Enquirer staff and wire reports

Keith Tkachuk had four goals and an assist to lead the United States into the World Cup of Hockey semifinals with a 5-3 victory over Russia on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn.

The St. Louis Blues forward was the difference for the Americans, who avenged last week's loss to the Russians by eliminating them from the tournament.

The United States will play Finland or the Czech Republic Friday night. After Russia made it 2-all with a quick goal in the third period, Tkachuk had a chance to score after Russia's Dmitry Kalinin turned the puck over in the neutral zone. His shot deflected off a defender's stick, but Scott Gomez of the New Jersey Devils was there to punch a shot past goalie Ilya Bryzgalov at 4:25.

Bryzgalov, who is expected to make the Anaheim Mighty Ducks roster this season, has played in only two NHL games, spending the last two seasons in the AHL with Cincinnati.

• At Stockholm, Milan Hejduk scored two goals as the Czech Republic routed Sweden 6-1. The Czechs, who finished next-to-last in the European pool, might face the winner between tonight's Canada-Slovakia game in the semifinals when the tournament moves to North America in a few days.

Horse racing

TURFWAY PARK: The inaugural Michael F. Rowland Award will be presented Sept. 17 during the fall meet, which begins at 7 p.m. today.

The award was established by Turfway in memory of the jockey who died last winter from injuries sustained in a fall on the track.

Jockeys at the five tracks where Rowland rode most often, including River Downs, each presented a nominee, and the resulting ballots were distributed to nine Midwestern tracks.

General admission and parking are free throughout the meet. First post for live racing is 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 1:10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, including the Kentucky Cup Day Sept. 18. There is no live racing Monday or Tuesday. The meet ends Oct. 7.

College basketball

CAL PLAYER SURGERY: California forward Leon Powe, 2004 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the conference's leading rebounder, will have reconstructive surgery on his left knee today, which could cause him to miss this season.

NOTRE DAME: The Irish will play DePaul, UCLA and defending national champion Connecticut at home as the school celebrates its 100th season.

CBS Sports will televise three Notre Dame home games, against UConn Jan. 30, against UCLA Feb. 27 and against Pittsburgh in the regular-season finale March 5.

BALL STATE: The Cardinals will play 14 games at home, along with games at neutral sites against Kentucky and Indiana. The Cardinals will open the season Nov. 23 against Kentucky at Cincinnati's U.S. Bank Arena in and will play Indiana on Dec. 28 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

INDIANA: Lucas Steijn, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound post player from the Netherlands, joined the Hoosiers. Steijn spent three years on the Dutch national team and played last season with Notre Dame Academy in Middleburg, Va., where he averaged 12 points and eight rebounds in leading his team to a state title.

Soccer

WORLD CUP: The United States plays at Panama tonight in the third game of the six-game semifinal qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

Elsewhere

GOLF: Of the 12 players to have been No. 1 in the world ranking, only four are Americans - Tiger Woods, David Duval, Tom Lehman and Fred Couples.