Virginia beats Akron to win College Cup

Virginia beat Akron, 3-2, on penalty kicks after a scoreless game to win the NCAA Men’s College Cup on Sunday at Cary, N.C.

The Cavaliers won the championship when Blair Gavin, who made the clinching penalty kick to help Akron eliminate North Carolina in Friday’s semifinals, sent the final shot high over the crossbar.

The second-seeded Cavaliers (19-3-3) claimed their sixth College Cup championship and first since they won four straight national titles from 1991 to 1994.

The top-seeded Zips (23-1-1), making their second College Cup appearance, came up short in their bid to win their school’s first NCAA team championship in any sport. This trip to the final four ended the same as their last one -- with a loss to an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. Duke beat Akron, 1-0, in the 1986 final.

WINTER SPORTS

Davis wins 1,000 meters

Shani Davis claimed his second title in three days, winning the 1,000 meters in the final long-track speedskating World Cup before the Vancouver Olympics.

The American skated the distance in 1 minute 6.67 seconds at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, again beating rival Chad Hedrick, who was fifth.

Davis won the 1,500 on Friday, lowering his world record. He also owns the world mark in the 1,000 but didn’t come close to breaking it on the final day of competition.

Davis clinched Olympic berths in the 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000. However, he is firmly committed only to his favorite events, the 1,000 and 1,500, and the team pursuit -- the first time he has publicly confirmed he will participate in the event.

Ted Ligety posted a blazing second run to grab 10th place in a World Cup giant slalom in the French Alps that Bode Miller skipped to protect an ankle he injured playing volleyball.

Ligety made several crucial errors that cost him more than two seconds in the morning run on the icy Face de Bellevarde course at Val d’Isere but stormed back to post the second run’s best time, 1 minute 9.86 seconds, and finish 0.83 of a second away from a second podium finish in as many days.

Marcel Hirscher of Austria claimed his first World Cup victory, winning ahead of Massimiliano Blardone of Italy and Austrian Benjamin Raich in a combined time of 2:16.28.

The U.S. team said Miller didn’t want to risk aggravating the injury by competing.

Sandrine Aubert of France won her first World Cup race of the season by besting world champion Maria Riesch in the foggy second run of a women’s slalom at Are, Sweden.

Riesch finished second but still overtook Lindsey Vonn in the overall standings. The American finished eighth and is 20 points behind the German.

Aubert navigated the thick fog on the Olympia course flawlessly to finish in a combined time of 1 minute 43.24 seconds. Riesch finished 0.45 of a second back after leading the first run.

ETC.

Phelps goes five for five in meet

Michael Phelps won the 200-yard butterfly, giving the 14-time Olympic champion five first-place finishes in five events at the three-day NBAC Christmas meet at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Phelps, swimming for the host North Baltimore Aquatic Club, finished in 1 minute 42.29 seconds, nearly three seconds ahead of Todd Patrick.

Robert Allenby won his fourth Australian PGA title for his second victory in two weeks, closing with a five-under-par 66 to beat fellow Australians John Senden and Scott Strange by four strokes at Coolum.

Allenby finished with a 14-under 270 total on the Hyatt Regency resort course. Senden closed with a 67, and Strange shot a 69.

Australia defeated Russia, 11-9, to win the Holiday Cup women’s water polo tournament at Newport Beach. The U.S. tied Canada, 8-8, and finished in second place while Canada finished third in the five-day round-robin event. The rest of the standings saw Russia in fourth, the Netherlands in fifth and Italy in sixth.

Monterrey won Mexico’s Apertura league title, defeating Cruz Azul, 2-1, at Mexico City to take the two-game final series, 6-4 on aggregate.