Crystal Palace to host friendly against U.S. U-17 team

Crystal Palace Baltimore will play a free exhibition match against the United States Under-17 men's national team at 10:30 a.m. next Saturday at Loyola. The game is a warm-up for the U.S. U-17s as they prepare to travel to Nigeria for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, which begins at the end of October. The Palace squad will consist of 12 players under contract after the 2009 USL season, as well as several players under consideration for next season. The game will mark the unveiling of Palace's newest signing, Brazilian playmaker Neto. Neto played for the Blast in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 2004 to 2007, helping the team to two titles and being named the league's Most Valuable Player for the 2005-06 season.

Basketball: Angel McCoughtry (St. Frances) scored 17 points to lead the U.S. women's national team to a 100-81 victory over Czech professional team ZVVC UKA Prague in the opener of the Ekaterinburg International Invitational in Russia. The round-robin tournament also includes Euroleague pro teams MKB Euroleasing Sopron from Hungary and the host team, UMMC Ekaterinburg. ... The Maryland Marvels of the American Basketball Association hired Baltimore native and 1988 Boston Celtics first-round pick Kevin McDuffie (Lake Clifton) as assistant coach, team owner James Agbai announced.

- From Sun staff and news services