LONG BEACH >> The Long Beach State women’s soccer team started life without senior captain Ashley Gonzales with an inspired performance and 2-0 win over No. 16 Northweste on Thursday at George Allen Field. “We owed ourselves that performance,” LBSU coach Mauricio Ingrassia said. “We only had two day...

After all the talk between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, it’s time for the two to meet in the ring. The interest for the fight between the two participates is expected to set record numbers on pay-per-view. What else is at stake in this fight? Mayweather promised it will be the last fight of ...

PITTSBURGH >> The media gets blamed for everything these days. For most of the season, Dodgers third baseman Justin Tu er has led the National League in batting average. Then people started asking him about it. Tu er is presumably only joking when he claims a causal effect between answering reporter...

PITTSBURGH >> If Hyun-Jin Ryu keeps winning immunity challenges, he might not have to leave the island after all. While other Dodgers starters pass the time on the DL or search for their mechanics, Ryu has become the Dodgers’ most consistent starter. He held the Pittsburgh Pirates to one run on four...

ASTROS at ANGELS When: Friday, 7 p.m. Where: Angel Stadium TV: Fox Sports West THE PITCHERS ANGELS RHP PARKER BRIDWELL (7-1, 2.92) Vs. Astros: First game At Angel Stadium: 3-1, 3.73 Hates to face: None Loves to face: None ASTROS RHP COLLIN McHUGH (1-2, 4.01) Vs. Angels: 6-2, 2.55 At Angel Stadium: 2...

LOS ANGELES >> Is it possible for USC to have any surprise players when the Trojans are ranked No. 4 and one of the most scrutinized programs in the nation? Even in the social media age, it is possible for players to exceed expectations or surprise the public. One of my picks is tight end Cary Angel...

LOS ANGELES >> Last week, part of Daniel Imatorbhebhe’s recovery from a sore hip flexor included playing catch with his coach. Midway through one practice, Imatorbhebhe ran a variety of routes on the south end of Howard Jones Field. Clay Helton, the Trojans’ head man and a former college quarterback...

COSTA MESA — The place is easy to miss. There are no logos out front, no bolt-shaped balcony railings in the back. The only exterior hint that the Chargers reside on this block of Susan Street? Goal posts poking above the gates surrounding the practice field. On Thursday, the Chargers held their fir...

Here are the Week Zero games for local high school football on Friday. Games at 7 p.m. unless noted. St. John Bosco at St. Thomas Aquinas, 4 p.m. Reigning CIF-Southe Section and CIF State champion Bosco opens the season in Florida against the defending state champion Raiders, and that’s nothing new....

For the first time since 1984, the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team opens its season with a new head coach. Recently retired head coach Brian Gimmillaro didn’t miss a match in the last 32 years, and only missed one practice in that time (not due to illness but to recruit a high school player...

Banned former U.S. Olympic team coach Don Peters has denied under oath having sexual relations with underage gymnasts while serving as U.S. national team coach in the 1980s, according to court documents obtained by the Southe Califo ia News Group. Peters, who built SCATS, the Huntington Beach gymnas...

ANAHEIM >> Needing a victory to salvage a split against a division rival, the Angels came up frustratingly empty on Thursday night. The Angels were shut down by Martin Perez for seven innings in a 3-0 loss to the Texas Rangers, despite having a steady flow of traffic on the bases against him. In fou...

LONG BEACH >> The future is now for Long Beach Poly. With numbers dwindling, increased competition for talent from St. John Bosco and other private schools, there’s no telling what will happen next year or after that. Head coach Antonio Pierce’s recent announcement that the school will drop its juni...

Long Beach State Athletics Director Andy Fee announced Monday that Dirtbags head coach Troy Buckley signed a contract extension through the 2022 season. The extension includes four additional years, increased base salary and supplemental compensation based on success on and off the field. “I am very...

BELLFLOWER >> “Our expectations are to win a national championship,” St. John Bosco senior Jaiden Woodbey said after a recent practice. “We have the mentality and leaders to do it.” St. John Bosco is one of few high school football programs in the country where a player can say something like that w...

COLUMBUS, Ohio >> Ola Kamara scored in the 45th minute and Justin Meram iced it in the 90th minute in the Columbus Crew’s 2-0 victory over the Galaxy on Wednesday night. Pedro Santos threaded a pass through four defenders and Kamara redirected the ball from the center of the box past Jon Kempin. Kam...

Sparks at Mercury preview: Thursday, TV, time THURSDAY’S WNBA GAME SPARKS (22-8) at MERCURY (15-15) Tipoff: Thursday, 6 p.m. TV: ESPN 2 Update: The Sparks have been on a roll the last three games, going 3-0 and winning by a combined 62 points. Most recently, they defeated the last-place Stars 75-55 ...

LOS ANGELES >> It looked ominous. When Kenechi Udeze, USC’s defensive line coach, left the Portland airport in his rental car on a snowy January day, he noticed other cars were tu ed over aside the interstate. Udeze had arrived amid the city’s biggest snowstorm in two decades, and he still needed to...

LOS ANGELES >> If USC freshman linebacker Levi Jones plays half as well as he talks, the Trojans might need to let him wear No. 55 this season. “For sure I’m going to be better than (my father),” Jones said Wednesday. “You can tell him that too.” That kind of statement could haunt Jones when you con...

ANAHEIM >> Every baseball game is a like a nine-inning math problem, with a string of positives and negatives that all add up at the end to either a win or a loss. Some games are simple, with one or two performances so glaring that they overshadow everything else. And some games are like the Angels’...