SOCCER

Rugg’s second-half goal lifts Phoenix past Voltage

Striker Charlie Rugg scored from a scramble in front of the net in the second half Sunday night to lead the MPS Portland Phoenix to a 1-0 victory over the Vermont Voltage in a USL Premier Development League game at Deering High’s Memorial Field.

Former Cheverus goalkeeper Matt Williams made nine saves for the Phoenix.

The victory, coupled with a 1-0 loss on the road Saturday night to the New Hampshire Phantoms, gives the Phoenix a 5-2-2 record and keeps them tied with the Western Mass Pioneers atop the Northeast Division.

MLS: Tyson Wahl and Alvaro Fernandez scored six minutes apart late in the first half to rally the Seattle Sounders (8-4-7) to a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution (3-8-6) in Seattle.

The Revolution scored 21/2 minutes into the game when Sainey Nyassi drilled in a shot off Benny Feilhaber’s corner kick.

RIVER PLATE RELEGATED: Famed club River Plate has been relegated to the Argentine second division for the first time in its 110-year history. The drop comes after a 1-1 draw with Belgrano in the second leg of a demotion playoff.

Belgrano won the first leg 2-0 Wednesday. Sunday’s game was suspended for 20 minutes when River Plate hooligans raced onto the field to taunt their own players.

TRACK AND FIELD

U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS: Walter Dix completed the 100-200 double in Eugene, Ore., meaning he’ll be the headliner on the American team at the world championships that will be missing Tyson Gay, Lolo Jones, Wallace Spearmon and a handful of other regulars because of injuries.

Dix ran the 200 in a wind-aided 19.95 seconds for a .03 margin over Darvis Patton. Carmelita Jeter’s shot at the women’s 100-200 double, along with a $25,000 bonus, blew up when Shalonda Solomon accelerated past her in the last 50 meters to win the 200 in 22.15.

Jennifer Suhr had her five-year streak of national titles snapped in the pole vault. Battling injuries all season, Suhr finished second to Kylie Hutson, who cleared 15 feet, 3 inches.

n North Yarmouth native Ben True and Greenwood native Anna Willard-Pierce both finished 10th in their respective events at the U.S. championships.

True competed in the 5,000 meters and finished in a time of 13:52.62, while Willard-Pierce posted a time of 4:12.84 in the 1,500. She was the defending champion in that event.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Cappie Pondexter scored 22 points to lead the New York Liberty (4-4) to a 77-67 win over the Los Angeles Sparks (4-3) in Newark, N.J.

Essence Carson had 18 points, Plenette Pierson added 16, and the Liberty got their first win at Prudential Center, their new home for the next three seasons while Madison Square Garden undergoes renovations during the summer.

• Crystal Langhorne scored 23 points, Nicky Anosike added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the Washington Mystics (2-5) snapped a four-game losing streak with an 83-63 win over the Tulsa Shock (1-8) in Washington.

HOCKEY

NHL: The Los Angeles Kings traded Ryan Smyth to the Edmonton Oilers for forward Colin Fraser and a seventh-round pick in the 2012 draft.

Smyth, 35, had 23 goals and 24 assists in 82 games last season with Los Angeles. He started his NHL career with the Oilers in 1994 and spent more than a decade with the team before being dealt to the Islanders in a surprise deadline deal in February 2007.

HARNESS RACING

SCARBOROUGH DOWNS: Kevin Switzer drove Maeve to a track record for 3-year-old fillies as the Maine Sire Stakes Program began its 2011 season.

Maeve finished in 1:57.1, breaking the mark of 1:57.2 set by Gypsy in 1999.

It was one of six victories Sunday for Switzer, who also owns and trains Maeve.