Fonagy scored the first two goals for Canon-McMillan and a tally by Nino Civitate gave the Big Macs a two-goal edge at the break. Aidan Walsh’s unassisted goal, the first of the second half, made it 4-1.

Upper St. Clair (6-2-1, 9-2-2) added a late goal.

• Austin Arnold scored the game-winning goal less than four minutes into the first overtime as Chartiers-Houston edged Bentworth, 3-2, in a Section 4-A match.

The golden goal was Arnold’s second marker of the night. He also had an assist. Dominic Hancq also scored for the Bucs.

Chartiers-Houston (5-3-2, 8-5-2) led 2-0 but surrendered that lead as the Bearcats scored two goals in the final 10 minutes to send the match into overtime.

Brian Hustava and Jason Hillberry scored for Bentworth (5-5-1, 7-6-1).

• Playoff-bound Trinity received three goals from Elijah Cincinnati and two each from Aidan Belcastro and Logan Errett in a 7-2 rout of Albert Gallatin in Section 3-AAA.

The Hillers (7-2, 9-3) also had a goal from Jeremy Naser as they won their fourth consecutive match. Cincinnati had two assists. Nick Pegg and Kevin Thompson scored for AG (3-5, 6-5).

In the NHL

Reigning NHL MVP Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist, Kevin Shattenkirk and Pat Maroon scored in their Tampa Bay debuts, and the Lightning opened the season with a 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

• Brett Howden broke a tie with 4:09 remaining, and the New York Rangers beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-4 in a wild season opener.

• Dougie Hamilton scored in the shootout, Petr Mrazek stopped three shots in the tiebreaker and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3.