Sep 18, 2020 5 min read

Penguins re-sign McCann

Jared McCann is sticking with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The team announced Friday it has re-signed the 24-year-old forward to a two-year contract that runs through the 2021-22 season. The deal carries an average annual value of $2.94 million.

McCann tied a career high with 35 points during the 2020-21 season, collecting 14 goals and 21 assists in 66 games. He added one assist in Pittsburgh’s four-game loss to Montreal in the qualifying round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and was a healthy scratch for Game 3.

“Jared is a good offensive player who can play center or wing,” Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said in a statement. “We saw improvement in his play this year and feel that there is more upside to his game.”

The Penguins acquired McCann from Florida on Feb. 1, 2019 and he has played primarily on the third line during his time with the team.

Boys soccer

Andrew Massucci had a hat trick and Peters Township crushed Carlynton 7-0 in a non-section match Thursday.

Luke Holmes contributed two goals and two assists for the Indians (1-0-1), and Alex Grim and Anthony Schullek each tallied a score.

Carlynton’s record fell to 1-1.

• Eben McIntyre and Sam Iacovangelo each two goals and assisted on another score as Charleroi remained unbeaten in Section 3-AA with a 5-0 victory over host Waynesburg.

Denver Radomile had the other goal for Charleroi 2-0) and Arlo McIntyre assisted on a pair of goals. Waynesburg’s record fell to 1-1.

Girls soccer

Malloy Schreiber and Tessa Charpentier each scored two goals as Bentworth overpowered Monessen 7-1 in a Section 2-A match Thursday.

Reagan Schreiber, Emily Kisner and Carly Palla each tallied one goal for Bentworth (1-2).

Monessen is 0-1.

• South Fayette used two goals by Anna Hertzler to slip past Blackhawk 2-1 Thursday in Class 3A Section 4. It was the Lions’ season opener.

In the NFL

The San Francisco 49ers will be without All-Pro tight end George Kittle this week because of a sprained left knee.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday that Kittle won’t make the trip to face the New York Jets on Sunday after hurting his knee during a season-opening loss to Arizona.

Kittle played the second half of that game after being hit by Cardinals safety Budda Baker late in the second quarter while trying to catch an errant pass from Jimmy Garoppolo. But he was diagnosed with a sprained knee Monday and didn’t practice all week before being ruled out.

• Wide receiver Jamison Crowder has been ruled out for the New York Jets’ game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers because of a hamstring injury.
• Larry Wilson, a former Cardinals safety and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has died. He was 82.

Wilson died Thursday evening, according to a news release from the team.

Wilson spent more than 43 years in the Cardinals’ organization as a player and an executive.

A seventh-round draft pick out of Utah in 1960, Wilson played 13 seasons with the Cardinals in St. Louis. He was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and was a first-team All Pro five times.

In college football

Baylor’s season opener against Houston, scheduled less than a week ago, was one of two Bowl Subdivision games postponed Friday – the day before they were supposed to play.

Florida Atlantic’s opener against Georgia Southern was postponed earlier in the day, following the results of FAU’s COVID-19 testing Thursday. In both cases, the schools involved said they would try to find make-up dates.

The postponements illustrate the uncertainty surrounding college sports. The number of FBS games postponed or canceled because of COVID-19 issues since Aug. 26 is 16 and the pandemic’s impact is being felt in other sports; one of college basketball’s premier tournaments is moving from Hawaii to North Carolina and the NCAA delayed the start of the basketball season to Nov. 25.

Athletes are scrambling too: Minnesota star receiver Rashod Bateman has re-joined his team after opting out of the season, and hopes to be able to play when the Big Ten starts in late October. A similar return played out earlier this week at Ohio State.

In putting off its opener, Baylor said it was unable to meet COVID-19 roster thresholds set by the Big 12. The school did not provide specifics on the players or positions affected by the coronavirus or the number of players who were quarantined due to contact tracing; on Monday, it said it had six active cases across its athletic programs and that 23 total cases were being monitored.

In college basketball

The Maui Invitational is moving to the mainland during the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the premier preseason tournaments on the college basketball schedule, the Maui Invitational will be played at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. Dates for the tournament have yet to be finalized.

This year’s Maui Invitational field includes Alabama, Davidson, Indiana, North Carolina, Providence, Stanford, Texas and UNLV.