COLLEGES

Black Bears take early lead, then shut out Providence in field hockey season opener

Jocelyn Mitchell had two goals as the University of Maine defeated Providence 3-0 Friday in a college field hockey season opener at Orono.

Stephanie Gardiner gave Maine the lead 6:47 in, scoring off assists by Marie Dineen and Alex Binnendijk.

Mitchell scored unassisted off a rebound 2:34 into the second half. Her second goal came at 52:57, assisted by Kelly Newton.

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Marky Boyce scored on a header at 53:34 to lift Charleston Southern (2-1) to a 2-1 win over Maine (1-2) at Charleston, S.C.

The Black Bears took the lead at 27:35 when Carolyne Nellis scored off a pass from Kelsey Wilson.

HORSE RACING

SCARBOROUGH DOWNS: Barbra Ann set a track record for 2-year-old fillies at Scarborough Downs while driven by Kevin Switzer, winning a race in 1 minute, 58.1 seconds.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Atlanta broke open a close game by scoring 26 consecutive points, beating top-seeded Washington 101-77 at home to advance to the Eastern Conference finals with a two-game sweep.

Iziane Castro Marques and Angel McCoughtry each scored 21 points for Atlanta.

TENNIS

PILOT PEN: Nadia Petrova moved into the women’s final with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Maria Kirilenko at New Haven, Conn., and will play top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who beat No. 4 Elena Dementieva, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

In the men’s draw, ninth-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky advanced to the final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Thiemo de Bakker and will face Denis Istomin, who beat Viktor Troicki, 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-2.

HOCKEY

NHL: Free-agent forward Paul Kariya, the former UMaine standout, will not play next season after being diagnosed with postconcussion syndrome.

The 35-year-old Kariya spent the last three seasons with the St. Louis Blues. He had 18 goals and 25 assists last season.

• Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the New Jersey Devils submitted a new contract to the league for Russian star Ilya Kovalchuk. The league has five days to approve or reject the deal, which media reports said amounts to $100 million over 15 years. A month ago, the NHL rejected a 17-year, $102 million contract for Kovalchuk, saying it violated the league salary cap.

BASEBALL

LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES: Waipahu, Hawaii, advanced to today’s U.S. final, rallying from a four-run deficit for a 12-5 victory over Columbus, Ga., at South Williamsport, Pa.

Hawaii will face Pearland, Texas; Japan and Taiwan meet in the international final. The winners play Sunday for the World Series title.

AUTO RACING

IRL: Ryan Briscoe won the pole position for the IndyCar series race at Chicagoland Speedway, turning a lap average of 216.346 mph in qualifying at Joliet, Ill.

NASCAR: Kyle Busch withstood two late challenges from Todd Bodine and hung on to win the truck series race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

• Regan Smith signed a contract extension with Furniture Row Racing through the 2012 season to drive the team’s No. 78 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series.