Enquirer staff and wire reports

Left winger Chris Kunitz had a short-handed goal, a power-play goal and an assist to lead the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks to a 4-2 victory over the Rochester Americans in an AHL game Saturday at Cincinnati Gardens.

Alexei Smirnov and Joel Perrault also scored for Cincinnati, which is off to the second-best start in franchise history at 3-1-0-0. Michael Holmqvist had a pair of assists.

Cincinnati goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov improved to 3-0-0.

Norm Milley and Jiri Novotny scored third-period goals for Rochester, which remained winless at 0-2-1-0.

Ryan Miller took the loss for the Americans, who went 0-for-10 on the power play.

The Ducks and Amerks play again at 5:05 p.m. today in Cincinnati Gardens.

Rochester	0	0	2	-2
Cincinnati	0	4	0	-4

First period: No scoring.

Second period: 1. Cin, Kunitz 1, 7:05 (shg). 2. Cin, Smirnov 2 (Holmqvist, Holmqvist), 8:31 (ppg). 3. Cin, Kunitz 2 (Smirnov, Holmqvist), 9:31 (ppg). 4. Cin, Perrault 3 (Malec, Glencross), 14:22.

Third period: 5. Roc, Milley 1 (Ryan, Smith), 10:12. 6. Roc, Novotny 1 (Thorburn, Paille), 11:28.

Shots on goal: Roc 9-10-16=35; Cin 10-14-6=30. Power play opportunities: Roc 0-for-10; Cin 2-for-7. Goalies: Roc, Miller (58:00; 30 shots, 26 saves; record 0-3-0); Cini, Bryzgalov (35-33, 3-0-0). Attendance: 4,881.

Records: Roc 0-2-1-0; Cin 3-1-0-0.

NOTE: Ducks officials are trying to work out a deal to have Cincinnati play as many as three "home" games in Anaheim during the NHL lockout, according to The Hockey News, but no announcement has been made.

Golf

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Tom Kite shot an even-par 72 to take a two-stroke lead over Jose Maria Canizares after three rounds of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season-ending event at Sonoma, Calif. Kite, at 10-under 206, has led each of the first three rounds.

PGA TOUR: Tom Lehman gave himself a third straight chance at ending five years of frustration, making two eagles to overcome a few glitches with the putter for a 5-under 67 that left him tied for the lead with Briny Baird in the Funai Classic at Disney in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

MADRID OPEN: Darren Fichardt had four birdies in five holes on the way to a 4-under 67, grabbing a share of the lead with Paul Broadhurst after three rounds.

Tennis

MADRID MASTERS: Marat Safin played his best tennis in some time, beating Andre Agassi 6-3, 7-6 (4) to advance to the final. The third-seeded Russian will face David Nalbandian, who beat Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-4.

SWISSCOM CHALLENGE: Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova advanced to the final at Zurich, defeating fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. The fourth-seeded Sharapova will face Olympic bronze medalist Alicia Molik.

Soccer

CREW FINALLY LOSE: Avery John scored his first career goal in the 25th minute to help host New England snap the Columbus Crew's 18-game unbeaten streak with a 1-0 win in the opening round of the MLS playoffs. The second game of the two-game, total goals series is Oct. 31 in Columbus.

U.S WOMEN WIN AGAIN: Abby Wambach became the fourth player in U.S. women's national team history to score five goals in a game, leading the Americans to a 5-0 win over Ireland at Houston in the seventh game of the "Fan Celebration Tour."

Baseball

YOUKILIS IN SERIES: Former University of Cincinnati and Sycamore High star Kevin Youkilis is a member of the Boston Red Sox 25-man roster for the World Series.

Youkilis, who was named the American League rookie of the month for May, appeared in 72 games for the Red Sox this season.

After hitting a home run in his first big-league game, Youkilis finished with a .260 batting average, 11 doubles, seven homer and 35 RBI. He also appeared in one game during the AL divisional series against Anaheim.

Youkilis set numerous school records at UC before being selected in the eighth round of the 2001 draft by Boston.

Horse racing

BREEDERS' CUP: Defending Classic winner Pleasantly Perfect and 2002 Horse of the Year and Distaff winner Azeri, headline 101 horses pre-entered for the eight World Thoroughbred Championships race Saturday at Lone Star Park near Dallas.

Figure skating

SKATE AMERICA: American Angela Nikodinov, 24, won the women's title after completing 10 jumps while the rest of the field fell in Pittsburgh. Japan's Miki Ando, who led entering the free skate, fell while attempting a quadruple salchow and a triple lutz. She finished third.

Elsewhere

BOXING: Joseph Dorsey Jr., 69, who won a 1957 fight against Louisiana's law banning interracial bouts, has died in New Orleans.

ULTIMATE FIGHTING: Cincinnatian Rich Franklin survived a three-round struggle with an arm bar that caused Jorge Rivera (9-3-0) to tap out in their middleweight (185 pounds) swing bout at Atlantic City.

Local colleges

Men's soccer

Northern Kentucky 2, Lewis 0

Goals: NKU - Roberts 2. Shutout: Madden (1 save). Records: NKU 12-3-2 (6-2-1 GLVC); LU 13-2-2 (6-2-2).

Women's soccer

Northern Kentucky 5, Lewis 0

Goals: NKU - Kelly 2, Light, Votapek, Goettelman. Shutout: Piening (0 saves). Records: NKU 12-3 (9-1 GLVC); LU 4-11-1 (2-7-1).

Mount St. Joseph 1, Defiance 1

Goals: MSJ - Spradlin; D - Clear. Records: MSJ 6-5-4 (3-0-2 HCAC); Defiance 8-4-4 (3-1-2).

Thomas More 3, Centre 2

Goals: TM - Kellner, Hagedorn 2; C - Hollabaugh, Meselam. Records: C 3-5-3; TM 12-3-1

Volleyball

Northern Kentucky (17-8, 10-3) d. Wisconsin-Parkside (9-16, 4-9) 26-30, 30-18, 30-20, 30-26.

Miami (6-13, 4-6 MAC) d. Marshall (14-8, 5-3) 30-21, 30-24, 28-30, 29-31, 15-9.

Conference Tournament

Quarterfinals

UC-Clermont (12-5) d. Ohio-Lancaster (5-6) 30-19, 27-30, 30-17, 30-19.

Field hockey

Kent State 2, Miami 1

Goals: KS - Rischen, Lahey; MU - Nye. Records: MU 6-12 (1-8 MAC); KS 8-7 (6-2).

Football

Dayton 49, Butler 10

Butler	0	3	0	7	-10
Dayton	0	28	14	7	- 49

Records: D 7-1 (2-0); B 1-7 (0-2).

2nd quarter

B: Neumeier 23 field goal, 13:08

UD: Mong 21 run (Resch kick), 12:49

UD: Hoyng 4 run (Resch kick), 9:24

UD: Wrobleski 30 pass from Staley (Resch kick), 4:12

UD: Mong 1 run (Resch kick), 0:32

3rd quarter

UD: Marshall 3 pass from Hoyng (Resch kick), 8:57

UD: Marshall 4 run (Resch kick), 0:41

4th quarter

B: Nardini 6 pass from Nelson (Neumeier kick), 9:24

UD: Watson 7 run (Heyne kick), 1:24

RUSHING: UD - Verhoff 16-84, Mong 10-49-2, Hoyng 6-37-1, Watson 3-34-1, Marshall 4-20-1; BU - Nelson 16-56, North 10-29. PASSING: UD - Hoyng 5-4-0-59-1, Staley 5-4-1-88-1; BU - Nelson 14-7-0-88-1. RECEIVING: UD - Wrobleski 6-118-1; BU Nardini 3-15-1.

Wilmington 20, Otterbein 13

Otterbein	0	0	0	13	- 13
Wilmington	7	0	6	7	-20

Records: W 3-4 (3-3); O 1-6 (0-6)

1st quarter

W: Isaac 5 run (Bednarek kick), 5:00

3rd quarter

W: Jones 51 pass from Smith (Kick blocked), 9:44

4th quarter

O: Stelzer 25 run (Sims kick), 5:02

O: Robins 52 punt return (Kick no good), 3:01

W: Smith 12 run (Bednarek kick), 1:19

RUSHING: W - Isaac 22-167-1, Smith 13-57-1; O - Braden 14-44. PASSING: W - Smith 29-15-1-215-1; O - Stelzer 40-24-1-294-0. RECEIVING: W - Short 6-67, Jones 4-86-1; O - Wolfe 7-132, Lenhar 7-66.

Thomas More 45, Anderson 38

Anderson	17	14	7	0	-38
Thomas More	0	23	12	10	-45

Records: TM 4-3; A 4-3.

1st quarter

A: Smith 15 pass from McKee (Schnebelt kick), 6:56

A: Alspaugh 51 pass from McKee (Schnebelt kick), 4:09

A: Schnebelt 21 field goal 0:00

2nd quarter

A: Helman 37 fumble recovery (Schnebelt kick), 5:03

TM: Weber 58 pass from Berkley (Heinl kick), 3:41

A: Alspaugh 43 pass from McKee (Schnebelt kick), 2:46

TM: Weber 17 pass from Berkley (Weber rush), 1:45

TM: Rieck 17 pass from Berkley (Morancy pass), 0:11

3rd quarter

TM: Weber 11 pass from Berkley (Berkley pass failed), 12:28

TM: Thompson 8 run (Berkley rush failed), 10:09

A: Sirianni 88 interception return (Schnebelt kick), 5:04

4th quarter

TM: Hazlett safety, 5:14

TM: Thompson 5 run (Clark pass), 4:07

RUSHING: TM - Berkley 13-73, Thompson 23-56-2; A - Kimmel 18-74. PASSING: TM - Berkley 27-12-0-199-4; A - McKee 43-19-3-22-3. RECEIVING: TM - Weber 4-93-3, Morancy 4-84, Rieck 2-32-1; A - Alspaugh 9-138-2, Smith 4-38-1.

Mount St. Joseph 41, Defiance 10

Mount St. Joseph	7	14	13	7	-41
Defiance	0	2	0	8	-10

Records: MSJ 7-0 (4-0), D 0-6 (0-3)

1st quarter

MSJ: Haggard 52 pass from Hamrock (Klosterman kick), 8:37

2nd quarter

D: TEAM safety, 9:11

MSJ: Story 3 run (Riga kick), 1:19

MSJ: Wellendorf 49 pass from Hamrock (Riga kick), 0:02

3rd quarter

MSJ: Story 1 run (Hamrock pass failed), 7:42

MSJ: Wellendorf 23 pass from Hamrock (Riga kick), 4:26

4th quarter

D: Fitton 1 run (Schmidt pass from Fitton), 6:44

MSJ: Cocanougher 10 run (Riga kick), 0:29

RUSHING: MSJ - Cocanougher 13-77, Lovell 20-69, Hamrock 9-43, Story 9-39; D - Lomason 17-56, Weathers 4-10. PASSING: MSJ - Hamrock 9-20-0-161; D - Fitton 4-16-2-58. RECEIVING: MSJ - Wellendorf 5-97, Haggard 2-54; D - Schmidt, Aaron 2-18.

Women's cross country

GLVC Championships

At A.J. Jolly Park, Alexandria, Ky.

Team scores: 1. Wisconsin-Parkside 47, 2. Southern Indiana 60, 3. Bellarmine 65, 4. Indianapolis 96, 5. Northern Kentucky 125, 6. S. Illinois-Edwardsville 131, 7. Lewis 175, 8. Saint Joseph's 215.

NKU leaders: 5. Carskadon 22:45.92, 16. Stoehr 23:47.32, 24. Hoekzema 24:19.30, 39. Eggleston 25:14.40, 46. Sand 25:41.24.

Men's cross country

GLVC Championships

At A.J. Jolly Park, Alexandria Ky.

Team scores: 1. Lewis 55, 2. Southern Indiana 57, 3. Wisconsin-Parkside 76, 4. S. Illinois-Edwardsville 98, 5. Northern Kentucky 124, 6. Indianapolis 161, 7. Bellarmine 163, 8. Saint Joseph's 197.

NKU leaders: 11. Knapp 26:38.39, 18. Niemer 26:51.91, 27. Stoppelwerth 27:21.50, 35. Kramer 27:35.90, 40. Granacher 27:46.62.

Women's tennis

Teams Participating - Ball State, Indiana, Toledo, Western Michigan and Xavier University

Singles: 1. Clary (XU) d. Parekh (WMU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (7); Saruta (WMU) d. Clary (XU) 6-0, 6-3; Cueva (UT) d. Tuchscherer (XU) 6-2, 6-0; Bauer (XU) d. Pollack (BSU) 6-0, 6-1; Farrar (BSU) d. Lohner (XU) 6-2, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (4); Vilines (XU) d. Calderwood (BSU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (9); VanderMolen (UT) d. Papa (XU) 6-1, 6-1; Diedalis (XU) d. Moran (UT) 6-2, 7-5; Horning (UT) d. Potts (XU) 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Doubles: L. Clary/Bauer (XU) d. El-Tobgy/Zeder (IU)9-8 (7); Cueva/Paravicini (UT) d. L. Clary/Bauer 8-4; Potts/Diedalis (XU) d. Calderwood/Pollack (BSU)8-6; Batty/Farrar (BSU) d. Potts/Diedalis (XU).8-4; Walterova/Williams (IU) d. Vilines/Lohner (XU)8-6; Vilines/Lohner (XU) d. Moran/Horning (UT)8-6; Gesellchen/Hein (IU) d. K. Clary/Tuchscherer (XU)8-5.